<P> There have been critiques of the theory from several perspectives . Arguments include that it emphasizes justice to the exclusion of other moral values, such as caring; that there is such an overlap between stages that they should more properly be regarded as separate domains; or that evaluations of the reasons for moral choices are mostly post hoc rationalizations (by both decision makers and psychologists) of essentially intuitive decisions . </P> <P> Nevertheless, an entirely new field within psychology was created as a direct result of Kohlberg's theory, and according to Haggbloom et al.'s study of the most eminent psychologists of the 20th century, Kohlberg was the 16th most frequently cited in introductory psychology textbooks throughout the century, as well as the 30th most eminent overall . </P> <P> Kohlberg's scale is about how people justify behaviors and his stages are not a method of ranking how moral someone's behavior is . There should, however, be a correlation between how someone scores on the scale and how they behave, and the general hypothesis is that moral behaviour is more responsible, consistent and predictable from people at higher levels . </P> <P> Kohlberg's six stages can be more generally grouped into three levels of two stages each: pre-conventional, conventional and post-conventional . Following Piaget's constructivist requirements for a stage model, as described in his theory of cognitive development, it is extremely rare to regress in stages--to lose the use of higher stage abilities . Stages cannot be skipped; each provides a new and necessary perspective, more comprehensive and differentiated than its predecessors but integrated with them . </P>

What are the stages of kohlberg moral development