CHAPTER TWO

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

2.1. Basics of Human Development

Development - is defined as a progressive series of orderly, coherent and life long process of
physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and language changes throughout the life span of an
individual due to nature and nurture.

Growth - refers to the quantitative changes in the process of human development. It is concerned
with changes in size (height, weight, width, and physiological function), complexity (cell division
and multiplication of cell within), and proportion (ratio of changes in different parts of your
body).

Maturation- refers to genetically programmed, naturally occurring changes in the course of

human development.

Learning - is a relatively permanent change in behavior that occurs as a result of practice or

experience in the interaction with environment.
Generally, growth, maturation, and learning are changes in the individual and mutually
contribute to her/her development. Development, in this connection, is the result of the totality of
the contribution of heredity and environment.
Growth Maturation Learning Development

In contrast to specific changes occurring as a result of learning, development entails on an overall

reorganization and restructuring of an individual’s make up.

2.2. Principles of Human Development

These principles or characteristics describe typical development as a predictable and orderly
process. That is, we can predict how most children will develop and they will develop at the
same rate and at about the same time as other children. Although there are individual differences
in children's personalities, activity levels, and timing of developmental milestones such as ages
and stages, the principles and characteristics of development are universal patterns. Some of the
major principles of human development are:

1. Development proceeds from head to tail -This is called the cephalocaudal principle.
According to this principle, human development proceeds from head to lower body parts
and extremities. The cephalocaudal principle applies to both physical and functional
development.
2. Development proceeds from the center of the body outward - This is the principle of
proximodistal development. According to this principle, human development proceeds
from the center of the body (the proximal region) to the outer body parts and extremities
(distal region).
3. Development depends on maturation and learning - Human growth and development
are influenced by both maturation and learning.
4. Development proceeds from the simple to complex- Children perform simple tasks
before doing complex ones. For example, children learn letters before words.
 5. Development is a continuous process - As a child develops, he or she adds to the skills
already acquired and the new skills become the basis for further achievement and mastery
of skills. Most children follow a similar pattern. Also, one stage of development lays the
foundation for the next stage of development.
6. Development proceeds from the general to specific – development occurs from large
muscle movements to more refined (smaller) muscle movements. For example, in motor
development, the infant will be able to grasp an object with the whole hand before using
only the thumb and forefinger.
7. There are different individual rates of development. Each child is different and the
rates at which individual children develops is different. Although the patterns and
sequences for development are usually the same for all children, the rates at which
individual children reach developmental stages will be different. For instance, some
children walk at ten months while others walk a few months older at eighteen months of
age.

2.3. Aspects of Human Development

The aspects of development could be many but the most important development aspects are
physical development, cognitive development, language development, social development,
emotional development, moral development, and gender development.

 Physical development - refers to changes in the bodily structures and functions of different
body parts.
 Cognitive development - refers to intellectual development; it deals with abilities, such as
processing information that includes thinking, imagination, memorizing, learning, reasoning,
decision making.
 Language development - refers to changes in the use of speech
 Social development - refers to changes in forming relationships/interaction with others.
 Emotional development - refers to changes in feelings; causes, and expressions of emotions/
feelings.
 Moral development - refers to changes in reasoning about "Right" or "Wrong”.
 Gender development - refers to changes in understanding the roles played by males and
females.

Approaches in the Study of Human Development

Studies on human development follow two main approaches. These are:
A. The topical approach: researchers who follow this approach focus on specific aspects of
development across the life-span. In this approach, human development is divided into
different areas of growth, including physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and personality
development.
B. The ages and stages approach: researchers who follow this approach focus on the changes
and influences that occur during specific stages of human life. Following this approach,
human life can be classified into eight stages. These are:
1. Prenatal period (from conception to birth) 5. Adolescence (ages 12 to 19)
2. Infancy (birth to age 2) 6. Early adulthood (ages 19 to 40)
3. Early childhood (ages 2 to 6) 7. Middle adulthood (ages 40 to 60)
 4. Middle childhood (ages 6 to 12) 8. Late adulthood (ages 60 and beyond)

Basic Issues in Human Development

1. Nature versus Nurture (nativism versus empiricism): is development primarily product of
nature (biological forces like heredity, gene, maturational process) or nurture (environmental
forces such as, learning experience, child rearing practices, societal changes and culture)?
Now days, most developmental psychologists agree that development is the product of the
interaction between the two.
2. Activity versus passivity: are people active in their development or are they passively
shaped by forces outside themselves? Some theorists believe that children are active
creatures of their own development by exploring the world and shaping their environments.
And others argue that humans are passive beings who are largely the product of forces
beyond their control- usually environmental influences but possibly strong biological forces.
3. Continuity versus discontinuity: are humans changing gradually or dramatically?
Continuity theorists view human development as a process that occurs in small steps without
sudden changes and it is quantitative. On the other hand, discontinuity theorists view human
development as a series of stair steps, each of which elevates the individual to a new level of
functioning.
4. Universality versus context specificity: are developmental changes common from person to
person and from culture to culture to everyone (universal) or different from person to person
(context specific).
5. Stability versus plasticity/ early versus late experience: Stability refers to the degree to
which people maintain their same rank order in comparison to other children with respect to
some characteristic and Plasticity refers to the ability to change as a result of experience. Do
early childhood experiences have the greatest impact on development, or are later events
equally important?
6. Assumptions about human Nature: Are people inherently good, inherently bad or neither?
Because of different developmental issues, different psychologists develop different theories
of human development. Some of the major ones will be discussed here under.
2.4. Theories of Human Development 
2.4.1. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Early researcher Jean Piaget developed his theory from detailed observations of infants and
children, most especially his own three children. He made significant contributions to the
understanding of how children think about the world around them and shifted the view of
children’s thinking from that of “little adults” to something quite different from adult thinking.
Piaget believed that children from mental concepts or schemes as they experience new situations
and events. Piaget argued that children cognitively adapt to their environment through two
interrelated processes, assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation is interpretation of actions or events in terms of one’s present schemas—that is,

fitting reality into one’s existing ways of understanding. For example, if a mother points to a
picture of an apple and tells her child, “that’s an apple”, the child forms a scheme for “apple”
that looks something like the picture. Piaget also believed that children first try to understand
new things in terms of schemes they already possess, a process called assimilation.
 Accommodation is the modification of schemas to fit reality. For instance, in the above example,
the child might see an orange and say “apple” because both objects are round. When corrected,
the child might alter or adjust old schemes to fit new information and experience; that is
accommodation. 

Piaget proposed that four stages of cognitive development occur from infancy to adolescence.  
1. Sensory motor stage (Birth to two years)
In this stage, children base their understanding of the world primarily on touching, sucking,
chewing, shaking, and manipulating objects. In this stage, children have relatively little
competence in representing the environment by using images, language, or other kinds of
symbols. Consequently, infants lack what Piaget calls object permanence. Object permanence is
the awareness that objects and people continue to exist even if they are out of sight. Until the age
of about 9 months, children will make no attempt to locate the hidden toy believing that “out of
sight is out of mind”. However, soon after that age they will begin an active search for the
missing object, indicating that they have developed a mental representation of the toy. Object
permanence, then, is a critical development during the sensory motor stage.

2. Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years)

This stage is called preoperational because the child cannot perform what Piaget called
operations or mental manipulations of reality. Operation refers to the thought process governed
by rules/ logic. It is a time of developing language and concepts. Children at this stage can
understand through symbolic thinking. This means that at this stage, a child can use a word or a
symbol to represent things around them. E.g. a word can symbolize a car or a house. The
common limitations of the preoperational stage of thought are:
I. Ego-centrism: refers to the inability to perceive reality from the viewpoint of another person.
For example, children of this period mostly cover their eyes and say “you cannot see me”.
Since they cover their eyes and are unable to see, they think other persons as unable to see.
II. Lack of ability to decenter: children of this stage cannot perform mental operations
concentrating on many things at the same time because they cannot review and integrate a
variety of inputs. The mental addition and subtraction of objects and the operation of logical
thought is not yet developed. Example, is a child is asked to choose among two cups of juice
which are of equal volume but one in a taller and thinner and the other shorter and wider,
she/he prefers to take the taller instead of the shorter ignoring its
III. Lack of ability to reverse: At this period they are not able to reverse logical operations.
They cannot move forth and back or return to the point of origin. E.g. the child of this stage
does not follow sensibly that 3+7=10, then 10-7=3.
IV. Lack of concept of conservation: in this stage children cannot understand the concept of
conservation. Conservation shows the understanding, for instance, that a given quantity of a
substance remains the same despite the difference in the appearance. For example, if milk is first
kept in two cups of the same size, and then the milk of the one cup is poured into a broad and
short glass and the other is to along and thin glass, the child of this stage prefers to take the milk
in a long glass. This is because the child is unable to recognize that the amount of milk is the
same despite the containers are changed.
V. Animism: the tendency of preoperational children to consider everything as living and attribute
life to animate objects, i.e., they have the tendency to think inanimate objects as having human
power like thinking, emotion, etc. E.g., the child might think of the wind as alive because it moves.
The Sun, the Moon, Stars, Clouds etc., are regarded as living organizations.
VI. Realism: is the tendency of preoperational stage children to think pictures, concepts,
and symbols as real objects. They do have also tendency to see the Psychological events like
dreams and thoughts as physical events. For example, they believe that whatever they dreamt
could happen to them in actual life.
VII. Artificialism: is the tendency to interpret all phenomena, including natural
phenomena as made by human beings, e.g Sun, Moon etc.

1. Concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years)

The cognitive abilities of the concrete operational stage children undergo dramatic changes.
Piaget calls this stage first operational stage. This stage’s children think logically about concrete
objects and problems but not about abstract problems. At this stage, the major characteristics of
children include: increased freedom of control in thinking, and understanding of relationships
between events and symbols, logical and objectivity of mental operation, the ability to add,
subtract, classify, order, and deal with numbers and the ability to apply rules to the social
situation. However, children’s thinking is limited in flexibility and they tend to think about
concrete rather than abstract thinking instead children in this stage understand the world at a
concrete/tangible level.

2. Formal operational stage (11 and above years to adulthood)

 In this stage, young people begin reasoning about an abstract form of ideas and not only about
their concrete content: hence it is named as formal operational stage. At this stage, the thought
process of children becomes quite abstract, systematic and reasonable, and well-integrated. Now,
they solve problems more systematically and the bases of actions are not trial and error. Children
may begin to think abstractly and see possibilities beyond the here and now, and immediate and
concrete environment. These abilities continue to develop into adulthood.

Individuals of this stage can organize information, reason scientifically, formulate concepts,
build hypotheses based on the understanding of causality, and test their hypothesis. E.g., “if
children are asked a bit complicated cases like “Teferi is shorter than Gemechu and Teferi is
taller than Ahmed, and asked, “who is the tallest of the three?” The formal operational stage
children can imagine several different relationships between the heights of Teferi, Gemechu and
Ahmed beyond answering the specific question raised.
 
Though the formal operational stage children /adolescents/ is logical, they have cognitive
limitation called adolescent egocentrism (imaginary audience and personal fable).  Adolescent
egocentrism is the ability to distinguish one’s point of view from that of another person.  
Imaginary audience: The belief that other people are preoccupied with one’s appearance and
behavior. Young teenagers assume that other people are as concerned about them as they are
themselves. E.g. if a girl decided she looks attractive, she may believe not only that everyone
else considers her attractiveness but also that they spend as much time thinking about her
attractiveness as she does.
Personal fable: This is one’s immortal and unique existence. It is the belief that one’s own life is
more unique, dramatic and heroic than other people’s lives. It also shows the belief that the
moral laws of nature that apply to other people don’t apply to adolescents. E.g. the following are
some comments by adolescents that represent this thinking. “Mom, you don’t know what it is to
be in love!” “Other people may become addicted to drugs, but not me”.
 2.4.2. Freud’s psychosexual theories of development

Psychosexual development refers to a shift in areas of gratification, known as erogenous zones or

area of the body that produces pleasure. At each stage, a different erogenous zone becomes a
source of pleasure, as well as conflicts. Conflicts that are not fully resolved can result in fixation.
Fixation is getting “stuck” to some degree in an early stage of development. The child may grow
into an adult but will still carry emotional and psychological state of mind from that earlier fixed
stage. According to Freud, during development, each person passes through five psychosexual
stages.
The oral stage (Birth to one year) - In this stage, the erogenous zone is the area around the
mouth, through which the baby gets pleasure from eating, sucking, and biting. According to
Freud, the most important social conflict of this stage is weaning (taking the mother’s breast
away from the child, who will now drink from a cup). Weaning that occurs too soon or too late
can result in too little or too much satisfaction of the child’s needs, which leads to fixated adult
personality. Fixation because of overindulge results in over eating, drinking too much, chain
smoking, talking too much, nail biting, gum chewing and a tendency to be either too dependent
or optimistic. On the other hand, fixation because of under indulge leads individuals to be too
aggressive and pessimistic.
The Anal stage (One to three years) - In this stage, the erogenous zone moves from the mouth
area to the anus. Freud believed that children in this stage got a great deal pleasure from both
withholding and then releasing their feces at will. This allows children to develop self-control as
well as please their parents, both desirable goals for children of this stage. The main area of
conflict here is toile training, the demand that the child use the toilet at a particular time in a
particular way. Fixation in the anal stage comes from too harsh toilet training can take one of two
forms.

The child who rebels openly against the demands of the parents and other adults will refuse to go
in the toilet, instead defecating where and when he/she feels like doing it. This fixation leads to
adult as a person who sees messiness as a statement of personal control and who is somewhat
destructive and hostile. The other anal fixation is the child who is terrified of making a mess and
rebels passively-refusing to go at all or retaining the feces. No mess, no punishment. As adults
they are stingy,

The phallic stage (Three to six years) - In this stage, the erogenous zone shifts to the genital
organs and the child feels pleasure from the stimulation of the genital regions. During this stage,
the young boy must resolve the Oedipus complex and the girls must resolve the Electra complex.
Oedipus complex refers to the feeling of attraction of a male child for his mother and rivalry
towards his father. Electra complex refers to the female counterpart of the Oedipus complex in
which the little girl feels attraction for her father and rivalry toward her mother.
If children are grown without same sex parent and their love for the opposite sex parent is
encouraged, fixation will be there. People who are fixated at this stage, according to Freud, will
often exhibit promiscuous sexual behavior and very vain. The vanity is seemed as a covering for
feelings of low self-worth arising from the failure of identification and the inadequate formation
of superego. Additionally, men with this fixation may be “mamma’s boys” who never quite grow
up, and women may look for much older father figures to marry. Phallic stage conflict is
resolved with two processes: Repression of children’s sexual desire towards their opposite sex
parents and identification with same same-sex parent (girl pretends her mother and boy pretends
his father).

The latency stage (Six-years to puberty). At the end of the phallic stage children’s sexual
desire towards their opposite sex parents are repressed back and identification with same sex
parent takes place. Hence, this stage is a period of relatively child is free of erotic/sexual
feelings. Instead they expend their efforts on acquiring cultural and social skills through play.

The Genital stage (Puberty to Adulthood). In this stage, heterosexual desire becomes more
active. The stage is characterized by the entry into mature sexuality wherein the adolescence is
on the way towards a "normal" life. Normal life here indicates the attraction of adolescents
towards their opposite sex peers.

2.4.3. Erikson’s theory of Psychosocial development

Erikson developed one of the more comprehensive theories of social development. Psychosocial
development involves changes in our interactions and understanding of one another as well as in
our knowledge and understanding of ourselves as members of society.
Erikson (1963) viewed the developmental changes that occur throughout life as a series of eight
stages of psychosocial development. Erikson suggests that passage through each of the stages
necessitates the resolution of a crisis or conflict. Accordingly, Erikson represents each stage as a
pairing of the most positive and most negative aspects of the crisis of that period. Although each
crisis is never resolved entirely—life becomes increasingly complicated as we grow older—it
has to be resolved sufficiently to equip us to deal with demands made during the following stage
of development. The eight stages of Erikson’s psychosocial development are:
1. Trust Vs. Mistrust (Birth to 1 year).
This stage centers on the crisis of trust vs. mistrust. During this crisis time, the infants/ babies
learn either to trust of the environment (if their needs are met by the caregivers) or to mistrust it
(if their needs are not met by the caregivers). I.e. babies must trust others to satisfy their needs. If
their needs are not met, they fail to develop feelings of trust in others and remain suspicious and
worry forever.

Trust is the cornerstone of the child’s attitude towards life. So, parents must maintain a nurturing
environment (i.e. they must treat them with love instead of being anxious, angry, impatient and
incapable of meeting needs) so that the children develop basic trust in others. The virtue in this
stage is hope.
2.  Autonomy Vs. Shame (1 to 3 years/toddlers)
This stage centers on the crisis of autonomy vs. shame or doubt. At this stage, toddlers acquire
self-confidence if they learn/succeed to regulate their bodies and act independently. But, if they
fail or labeled as inadequate by others caring for them, they experience shame and doubt their
abilities to interact effectively with the external world, and fail to develop self-confidence. One
should know that children of this stage develop autonomy through bowel and bladder control and
encouraging children to do what they can do is the key to their developing a sense of autonomy.
People with a sense of autonomy have a basic attitude of “I think I can do it” and “I have
something of value to offer”. The virtue here is will. 

3. Initiative Vs. Guilt (3 to 6 years/preschoolers)

At this stage, children acquire new physical and mental skills but also learn to control their
impulses and they can begin to formulate a plan of action and carry it through. Unless a good
balance is struck between skills and impulses, they may become either unruly or too inhibited. If
a good balance is kept and the positive outcome is there, the sense of initiation is acquired if not
a sense of guilt is developed. If they strike the right balance between the feeling of initiative and
feelings of guilt, all is well.

If children are punished for expressing their desires and plans, they will develop a sense of guilt
that leads to fear and lack of assertiveness. If children are allowed to express their desires
through guidance, they will develop sense of initiative. Children with a sense of initiative accept
new challenges, are self-starters, and have a strong sense of personal adequacy. So, children must
be encouraged to initiate own actions in a socially acceptable way. Thus, the virtue here is
purpose.

4. Industry Vs. inferiority (7 to 11 years/late childhood)

At this stage, children must learn/acquire language, mathematical, social, and physical necessary
for their adult life. They also begin to compare their physical, intellectual and social skills and
accomplishments with those of their peers. If children successfully acquire these new skills and
their accomplishments are valued by others, they develop/form a sense of productivity and have
a positive view of their competence or achievements. If they take justified pride in these, they
acquire high self-esteem. In contrast, if they constantly compare themselves unfavorably and
labeled as second to others, they may develop low self-esteem and a sense of inferiority. If a
child’s cultural, religious or racial group is considered as inferior, a sense of personal inferiority
may also develop.

Children with a sense of industry enjoy learning about new things and experimenting with new
ideas and take criticism well. So, at this stage, children must learn to feel competent enough
especially concerning peers. The virtue here is competency.

5. Identity Vs. Role confusion (12 to 18 years/Adolescence)

This stage is the crucial stage in Erikson’s theory. The term identity refers to “Who am I? To
whom do I belong? And what is my role in the society?” questions of adolescents. Adolescents
are raising such questions seeking to establish a clear self-identity and an understanding of their
unique traits and what is really of central importance to them. Though these questions are
questions of life at many points, for Erikson, during adolescence, these questions must be
answered effectively. If they are not answered effectively, individuals may drift along uncertain
of where they want to go or what they wish to accomplish.

Adolescents adopt many different strategies to help them resolve their identity crises. They try
out many different roles: the good girl/boy, the rebel, the dutiful daughter/ son, the athlete, and
all join many different social groups. They consider many possible social levels, different kinds
of persons they may potentially become. Out of these experiences, they gradually put together a
cognitive framework for understanding themselves and self-schema. The adolescents who
develop a solid sense of identity formulate a satisfying plan and gain a sense of security. The
adolescents who do not develop a solid sense of identity may develop role confusion and a sense
of aimlessness.

Generally, adolescents must integrate various roles into constant self-identity. If they fail to do
so, they may experience confusion over which they are. At this period, adolescents must develop
a sense of role identity, especially in selecting a future career. Those with a sense of self-identity
are less susceptible to peer pressure, have a higher level of self-acceptance, are optimistic and
believe that they are in control of their destinies, while those with a sense of confusion can be
described oppositely. The virtue here is fidelity.

6. Intimacy Vs. Isolation (18/20 to 35 years/early adulthood)

The establishment of close interpersonal bonds is the major task of this stage. During early
adulthood, individuals must develop the ability to form deep, intimate relationships with others.
The intimacy is both sexual intimacy and emotional attachments to others. This may especially
be observed by the formation of adult sexual relationships in the form of marriage. If
interpersonal bonds are made, the basic feelings of intimacy with others will result. If they do
not, they may develop a sense of isolation, and become emotionally isolated/detached from
society. The virtue here is love.
7. Generosity Vs. Stagnation/self-absorption (35 to 60 years/middle adulthood)
Middle adult life is characterized by the crises of the need for individuals to overcome selfish,
self-centered concerns and to take an active interest in helping and guiding the next generations.
For parents, such activities are focused on their children. Individuals who successfully resolve
this crisis and turn away from total absorption with their own lives, health and careers discover
new meaning. People who do not resolve this crisis, in contrast, become absorbed in their own
lives and gradually cut themselves off from an important source of growth and satisfaction.
Therefore, during middle adulthood individuals must take an active interest in helping and
guiding younger persons. So, adults develop themselves through guiding their children. The
virtue here is care.
8. Integrity Vs. Despair (above 65 years/old age)

As people reach the last decades of their life time, it is natural to look back and ask “Did my life
have had meaning? Did my being here really matter?” If they can answer these questions
affirmatively and feel that they achieved their goals and made positive contributions to society
and others, they attain a sense of integrity. This is characterized by composure,
broadmindedness, appropriate emotional forbearance, and peace of mind. These elderly people
are likely to reflect on their lives positively even in the face of imminent death. If their answers
for these questions are negative, they may feel a sense of despair, they feel that they have wasted
their lives and experience many regrets. The virtue here is wisdom.

2.4.4. Kohlberg’s theory of moral development

In everyday life, people should gradually develop their moral judgment/reasoning and their
ability to distinguish right and wrong. Moral development refers to changes in one’s
understanding and the skills of adopting standards of right and wrong or ability to distinguish
good from bad. This helps to guide moral behaviors (doing the right thing).

The well known theory about moral development is developed by Lawrence Kohlberg. Kohlberg
viewed moral thinking as progressing through a series of distinct stages. Kohlberg developed his
theory by presenting moral dilemmas to individuals of various age levels and analyzing their
responses. Moral dilemmas are hypothetical situations in which not id right. One of the
commonly used examples of moral dilemmas is the story of Heinz, presented below.
A woman in Europe was dying from a rare disease. Her only hope was a drug that a
local druggist had discovered. The druggist was charging ten times more than it cost
him to make it. Heinz, the husband of the dying woman, had desperately tried to
borrow money to buy the drug, but he could borrow only half of the amount he
needed. He went to the druggist, told him that his wife was dying, and asked to let
him pay the druggist later or to sell the drug at a lower cost. The druggist refused,
saying that he had discovered the drug and he was going to make money from it.
Later, Heinz broke into the druggist’s store to steal the drug for his wife. Should
Heinz have done that? Why?
Based on the responses for his hypothetical questions, Kohlberg has distinguished three major
levels divided into six sequential stages of moral development. They are:

 Level 1. Preconventional moral Level 2. Conventional Level 3. Post conventional

reasoning (4-10 years)  moral reasoning  (10- moral reasoning (young
late adolescence) adolescence -Adulthood)
Stage 1.   Obedience- Stage 3. Good boy/nice Stage 5. Social contract
punishment  orientation      girl orientation          orientation 
                                          
Stage 2. Instrumental-relativism Stage 4. Law and order Stage 6.Universal ethical
orientation                                                    principle orientation

Level 1: Pre-conventional moral reasoning (4-10 years) 

In level 1, children’s ideas about right and wrong relies on their personal needs and perceptions.
Their reasoning is based on their needs and perceptions that do not reflect the principled
conventions. This level is sub divided into two stages.
Stage 1: Obedience-punishment orientation - In this stage, children distinguish rightness and
wrongness of a behavior by rewards and punishments involved. In other words, physical
consequences of an action determine its goodness or badness.
Stage 2: Instrumental-relativism orientation - In, this stage, children evaluate action based on
their own needs and wishes. What satisfies one’s own needs is right and what does not satisfy
their needs wrong.
Level 2: Conventional moral reasoning (10-late adolescence)
In this level, children’s judgment of right or wrong action is based on others' approval, family
expectation, traditional values, laws, and legality of society and country. This level has two
stages.
Stage 3- Good boy/nice girl orientation - In this stage, an individual evaluates right and wrong
actions by the approval/criticism of immediate peers or close family. Good is what pleasures the
immediate others.
Stage 4: Law and order- In this stage, individual judges her/his actions based on laws and
social order.
Level 3: Post conventional moral reasoning (young adolescence -Adulthood)

At this level, individual judges actions as right or wrong based on universal, abstract principles
that take precedence over laws and conventions and even a person’s peers and family. This level
consists of two stages.
Stage 5: Social contract orientation- In this stage, individual begins regarding right and wrong
as a product of social contracts and the set of rules/agreements that originate from the discussion,
negotiations, and a compromise that can be changed. So good (right) is determined by socially
agreed up standards of individuals’ rights.

Stage 6: Universal ethical principle orientation- In this stage, individuals’ judge action
considering the universal moral principles (abstract and ethical ones) like justice, human rights,
human dignity, and equality. Such individual prepares to sacrifice all, including her/his life for
upholding these principles.