MORAL REASONING

ALASAN MORAL
 Pembahasan

Definisi alasan moral/moral reasoning?

Faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi?

Tahapan-tahapan?
DEFINISI
 Pengertian Moral
Reasoning
Moral berasal dari bahasa Latin
mores berarti adat kebiasaan.
Maksud moral ialah sesuai dengan
ide-ide yang umum diterima tentang
tindakan manusia, mana yang baik
dan wajar. Di Indonesia ada beberapa
makna dan tujuan yang hampir sama
dengan moral ialah akhlaq (Arab)
dan etika (Yunani). Susila, kesusilaan,
tata susila, budi pekerti, sopan
santun, adab, perangai, tingkah laku,
dan kelakuan (Panuju & Umami, 1999
: 135).
Menurut Yusuf (2012 : 132) istilah moral
berasal dari kata Latin mos (moris), yang
berarti adat istiadat, kebiasaan, peraturan,
tatacara kehidupan.
Sedangkan moralitas merupakan kemauan
untuk menerima dan melakukan peraturan,
nilali-nilai atau prinsip-prinsip moral. Nilai-
nilai moral itu; seperti seruan untuk
berbuat baik kepada orang lain,
memelihara ketertiban dan keamanan. Dll
Seseorang dapat dikatakan bermoral,
apabila tingkah laku orang tersebut sesuai
dengan nilai-nilai moral yang dijunjung
tinggi oleh kelompok sosial.
Menurut Kohlberg (1995 : 22) moral
reasoning ialah penilaian dan perbuatan
moral pada intinya bersifat rasional.
Keputusan moral bukanlah soal perasaan
atau “nilai”, melainkan selalu
mengandung suatu tafsiran kognitif
terhadap keadaan dilema moral dan
bersifat konstruktif kognitif yang aktif
terhadap titik pandangan masing-masing
partisipan dan kelompok yang terlibat,
sambil mempertimbangkan segala
macam tuntutan, hak, kewajiban, dan
keterlibatan setiap pribadi atau kelompok
terhadap yang baik dan yang adil
Sarwono (2007 : 95) menambahkan
bahwa moral reasoning yaitu orang
yang mendasarkan tindakannya atas
penilaian baik atau buruknya
sesuatu, karena sifatnya yang
merupakan penalaran
moral merupakan perbuatan baik
dan buruk yang berlaku secara
umum. Sedangkan moral reasoning
yaitu mengenai mengapa atau
bagaimana seseorang dapat
mengatakan suatu perbuatan itu baik
dan buruk, atau salah dan benar
FAKTOR-FAKTOR
 FAKTOR-FAKTOR
1. Konsisten dalam mendidik anak
2. Sikap orang tua dalam keluarga
3. Penghayatan dan pengalaman
agama yang dianut
4. Sikap konsisten orang tua
dalam menerapkan norma
TAHAPAN MORAL
 Stages of Moral
Reasoning
Level One: Preconventional
(Personal Impact)
‐ Stage 1: Punishment/Obedience
‐ It is wrong, if you are punished for it.
‐ Physical consequences
‐ A big punishment then means what to a
child?
‐ Stage 2: Personal Reward
‐ It is right if I benefit from it
‐ Personal needs are most important
‐ Magnitude of the benefit tells what about
the action?
 Stages of Moral
Reasoning
Level Two: Conventional (Personal
Approval)
‐ Stage 3: Good Boy/Good Girl
‐ If I do this, Mommy will think I’m a “good
boy/girl”
‐ Right & wrong reasoned based on other’s approval
‐ Pre-pubescent- Approval of authority
figures
‐ Post-pubescent- Approval of peers

‐ Stage 4: Law & Order

‐ Because it’s against the Law!
‐ Laws are absolute, no gray areas or chaos will
erupt
‐ Family obligations?
Stages of Moral Reasoning

Level Three: Post-Conventional

(Personal Interpretation)
‐ Stage 5: Social Contract
‐ Given my situation I had no other choice!
‐ Laws are attempts at morality but are
still contrived.
‐ Meant for most situations but not all
situations
‐ Stage 6: Universal Ethic
‐ Always right?
‐ Always wrong?
Selman (dalam Santrock, 2003 : 123)
mengemukakan terdapat lima tahap
moral reasoning, diantaranya :
1. Tahap pertama (usia 3-6 tahun, sudut
pandang egosentrisme)
Anak menyadari adanya pembedaan
antara diri dari orang lain tetapi tidak
mampu membedakan antara perspektif
sosial (pikiran dan perasaan) dari diri
sendiri dan orang lain. Anak dapat
memberikan label pada perasaan orang
lain yang tampak tetapi tidak dapat
melihat hubungan sebat akibat dari
penalaran terhadap tindakan sosial.
2. Tahap kedua (usia 6-8 tahun,
pengambilalihan cara pandang
secara sosial-informasional)
Anak sadar bahwa orang lain
memiliki perspektif sosial yang
didasari oleh penalaran orang itu
sendiri, yang bisa sama ataupun
tidak dengan penalaran anak
tersebut. Akan tetapi, anak
cenderung berfokus pada suatu
perspektif daripada
mengkoordinasikan beberapa sudut
pandang.
Tahap ketiga (usia 8-10 tahun,
pengambilalihan refleksi diri)
Anak sangat menyadari bahwa setiap
orang sadar akan perspektif orang lain
dan kesadaran ini mempengaruhi
pandangan diri dan orang lain tentang
satu sama lain. Menempatkan diri pada
posisi orang lain adalah suatu cara untuk
menilai keinginan, tujuan, dan tindakan
orang lain. Anak dapat membentuk suatu
rangkaian perspektif yang terkoordinasi
tetapi tidak dapat melakukan abstraksi
dari tingkat ini untuk mencapai tahapan
mutualis simultan.
Tahap keempat (usia 10-12 tahun,
pengambilalihan perspektif secara
mutualis)
Remaja menyadari bahwa baik diri
maupun orang lain dapat melihat
satu sama lain sebagai objek
secara bersamaan (mutualis) dan
secara simultan. Remaja dapat
melangkah keluar dari hubungan
dua orang dan melihat interaksi
tersebut dengan perspektif orang
ketiga.
Tahap kelima (usia 12-15 tahun,
pengambilalihan perspektif tentang
sistem sosial dan konvensional)
Remaja menyadari bahwa
pengambilalihan perspektif secara
mutual tidak selalu menghasilkan
pemahaman yang lengkap. Konvensi
sosial dilihat sebagai suatu
persyaratan mutlak karena konvensi
dimengerti semua anggota kelompok
(orang lain yang digeneralisasikan).
Tanpa mempedulikan posisi, peran,
atau pengalaman mereka.
 Kohlberg’s Theory in
Practice
Classroom discipline
‐ How does it inform how to deal with
children?
‐ Preschool?
‐ Primary?
‐ Middle School?
‐ Secondary?
‐ Tertiary?
 Critiques of Kohlberg

Limited research to boys

Carol Gilligan
‐ Feminist Theorist
‐ Females develop differently than
boys
‐ Harmony of the group
‐ Responsibility
‐ Caring for others
‐ See overhead
Moral Development,
Values and Religion
Chapter 13
Think on your own…
What does it mean to
have morals?

What is moral development?

How do you know if you have
morals?
Moral development involves
changes in thoughts,
feelings and behaviors
regarding standards of right
and wrong

This involves an interpersonal and

intrapersonal dimension
 Moral development
involves 4 questions:
1. How do individuals reason or think about
moral decisions?

2. How do individuals actually behave in

moral circumstances?

3. How do individuals feel about moral

matters?

4. What characterizes an individuals moral

personality?
 Piaget concluded that
children go through two
stages of how they think
about morality
Younger children (4-7) display
heteronomous morality
Older children (10 and older) display
autonomous morality
 Piaget’s Theory of Moral
Development
Justice and rules are conceived
Heteronymo of as unchangeable properties
us of the world, removed from
morality the control of people (4-7
years)
Becomes aware that rules and
Autonomous laws are created by people; in
morality judging an action, one should
consider actor’s intentions as
well as consequences (10
years and older)
Immanent If a rule is broken, punishment
justice will be meted out immediately
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Judgment
Heteronomous thinking is typical of children
younger than 7- or 8-years-old

‐ These children regard rules and duties to

others as unchangeable “givens”
‐ Justice is whatever authorities say is right
‐ Authorities’ punishments are always justified

Whether an action is good or bad is

determined by the consequence of the
action, not the motives or intentions
behind it

‐ Acts that are not consistent with the rules are “bad”
‐ Acts that are consistent with the rules are “good”
Piaget’s Theory of Moral Judgment
Autonomous morality (Moral relativism) is
typical of children 12-years-old and older

‐ Children understand that rules are products of

social interaction and agreement and can be
changed if the majority of the group agrees to do
so

‐ Punishments should fit the crime and

punishments delivered by adults is not
necessarily fair

‐ They consider the motives and intentions when

evaluating whether an action is good or bad
On your own activity…

Consider the following Story, who is

right or wrong?

WHY?
If you are 6: Which girl do you think was
more bad, Olivia or Melissa?
If you are 10: Which girl do you think
was more bad, Olivia or Melissa?
One day, a girl named Olivia was playing with her
mommy. Olivia decided that it would be fun to have a
tea party with her mommy and her dolls. So, Olivia
went into the kitchen and got a box of crackers and six
tea cups. Olivia carefully arranged the tea cups on a
tray, but while she reached for the box of crackers, the
tray accidentally slipped out of her hands and the six
cups smashed into pieces on the floor.

Another girl, one named Melissa, was playing with her

daddy. Melissa wanted to play marching band in the
kitchen by clanging pot lids together. When her daddy
said the he didn’t want to play marching band because
it was too loud, Melissa became very upset. She was so
angry that she grabbed a cup off the counter and threw
it onto the floor, smashing it into pieces.
 According to Piaget, young
children who are in a stage of
moral realism, judge right and
wrong by the consequences of
one’s actions. Therefore, young
children should say that Olivia
is more bad because she broke
more cups.
 These objective judgments
give way to subjective
judgments when children
(around age 8) enter the stage
of moral relativism. In this
advanced stage, children
consider motives when judging
one’s actions
Moral Reasoning – Kohlberg’s
Theory

Moral development progresses

through a series of stages that are
discontinuous and hierarchical

‐ Each new stage reflects a

qualitatively different, more adequate
way of thinking than the one before it
 Older and more advanced
thinkers SHOULD, on
average, be more advanced
in their moral development
 Higher-level moral
reasoning
Like Piaget, age-related advances in
cognitive skills (especially perspective
taking) are believed to underlie the
development of higher-level moral
judgments.

‐ People who have higher-level cognitive skills are

better educated and exhibit higher-level moral
judgment.

Children who exhibit higher-levels of

perspective taking than their peers score
higher in their moral judgment.
 On your own
activity…
Read the following moral
dilemma and reflect on why this
was right or wrong. Also what
reasoning can use apply to this
story? Would you always have
thought the way you do right
 Heinz, had a wife who was dying of
cancer. A drug that might save her had
been discovered by a local pharmacist,
but he was charging $2000, ten times
what the drug cost to make. It was far
more money than Heinz had. Heinz went
to everyone he knew to borrow the
money but he could only get together
about half of what the drug cost. He
told the druggist his wife was dying, and
asked him to sell it cheaper or let him
pay later. But the druggist said, “No, I
discovered the drug and I’m going to
make money from it.” So Heinz got
desperate and broke into the man’s
store to steal the drug for his wife.
 Was this moral?
Which response is more advanced in
terms of moral reasoning?

‐ He shouldn’t steal the drug because

he’ll probably get caught and put in
jail.

‐ He should steal the drug because he

wants his wife to feel better and to
live.
 Were you right?

Which response is more advanced in

terms of moral reasoning?

‐ He shouldn’t steal the drug

because he’ll probably get caught
and put in jail.

‐ He should steal the drug because

he wants his wife to feel better and
to live.
 How is stealing moral?
The second would be a display of higher
levels of moral reasoning.

In the early stages, moral reasoning is

based on external forces, such as the
promise of reward or the threat of
punishment.

The most advanced stages, moral

reasoning is based on a personal,
internal moral code and is unaffected by
others’ views or society’s expectations.
 Stages in Kohlberg’s Theory
Preconventional Level
Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience Orientation
Stage 2: Instrumental and Exchange Orientation
Conventional Level

Stage 3: Mutual Interpersonal Expectations,

Relationships, and Interpersonal Conformity

Stage 4: Social System and Conscience Orientation

Postconventional Level
Stage 5: Social Contract or Individual Right Orientation

Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles

 Stage 1
Punishment and Obedience
Orientation
Pro-stealing: If you let your wife die,
you will get in trouble. You’ll be blamed
for not spending the money to help her
and there’ll be an investigation of you
and the druggist for your wife’s death

Anti-stealing: You shouldn’t steal the

drug because you’ll be caught and sent
to jail if you do. If you do get away,
you’d be scared that the police would
catch up with you any minute.
 During stage 1 people
believe that adults know
what is right and wrong.
Consequently, a person should do what adults say
is right to avoid being punished. Child does not
consider the interests of others or recognize that
they differ from his or her own interests. People
in this stage exhibit blind obedience to authority.
 Stage 2
Naïve Hedonism

Prostealing: The druggist can do what

he wants and Heinz can do what he
wants to do… But if Heinz decides to risk
jail to save his wife, it’s his life he’s
risking; he can do what he wants with it.
And the same goes for the druggist; it’s
up to him to decide what he wants to do.

Antistealing: [Heinz] is running more

risk than it’s worth to save a wife who is
near death.
In Stage 2 people look out
for their own needs. They
often are nice to others
because they expect the
favor to be returned in the
future. So it is a tit-for-tat
exchange of benefits.
“You scratch my back, I’ll
scratch yours”
 Stage 3
“Good Boy” or “Good Girl” Orientation

Prostealing: No one will think you’re bad

if you steal the drug, but your family will
think you’re an inhuman husband if you
don’t. If you let your wife die, you’ll never
be able to look anyone in the face again.

Antistealing: It isn’t just the druggist who

will think you’re a criminal, everyone else
will too. After you steal it, you’ll feel bad
thinking how you’ve brought dishonor on
your family and yourself.
 Stage 3: Adolescents and adults
believe they should act according to
others’ expectations. The aim is to
win the approval of others by
behaving like “good boys” and
“good girls.” Being good is
important in itself and means having
good motives, showing concern
about others, and maintaining good
relationships with others.
People are judged by their intentions…
meaning well is valued and being nice
is important.
 Stage 4
Social-Order Maintaining Morality

Prostealing: He should steal it. Heinz has a

duty to protect his wife’s life; it’s a vow he
took in marriage. But it’s wrong to steal, so
he would have to take the drug with the idea
of paying the druggist for it and accepting
the penalty for breaking the law later.

Antistealing: It’s a natural thing for Heinz to

want to save his wife, but… Even if his wife
is dying, it’s still his duty as a citizen to obey
the law. No one else is allowed to steal, why
should he be? If everyone starts breaking
the law in a jam, there’d be no civilization,
just crime and violence.
 Stage 4: Adolescents and adults
believe that social roles, expectations,
and laws exist to maintain order within
society and to promote the good of all
people. The individual is motivated to
keep the social system going and to
avoid a breakdown in its functioning.

What is right is what conforms to the

rules of legal authority –the reason for
conforming is not fear of punishment
but a belief that rules and laws
maintaining a social order that is worth
 Stage 5
Social-Contract Orientation

Prostealing: Although there is a law

against stealing, the law wasn’t
meant to violate a person’s right to
life. Taking the drug does violate
the law, but Heinz is justified in
stealing in this instance. If Heinz is
prosecuted for stealing, the law
needs to be reinterpreted to take
into account situations in which it
goes against people’s natural right
to keep on living.
Stage 5: Adults agree that members of
cultural groups adhere to a “social
contract” because a common set of
expectations and laws benefit all group
members. If these expectations and
laws no longer promote the welfare of
individuals, they become invalid

The greatest good for the greatest

number… Some values and rights are
universal and must be upheld regardless of
the majority such as life and liberty.
 Stage 6
Morality of Individual Principles of
Conscience
Pro-stealing: If Heinz does not do
everything he can do to save his wife, then
he is putting some value higher than the
value of life. It doesn’t make sense to put
respect for property above respect for life
itself. [People] could live together without
private property at all. Respect for human
life and personality is absolute and
accordingly [people] have a mutual duty
to save one another from dying.
Stage 6: Abstract principles like justice
(equality of human rights, respect for
the dignity of each human being),
compassion, and equality form the
basis of a personal moral code that
may sometimes conflict with society’s
expectations and laws. When laws
violate principles, the individual should
act on principles not the law.
Right and wrong are determined on the basis of
self-chosen ethical principles. Principles are not
concrete rules – they are abstract moral guidelines
of universal justice and respect for the rights of all
human beings. These principles transcend any
law or social contract that is in conflict with them.
 Three Levels of Moral
Judgment
Preconventional
‐ Self-centered
‐ Focuses on getting rewards and avoiding
punishments

Conventional
‐ Centered on social relationships
‐ Focuses on compliance with social duties
and laws

Postconventional (Principled)
‐ Centered on ideals
‐ Focuses on moral principles
 Do you understand
Kohlberg’s stages of moral
development?

Test your knowledge with the

following activity
 Shaking her head and
frowning disapprovingly at the
teenager who was slipping a
candy bar from the shelf into
the pocket of his jacket, a
shopper lectured, “You know
as well as I do that shoplifting
is against the law. What if
everyone just did what they
wanted?”
What level of moral reasoning is
demonstrated by the shopper?
The shopper is in Stage 4 -
Fulfilling duties and
upholding the law to
maintain social order.

They are motivated to keep the

social system going and to avoid a
breakdown in its functioning.
Amy’s mother has insisted that
Amy not eat snacks between
meals. Now, if Amy should eat
this Twinkie before dinner, she
should be unhappy when
thinking about how she would
be disappointing her mother.

What level of moral reasoning

does this demonstrate?
 Amy is in stage 3…she has
to be a “good girl.” Her
good behavior is doing what
is expected by people who
are close to the person or
what people generally
expect of someone in a
given role.
 Well, Amy ate the Twinkie.
When talking with a friend
about it the next day, Amy’s
friend told her that she
(Amy) was bad because her
mother caught her eating
snacks between meals and
punished her for it.
Amy’s friend is using what level of
moral reasoning?
Amy’s friend is in Stage 1…
she is being obedient. The
conscience is made up of
fear of punishment and the
moral action is motivated by
the avoidance of
punishment.
The child does not consider the
interests of others or see how
someone else’s interests are different
from their own.
 asks you to charge a late fee to
customers who miss the deadline.
You believe that a late fee is
clearly unjustified; late orders
cause no real difficulty and cost
the company no more to process
than early orders. While you
recognize the right of the
company to make a profit, you
insist that a late fee is not fair to
the customer.
What level of moral reasoning are you
 You are in Stage 5 - being
right involves upholding
rules that are in the best
interest of the group. Rules
should be impartial, and
agreed upon by the group.
If the rule no longer
promotes the welfare of
individuals, then the rules
become invalid.
Conversation overheard in a
cafeteria line: “Why should
I want to report the guy for
failing to submit all the
money we collected for the
charity fund? Sure he kept
some of it, but he shared it
with me.”
What level of moral reasoning does
this demonstrate?
 This person is in Stage 2 -
what is right is based on the
“tit-for-tat” principle. It
involves an equal exchange
between people. People
look out for their own
needs.
They are nice to others because they
expect the favor to be returned.
People with higher-level moral reasoning
‐ Are more likely to assist others
‐ Are less likely to engage in delinquent
activities
‐ Are more likely to behave in a moral manner

Individuals at the preconventional and

conventional levels would act morally
when external forces demand, but
otherwise they might not

Individuals at the postconventional level

would act morally even when external
forces may not favor it
Criticisms of Kohlberg’s
Theory
It is culturally biased
‐ Does not apply to cultures outside a
constitutional democracy
‐ Does not incorporate the concerns and
experiences of non-Western people

It is considered sexist
‐ Gilligan believes that he places
women at a lower level of moral
reasoning (stage 3, approval) than he
does men (stage 4, law and order)
Gilligan’s Ethic of Caring
Proposed a developmental progression in
which individuals gain greater
understanding of caring and
responsibility

‐ First stage
‐ Children are preoccupied with their own needs

‐ Second stage
‐ People care for others, particularly those who are
less able to care for themselves (like infants and
aged)

‐ Third stage
‐ People care in all human relationships (with others
and oneself)
 Think about this Moral
Dilemma
Two young men, brothers got into serious
trouble. They were secretly leaving town in a
hurry and needed money. Karl, the older one,
broke into a store and stole a thousand dollars.
Bob, the younger one, went to a retired old man
who was known to help people in town. He told
the man that he was very sick and that he
needed a thousand dollars to pay for an
operation. Bob asked the old man to lend him
the money and promised that he would pay him
back when he recovered. Really Bob wasn't sick
at all, and he had no intention of paying the man
back. Although the old man didn't know Bob
very well, he lent him the money. So Bob and
Karl skipped town, each with a thousand dollars.

Think on your own…which is worse, stealing like

Karl or cheating like Bob? Why?
When Does Aggression
Emerge?
 Social Understanding
Children in this age begin to develop
social understanding or social
cognition, which is their
understanding of the social world.
This is a person’s awareness and
understanding of human personality,
emotions, intentions and actions.
They start to realize that people are
motivated by thoughts and emotions
that are different than their own.
 Empathy
A person’s understanding of the
emotions of another, including the ability
to figure out what would make that
person feel better.

The child must be able to identify the

emotions of others (to at least some degree)
and understand that another person is
feeling an emotion or is in some kind of need.

‐ This indicates a level of understanding of the

self, usually not evident until age 4.
At a city playground, 4-year-old Ezra
sees his playmate Ned trip, fall, and
begin to cry. Ezra goes to Ned,
telling him not to feel bad, and
offers to push him on a swing.

In order for Ezra to understand that

Ned needed comforting, it was
necessary for Ezra to feel empathy
with Ned’s unhappiness.

‐ To realize that he was hurt and warranted

sympathy.
 How Empathic Are You?
Answer on a scale of 0 to 4
0: Does not describe me very well --- 4: Describes me very well
1. Before criticizing somebody, I
try to imagine how I would feel
if I were in his or her place.
2. If I’m sure I’m right about
something, I don’t waste much
time listening to other people’s
arguments.
3. I sometimes try to understand
my friends better by imagining
how things look from their
perspective.
4. I believe that there are two
sides to every question and try
to look at them both.
5. I sometimes find it difficult to
see things from the “other
guy’s” point of view.
6. I try to look at everybody’s side
of a disagreement before I
make a decision.
7. When I’m upset at someone, I
usually try to “put myself in his
shoes” for a while.
8. When I see someone being
taken advantage of, I feel
kind of protective toward
him.
9. When I see someone being
treated unfairly, I sometimes
don’t feel much pity for him.
10. I often have tender,
concerned feelings for
people less fortunate than
me.
11. I would describe myself as a
pretty softhearted person.
12. Sometimes I don’t feel very
sorry for other people when
they have problems.
13. Other people’s misfortunes
do not usually disturb me a
great deal.
14. I am often quite touched by
things that I see happen.