Kohlberg

1
Kohlberg

• A Psychological Approach to Deciding What is Right

2
Moral Awareness

• Moral Awareness Moral Judgment
• With moral awareness a situation is interpreted
  as a moral or ethical issue
• People are more likely to recognize the moral
  nature of an issue or decision if they believe
  their co-workers will consider it problematic
• Issue discussed informally or formally in the
  organization
• Issue has been framed in moral language
• Issue has potential to inflict harm on lot of
  people and consequences are large
• Training and talking about issues increases moral
  awareness

3
Lawrence Kohlbergs Moral Reasoning Theory
Study of American Boys

• Moral reasoning develops sequentially through
  three broad levels, each of 2 stages
• As individuals move forward through the stages,
  they can comprehend all reasoning at stages below
  their own but cant comprehend reasoning more
  than one stage beyond their own
• Cognitive disequilibrium occurs when an
  individual perceives a contradiction between
  their reasoning level the next higher level
• A cognitive theory - reasoning process in
  decision, not the decision itself

4
Levels of Cognitive Moral Development

• Level 1 - Pre-conventional
• Obedience punishment orientation
• Instrumental purpose exchange
• Level 2 - Conventional
• Interpersonal accord, conformity, mutual
  expectations
• Social accord system maintenance
• Level 3 - Post-Conventional
• Social contract and individual rights
• Universal ethical principles

5
Level 1 - Preconventional

• Obedience and Punishment Orientation
• Person views rules as imposed external to self
• Guidance about what is right is explained in
  terms of rewards and punishment
• Guidance by obedience for its own sake
• Instrumental Purpose Exchange
• Concern for personal reward, satisfaction of a
  sense of duty to oneself are important
• Market reciprocity you scratch my back, and
  Ill scratch yours

6
Level 2 - Conventional

• Interpersonal Accord, Conformity, Mutual
  Expectations
• Internalize the shared moral norms of society or
  some segment of family or work group
• Whats morally right is what please or helps
  others Interpersonal trust approval
  important
• Social Accord Systems Maintenance
• Perspective broadens to consider society
• Concerned about fulfilling agreed upon duties and
  following rules or laws to promote the common
  good

7
Level 3 Post Conventional

• Social Contract Individual Rights
• Emphasis still on rules and laws
• Thinks about changing the law for social good
• Takes into account laws beyond societys laws
• Universal Ethical Principles
• Following well chosen ethical principles of
  justices and rights
• When laws violate principles, act in accord with
  principles

8
Are Women and Men Different?

• Carol Gilligan found that Males focused almost
  exclusively on justice considerations, while
  females focused on morality of care and
  emphasized relationships
• Most studies however find only trivial difference
  in reasoning between the sexes
• Really no significant difference in ethical
  approaches by the two sexes

9
Looking Up Looking Around

• Most adults operate at a conventional level This
  means they are highly susceptible to external
  influences
• Most people are highly likely to do what is
  expected of them as a result of the reward
  system, role expectations, authority figure
  demands, and group norms
• Most employees will be looking for guidance and
  theyll do whats right if guided and supported

10
Autonomous Principled Thinking Action

• Higher level thinking is more independent of
  external influences, but it is a minority that
  shares post-conventional thinking
• Bottom line for managers
• Most people influenced by what you do, say, and
  reward
• Employees look around for guidance from mangers
  peers
• They are likely to follow what they see
• Therefore, managers must structure ethical work
  environment
• Moral reasoning can be increased through training

11
Locus of Control

• Refers to an individuals perception of the
  control they have over the events in their life
• A single continuum from high to low
• People with a high internal locus of control
  believes that outcomes are the result of their
  own efforts
• People with a high external locus of control
  believe that life events are determined by fate
  luck, or powerful others
• Locus of control is not biological, but rather is
  something that one develops through interactions

12
Ethics and Locus of Control

• How is ethics related to locus of control?
• Individuals with a high locus of control see the
  relationships between their behavior and its
  outcomes more clearly
• Therefore, they feel a consequence for their
  actions
• Internals see themselves in charge of their fate
• Mangers may find it useful to determine where
  their employees are on the locus of control

13
Scripts

• Scripts are cognitive frameworks that guide human
  thought and action. Scripts contain information
  about the appropriate sequence of events in
  routine situations
• Cognitive script allows the individual to call on
  an established behavior pattern and act
  automatically without contemplating every
  decision or action in great detail
• Active thinking is not required because the
  situation fits the mental prototype, which
  triggers the script and the prescribed behaviors

14
Problems with Scripts

• Because we must process so much information,
  scripts provide a benefit, but
• Muffled emotions can become part of a script,
  which may cause people to overlook problems
• Scripts can be problematic for ethical decision
  making
• May not allow ethical considerations if not part
  of script
• Ethical issues do not lend themselves to
  automatic pilot decisions
• Easy to overlook issues that dont fit in script

15
Cost/Benefit Analysis

• Attempts to reduce complex decision making to
  quantitative terms are sometimes done value of
  a human life - 5 M for 30 year old
• Such quantitative analysis removes the moral
  dimension from decisions
• Should make ethical decisions part of the script
• Require decision making groups to include ethical
  analysis as part of their reports

16
Fact Gathering

• Most people are overconfident about their
  knowledge of the facts
• Confirmation trap is looking for facts that
  support your preferred choice
• Should consciously look at ways you could be
  wrong
• How could we be wrong?
• What facts are still missing?
• What facts could prove me wrong?

17
Reduced Number of Consequences

• People simplify their decisions and make them
  more manageable by reducing the number of
  consequences they consider
• Decision makers ignore consequences that are
  thought to only impact a number of people
• But consequences that impact only a few people
  can be serious Small Pox Vaccine that helps
  society but may be harmful to a few people
• Should invite all people to participate,
  especially those who disagree

18
Consequence for the Self vs. Consequences for
Others

• People tend to make decisions in a
  self-interested manner
• People also underestimate the extent that they
  are self-interested
• People tend to make personally prefer rather than
  the one that is most just when the consequences
  of multiple alternative are ambiguous
• People are not aware of their cognitive biases

19
Consequences as Risk

• People tend to underestimate potential risks
  because of illusion of optimism
• People generally think they are less susceptible
  to risk than others
• Illusion of control is the belief that we really
  are in charge of what happens to us
• Confirmation bias is to focus on information that
  confirms are preferences and discount information
  that conflicts with our choices

20
Consequences Over Time

• Decisions are not isolated but often become part
  of a series of choices within the context of a
  larger decision or project
• Escalation of commitment is to continue to be
  committed to the previous course of action even
  if that has been a bad one
• Must consider sunk costs not recoverable and
  should not be brought in decision
• Way to minimize escalation of commitment is to
  realize it exists

21
Thinking about Integrity

• In decision making, ask yourself what a person of
  integrity would do in this situation
• If your thoughts about yourself are controlled by
  illusion rather than reality, it may be difficult
  to make a decision about your integrity
• People have an illusion of superiority where
  people think they are more ethical, fair, and
  honest than most people
• Dont forget about your gut

22
Emotions in Ethical Decision Making

• People often take action because they feel
  empathy or anger, and not because of rational
  decision making
• Whether emotions help or hinder ethical decision
  making depends on where the emotions lead
• Negative aspects of empathy and outrage can lead
  to wrong actions
• If empathy leads you to think about the
  consequences of your decision, it is good
• If moral outrage lets you to seek justice, it is
  good