Developmental Psychology And Moral Behavior

The Psychosocial Theory

Discuss about the Developmental Psychology and Moral Behavior.

Developmental theories refers to theories that focus on growth and development of a person throughout their entire life. Developmental theories mainly focus their attention of the major stages of development in human beings. Various theories of development have been put forward by theorists such as Sigmund Freud, Erick Erickson, Jean Piaget and Kohlberg among other psychologists. In the film the Legend of the Seeker, Richard is seen to develop major life themes in his life which can be explained using the psychosocial development theory of Erik Erikson and the theory of moral development by Lawrence Kohlberg (Santrock, 1997)

In a bid to look at the two developmental theories, the psychosocial theory to begin with, development occurs in eight distinct stages. According to Bremner, (2017), a healthy individual is developed if the individual is able to pass throughout all the stages. Unlike the Freudian theory whose stages end at maturity, the psychosocial theory explains development even in the last stages of life which makes it a more suitable theory of explaining development. However, the Freudian theory is more linked to life since it explains development in terms of life instincts. Burman, (2016) holds that the psychosocial theory on the other hand comprehensively focuses on the life of an individual including all of the social attachments that an individual has throughout their lives.

According to Csikszentmihalyi, & Rathunde, (2014) in each stage of development, one encounters new challenges and only becomes healthy having learned to cope with the challenges. Failure to successfully complete the stages presents itself in future complications to development of a healthy personality. In relation to the fictional character Richard, the psychosocial theory can be used to describe about two stages of development that Richard is seen to encounter throughout the movie. These stages include identity versus role confusion and intimacy versus isolation.

Before the movie begins, Richard is seen to spend most of his time in the woods and sometimes with his father trying to seek his true self. He is seen to get into several ventures until he finds Kahlan running away from the soldiers and decides to help her despite the warning he is given by the soldiers. Richard is confronted with the decision of becoming the seeker and forsaking his home to be something else. He finds it pleasing unaware of how perilous and risky it seems to be. Richard is finally able to establish an identity as one fighting for the truth (Demetriou, Shayer, & Efklides, 2016).

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Crain, (2015) explains how Richard still has hard times before he really accepts to become the seeker since he couldn’t believe that his father was not his original parent. He also encounters opposition from his brother who is serving in the dirty regime of Darken Rahl and he has to make a hard choice of leaving his household. He is confronted with a difficult situation which portrays role confusion when his brother turns against him and accuses him of killing their father and claiming that it wasn’t his real father. Richard is however able to identify himself as the seeker of truth who is set to free people from the oppressive rule of Darken Rahl.

Kurtines, (2014) observes that the seeker also finds himself falling in love with Kahlan which expresses itself as the fifth stage according to Erik Erikson. Richard falls in love with Kahlan at first sight where he helps her from attack by the soldiers. This is evident since Richard protects her despite being warned by the soldiers that she is dangerous. Throughout the quest, Richard often betrays his emotions and feelings for Kahlan but is warned both by Kahlan and Zedd who is also his grandfather against having a romantic relationship with Kahlan.

The seeker is warned not to have this relationship since Kahlan is a confessor and this would enslave him and he would also be unable to complete his quest of defeating Darken Rahl. The affection towards Kahlan is also observed in the sense that Richard does not seem to be interested in any other lady other than Kahlan and he also hopes of getting married to Kahlan after the quest is completed. Richard portrays a lot of emotional strength as he is able to refrain from any romantic relationship with Kahlan before the quest is completed where the two almost lose their lives as they try to defend each other from attacks.

According to Shaffer & Kipp, (2013), establishing a self-identity helps one to make long term decisions and commitments in love. At this point people are able to make intimate relationships with others and to defend one another. People also make promises and sacrifices and are often confronted with the fear of rejection or loss of oneself in the loving relationship. This is clearly visible in the life of Richard Cypher as he is able to defend and make life long bound promises to his beloved Kahlan with the hope of establishing a secure romantic relationship in the near future. At one point, Richard is also confronted with the fear of losing Kahlan as the two engage in perilous endeavors and at some point he has to stop Kahlan from moving with him and rather prefers to walk alone which does not seem to favor him very much since they are facing attacks from all ends and they have to keep together to protect and take care of each other.

Intimacy vs. Isolation

The theory of moral development by Lawrence Kohlberg focuses on more of moral, ethical and development of reasoning and behavior. Kohlberg holds that the development of moral reason forms the basis for development of ethical behavior. According to Baltes, & Schaie, (2013), morality develops in six distinct stages that are grouped into major three stages. These major stages include pre-conventional morality, conventional morality and post conventional morality. According to the theory, morality can be studied in reference to justice and judgment. The theory has been developed based on the works of Jean Piaget and it appears to have a close resemblance to the moral reasoning philosophy of Immanuel Kant.

In regard to the movie, development of moral reasoning is also seen to be a major milestone for Richard in the play. This can be best explained by the argument that Richard develops from conventional model of morality to post conventional model of morality. A good example is when Richard helps Kahlan from the soldiers just because she is a lady and in whose eyes she seemed to be weaker than the attackers or maybe because he had a soft spot for her. In later life, Richard is seen fighting others to defend the weak and the powerless from oppression by the bad regime of Darken Rahl. According to Nucci, Krettenauer, & Narváez, (2014) irrespective of the fact that the theory excludes moral values such as caring and mostly is settled on justice, Richard is seen to be a very caring person as the movie unfolds and at several times he has to forsake his quest in order to help some unfortunate people which makes the mord-sith angry.

According to McLeod, (2013) morality development is a major theme in the movie and in the life of Richard as he has to keep refraining from engaging in any behavior that might make him lose focus on his quest. In the earlier episodes of the movie, Richard is portrayed as one without a high degree of moral reasoning as he works to fit the demands of the society which Kohlberg explains as fear of punishment. In the later stages however, Richard is portrayed to have a high level of morality where he defies even the community standards and does thing that he think are right and not as defined by laws or community demands.

Gibbs, (2013) explains how this comparison is clearly brought out by his brother who still conforms to the laws and expectations of the community and is soon killed by the corrupt officials of Darken Rahl in his mission to conquer and oppress the world. His brother however towards his death is able to acknowledge the work of Richard and he is positive about Richard’s quest to defeat evil. A greater level of morality is even expressed when Richard refuses to be trained as a witch as this would delay his quest and he claims that he feels strong enough to defeat Darken Rahl whether prophesy supports his work or not.

Theory of Moral Development

The movie portrays Richard as a great achiever a personality highly ranked in the Maslow’s hierarchy as one person who has actualized his full potential argues Kohlberg, (2017). This is so because his level of morality seems to be extra ordinarily high despite his youthful age. He makes decisions that do not reflect punishments or rewards but a general social cohesiveness and achievement of justice for all. This makes him famous and popular among the people who he helps and those that understand him and his quest. However he also loses favor among the people with a lower level of morality such as the sisters as they only judge his actions in reference to tradition, societal beliefs and convections.

Lack of support from the general population presents itself as one of the major challenges that Richard faces as he is suspicious about everyone since people are very easily fooled by Darken Rahl. Snarey & Samuelson, (2015) reflects that a greater challenge is the confrontation within himself that presents in the earlier part of the movie where he is unable to make a choice between trusting the wizard and agreeing to the quest and leaving to go back to his family. He is however to overcome as he chooses to enter into the quest and challenge Darken Rahl.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that the movie Legend of the Seeker is relevant in identifying various themes of development as has been explained by the two theories. Both the psychosexual and the moral development theory can be used to express and explain central development themes in the life of Richrd Cypher to explain development.

References

Baltes, P. B., & Schaie, K. W. (Eds.). (2013). Life-span developmental psychology: Personality and socialization. Elsevier.

Bremner, J. G. (2017). An introduction to developmental psychology. John Wiley & Sons.

Burman, E. (2016). Deconstructing developmental psychology. Taylor & Francis.

Crain, W. (2015). Theories of development: Concepts and applications. Psychology Press.

Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Rathunde, K. (2014). The development of the person: An experiential perspective on the ontogenesis of psychological complexity. In Applications of Flow in Human Development and Education (pp. 7-79). Springer Netherlands.

Demetriou, A., Shayer, M., & Efklides, A. (Eds.). (2016). Neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development: Implications and applications for education. Routledge.

Gibbs, J. C. (2013). Moral development and reality: Beyond the theories of Kohlberg, Hoffman, and Haidt. Oxford University Press.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55b7c7jKja0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXz1waA8aXc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHPp_dGMsfY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOsV4IIOj10

Kohlberg, L. (2017). Resolving Moral Conflicts within the Just. Moral Dilemmas and Ethical Reasoning, 71.

Kurtines, W. M. (2014). Handbook of moral behavior and development: Volume 1: Theory. Psychology Press.

McLeod, S. (2013). Erik Erikson. Retrieved August, 9, 2013.

Nucci, L., Krettenauer, T., & Narváez, D. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of moral and character education. Routledge.

Renninger, A., Hidi, S., & Krapp, A. (Eds.). (2014). The role of interest in learning and development. Psychology Press.

Santrock, J. W. (1997). Life-span development. Dubuque, IA: Brown & Benchmark Publishers.

Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2013). Developmental psychology: Childhood and adolescence. Cengage Learning.

Snarey, J., & Samuelson, P. L. (2015). Lawrence Kohlberg’s revolutionary ideas. Handbook of moral and character education, 61-83.