Definition of Moral Development
(noun) The act or process of socialization through which people learn what is considered “good” and “bad” or “acceptable” and “unacceptable”.
Moral Development Pronunciation
Syllabification: mor·al de·vel·op·ment
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /mOR-uhl di-vEl-uhp-muhnt/
- British English – /mOr-uhl di-vE-luhp-muhnt/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈmɔrəl dɪˈvɛləpmənt/
- British English – /ˈmɒrəl dɪˈvɛləpmənt/
Usage Note
- Plural: moral developments
Additional Information
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Stolley, Kathy S. 2005. The Basics of Sociology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Moral Development
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “moral development.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved June 5, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/moral-development/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
moral development. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/moral-development/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “moral development.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed June 5, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/moral-development/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“moral development.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 5 Jun. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/moral-development/>.