Kohlberg's theory of moral development expanded on the ideas of which earlier psychologist?

• A. Sigmund Freud
• B. B. F. Skinner
• C. Erik Erikson
• D. Jean Piaget

Answer: (C)

Kohlberg's theory builds on Jean Piaget's work by linking moral reasoning to a child's growing ability to think and understand rules. Piaget showed that children move from a view of morality as fixed and dictated by authority (rules are unchangeable) to an understanding that rules can be agreed upon and fairness matters. Kohlberg took that idea and expanded it into a detailed, stage-based progression: three levels—preconventional, conventional, and postconventional—with two stages in each level, totaling six stages. He argued that as people develop cognitively, they reason about right and wrong in increasingly abstract and principled ways, not just based on consequences or obedience. He used moral dilemmas to study the reasoning behind judgments, focusing on why something is right or wrong rather than simply whether the action follows a rule. While Freud, Skinner, and Erikson contributed important theories in other areas, Kohlberg's major contribution was extending Piaget's ideas into a structured view of how moral thinking matures.