Kohlberg’s stages of moral development help clarify Fowler’s stages of faith development. Moral development gives us an understanding of the individual’s interactions with the social world. It also tells us how the individual formulates her ideas of justice, fairness, and care. These are critical elements, because they reveal our level of ethical behavior, and they explain how we treat others and how we grow in our own ability to experience intimacy, empathy, and compassion.

The first level of moral development appears during elementary school years. At this stage, the individual listens to authority such as parents, teachers, or religious figures to know what to do. The determination of whether their actions are good or bad is based on the consequences of the act, meaning that if the individual will be punished for the act, then it is a bad act (Barger, 2000).

At this stage, the individual considers right or good action to be one that satisfies the individual’s own needs. Fairness, reciprocity, and equal sharing are present, but they are interpreted as "If I do this for you, then I expect you to do the same for me." Personal reward and gain are the reasons for doing ‘right’ or ‘good’ acts (Barger, 2000).

This stage represents the individual’s first contract or moral relationship with society. It flows from the individual’s desire to gain approval from others. The individual conforms to the social order and social rules and is loyal to that order. In other words, "I am a good boy because I do good things like others in my group, and they approve of me because of it." In this stage, the important aspect is the underlying intent. As an example, "He meant to do a good job" is a reason to think well of a person, because his intentions were good (Barger, 2000).

This stage shows a greater understanding of the laws of society. The individual abides by the laws of society out of a sense of obligation and duty, and he has a high respect for authority. Our legal justice system of law and order represents the type of moral rightness that the individual believes in. Laws are good, and people who follow the law are good (Barger, 2000).

At this stage, the individual begins to define values and principles based on his own reflection of what he thinks is right. Most people do not reach this advanced stage. It is characterized by a sense of mutuality and a genuine interest in the welfare of others. Right action is defined in terms of individual rather than group rights and standards. These standards are examined and chosen by personal evaluation and opinion. The individual examines standards in terms of society’s rules, but is able to see beyond society’s conventional views to a larger sense of justice. The individual believes in laws but is willing to critically examine laws that seem to be unjust. He is also willing to work toward changing unjust laws (Barger, 2000).

This stage of moral development is rare and is based on universal principles of justice, such as the Golden Rule. The individual consciously defines ethics based on abstract universal principles that flow from the highest sense of justice and equality for all humans. Inherent in this stage is a respect for the dignity of all human beings (Barger, 2000).

Gilligan provides a feminist view of Kohlberg’s model. She postulates that Kohlberg based his model on a masculine approach to morality, which emphasizes cognition and logic rather than care or heart. Gilligan says that a woman orients herself toward relationship rather than competition. She proposes stages that reflect the Ethic of Care (Huff, n.d.). Her feminine approach is included as an addendum to Kohler’s stages in Appendix C, Moral Development.