Officers in World War II, the Vietnam War, and the war in Bosnia have explained some of their behavior with the reasoning: "I was just following orders." This is an example of which stage of moral development?

a) punishment-obedience

b) social-contract

c) military-contract

d) law and order

The correct answer is: d) law and order

Explanation:

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development identifies three levels of moral thinking that leads to a person's cognitive development: preconventional, conventional and postconventional. Each level is comprised by two stages.

During the conventional level of morality, personal and societal relationships shape the individual's sense of morality, accepting authority and embracing social order. The two stages in this level of morality are: a) Good Boy, Nice Girl Orientation and b) Law and Order Orientation. In the latter, the individual accepts rules because of the importance of maintaining a functioning society. Morality is dictated from the outside.