Older and more moral?--age-related changes in performance on Piagetian moral reasoning tasks

Abstract

Three age groups (teenage; 50-65 and 65+) completed a written version of Piaget's moral reasoning tasks to determine the general level of moral reasoning and performance on eight separate categories. Significant age effects were found. Though the nature of the age group difference was mixed, younger subjects consistently achieved lower levels of performance. Results indicate that Piaget overestimated all subjects' level of performance on his tasks and that, although there are differences in different areas of moral reasoning, the relationship with age is not uniform in its direction.