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moral development

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

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: mor·al de·vel·op·ment

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

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 March 28, 2024 (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 March 28, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/moral-development/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“moral development.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/moral-development/>.