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Kohlberg's Stage 1: Obedience and Punishment

The first stage of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, Obedience and Punishment, is part of pre-conventional morality. At this stage, an individual's behavior is driven by the desire to avoid punishment. Moral judgments are based on the physical consequences of an action, with actions that lead to punishment being perceived as 'bad' and those that do not as 'good'.

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Updated 2026-05-02

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