Examining Kohlberg's and Rest's Moral Development Models

School: Colorado State University, Global Campus - Course: ACT 560 - Subject: Accounting

Understanding Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development Tammy Weatherford Colorado State University Global ACT560 Jennifer Bolden December 18, 2022

2 Understanding Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development Introduction The corporate accounting and finance world has been in the spotlight severally due to numerous unethical accounting and business practices committed by individual accounting professionals. The phenomenon indicates that a person's knowledge level only partially determines individual behavior in these unethical practices. One variable that scholars expect to correlate with unethical accounting practices is a person's moral development. Kohlberg explores children's and adolescents' thinking processes through their understanding of various moral concepts, including human welfare, equality, justice, and rights. Kohlberg's Moral development theory, cognitive in nature, focuses on the process of thinking occurring when a person makes a decision regarding a behavior's rightness or wrongness (Garrigan et al., 2018, p. 82). Therefore, it emphasizes how individuals deal with a moral issue, not what they decide or do. The three general levels of Kohlberg's theory are pre-conventional, conventional, and principled or post- conventional. In the case study, Dave experiences a moral dilemma where he is puzzled as to what alternative his organization should follow. Other peers in larger firms have indicated that the rule is not crucial in the firm's operations. However, he believes his firm is a stickler for complying with the rule. Rest's Four Component Model One way to make rational and ethical decisions deliberately and consciously is to use the four-component model developed by James Rest. The four-component model comprises moral awareness or sensitivity, judgment, intention, and action (Khursheed et al., 2019, p. 427). One of the components present in this case is moral awareness, where Dave recognizes that the situation contains a moral issue where many partners in his firm do not comply with the rules. Identifying

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3 a moral issue entails an individual's knowledge that their behavior will help or hurt others. According to the case study, Dave should interpret the situation based on particular courses of action and determine who and how these actions will affect the firm and auditors. Failures occur when Dave needs to consider confidentiality by discussing the rule with other peers in larger organizations. Another component present in the case study is moral judgment which entails establishing and evaluating the moral justification for possible remedies to the moral issue. It requires moral reasoning to establish ethically sound alternatives and possible consequences (Khursheed et al., 2019, p. 428). Dave informally discusses the issue with his peers from larger organizations who indicate they do not feel the significance of the rule in their firm's operations. Dave cannot follow his peer's course of disregarding the rule since his firm has prided itself on complying with it. Dave should formulate and critique the issue's possible courses of action and outcomes. Dave can use Rest's model to make ethical and rational decisions by first identifying the ethical issue and assessing his awareness of the potential problem and factors that may negatively or positively influence his awareness. He should determine how his action may affect the firm and colleagues and how the affected parties may interpret the impact. To construct a morally sound judgment, Dave should ask questions that will assist in developing and clarifying his judgment regarding those choices and think through those questions since they may negatively or positively influence that judgment (Nguyen & Crossan, 2021, p. 181). Moral motivation entails a person's intention to make a moral choice over a different value option. Thus, an individual decides to do the right thing, prioritizing it among uncomfortable and competing choices.