Chapter 4
Moral Development and the Expansion of Empathy
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
1. Kohlberg might argue that people such as Jesus, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. or
Gandhi operated at Level ________ in his theory.
2. The belief that everyone’s ethical opinion is valid is tied to ethical
__________________.
3. The final stage in the intellectual and ethical development of a young person is to live
your ________________.
4. The ethics of care theory of moral development argued that _____________, not
justice, is the dominant ethic of women.
5. The ability to understand the feelings and needs of others is known as ____________.
It tends to change as we mature.
Answers to fill-in-the-blank questions
1. A chief goal of moral development is to expand empathy.
2. We can more easily regress—operate at a lower stage of moral development than we
typically reside in—than we can rise to a higher level.
3. It’s rare for young adults to lapse into relativism.
4. Most people reach stage 6 in the cognitive-social theory of moral development.
5. Carol Gilligan’s theory says morally developed people will care for and care about
humanity in general.
6. The Gilligan and Belenky theories of moral development argue that lower levels of
development involve people who are powerless.
7. Young adults who are dualistic are said to have reached higher levels of intellectual
and emotional development.
Answers to true/false questions
1. True
For 1 through 5, match the moral development theory to its developer(s)
1. Intellectual and ethical development in young adults
2. Cognition-social theory
3. The ethics of care
4. Women’s ways of knowing
5. Four components of morality
A. James Rest (and others)
B. Mary Belenky
C. William Perry
D. Lawrence Kohlberg
E. Carol Gilligan
For 6 through 8, match the stage of moral development with its key attribute.
6. Lower
7. Middle
8. Higher
A. Work and play well with others.
B. Ego-centered.
C. Social contract
9. Most young people start their ethical journal by assuming that moral issues are:
A. unsettled.
B. black and white.
C. relative.
D. unrelated to their lives.
E. unknowable.
10. Most people who follow the “Golden Rule” of doing unto others as you would have
them do unto you are operating at ________ levels of moral development.
A. pre-conventional
B. conventional
C. post-conventional
D. absolute
E. connectional
11. The four components of morality defined by James Rest include of all of these
EXCEPT moral:
A. creativity
B. sensitivity
C. judgment
D. motivation and commitment
E. character and implementation
12. In the four components of morality, the component of moral sensitivity is tied to
moral:
A. sympathy.
B. empathy.
C. imagination.
D. implementation.
E. utilitarianism.
Answers to multiple choice questions
1. What are the differences between the moral development theories of Kohlberg and
Gilligan?
2. Describe the three “conventions” of moral development of Kohlberg, and give a
media-related example for each.
3. Kohlberg’s theory discusses stages in moral development. James Rest’s theory
discusses schemas. What are the differences between stages and schemas?