Your friend is in dire need of a job and you happen to pitch him for a role in your organization for which he is not at all suited for.Out of moral obligation to him, you even go lengths to maneuver the hiring manager and get him a job. Alternately your friend confides in you of cheating the organization with their intellectual property, and you are torn in between divulging the information to the authority or supporting your friend out of moral obligation.Are one of a kind of instances where we are stuck in moral dilemmas and our morality influences our decision. We naturally succumb to our emotional discernment and outweigh morality over rationality. Ever wondered, is it the right thing to do? Morality, largely defines itself as principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behaviour.However this is not it, morality is beyond right or wrong. 

“With age comes wisdom,” declared Oscar Wilde. “But sometimes age comes alone.” Analogously morality comes with age.Jean Piaget introduced the idea of how moral development occurs in stages, each level built on life experiences and active reasoning. Lawrence Kohlberg in 1958 furthered this idea by examining how moral reasoning transitions as we grow. He organized the six stages into three levels of moral reasoning post his experiment with using boys only as his subject.The three broad levels are Pre-Conventional, Conventional and Post- Conventional.

Pre Conventional :- The pre-conventional level of moral reasoning is mostly observed in children aged below nine, although adults can also exhibit this level of reasoning. Individuals in the pre-conventional level judge the morality of an action by its direct consequences. At this stage, according to Kohlberg, people see rules as fixed and absolute and they adhere to it as a means to avoid punishment.The pre-conventional level further consists of two stages:

Stage 1: Punishment/obedience orientation – Individuals are driven by the consequences of their actions.At young age, children reason out their actions resulting to punishment so avoids it. If they have been reprimanded for being late, they would be obedient and will be on time.Harder the punishment, higher the adherence.

Stage 2: Instrumental purpose orientation- At this stage, children seeks personal benefit as a sole reason for their moral reasoning.They realize the fact that with every transaction they can negotiate and look for themselves in it.Hence children seek rewards in exchange of adhering to dictum laid down by their parents.

This stage is termed as pre-conventional due to the limited association that children have with the outlined principles. They perceive the ethics taught as something that society imposes, not as something they internalize themselves and with their limited cerebral development opts for either obedience or reward.

Conventional :- The conventional level of moral reasoning is archetypal of adolescents and teenagers were conforming to societal views and expectations is the driving force.The emphasis shifts from self-interest as in Pre Conventional, to relationships with other people and social systems. Children, mostly pre teen or teens strives to support rules that are set forth by others such as parents, peers, and the authorities in order to win their approval or to maintain social order.

Stage 3: Good Boy/Nice Girl orientation – The stage three is primarily of carrying good image which gets them a social nod or an acceptance by sticking to what is considered to be right as instructed by parents, peers or authorities.

Stage 4: Law and order orientation – Moral reasoning in stage four is thus beyond the need for individual approval exhibited in stage three.A this stage, teenager acknowledges the fact that it is important to obey laws, dictums and social conventions because of their importance in maintaining a functioning society. 

Post Conventional :- At the post- conventional level, the individual moves beyond the perspective of societal norms or law &order and reasons out through abstract principles and values that apply to all situations and societies. The individual attempts to take the perspective of all individuals.At this evolved level, adult realizes that rules are not absolute dictates that must be obeyed without question.It can be challenged hence it is at this stage that individuals elevate their own moral evaluation of a situation over social conventions.

Stage 5: Social contract orientation – At stage five, individuals tend to deliberate on the morals and ethics of the society and identifies the disconnect in their personal values and attempts to fix what they do not conform with. It is at this matured stage when individuals  accept the fact of others holding different opinions and values, and it is paramount that they be respected and honored impartially. Thats where the whole unity in diversity stems from. 

Stage 6: Universal ethical principle orientation – According to Kohlberg, this is the highest stage of functioning wherein the appropriate action is determined by one’s self-imbibed ethical principles based on conscience.This is the most evolved stage where individuals follow the internalized principles of justice, even if they conflict with laws and rules.

A common observation is that individual seldom reaches to stage five or six but is subconsciously pinned at level one or two. As cited by Kohlberg and Piaget, individual should have their moral conscious evolved with age. It is because of our inability to outgrow our moral reasoning that we base our decisions on pleasing others life long, by seeking reward, avoiding punishment or conforming to something that we are not aligned with. Ideally as matured individuals we should strive to upscale our moral conscious with developing a personal code of behaviour which is not tainted with the varied levels of moral development as stated.