Kohlberg's proposition that more mature thinking leads to more moral behavior is problematic on what grounds?

Kohlberg's proposition suggests that as individuals develop more complex ethical reasoning skills, they are likely to act more morally. However, the claim that attitudes must be understood based on the assumption that they come before behaviors is where the argument encounters difficulties. This position implies that simply by having advanced moral reasoning will inherently lead to moral actions, which does not take into account that people may behave in ways that contradict their moral beliefs due to various factors such as situational influences, social pressures, or emotional responses.

In practice, it is often observed that individuals can hold sophisticated moral views but may not translate these views into actions, highlighting a potential gap between thinking and doing. This suggests that moral behavior may not necessarily follow from moral development, as circumstances can change an individual’s actions regardless of their moral reasoning. Hence, this question taps into the important psychological debate about the relationship between attitudes, reasoning, and resultant behavior.