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The Moral Psychology of Watergate
Author(s) -
Candee Dan
Publication year - 1975
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1975.tb00768.x
Subject(s) - lawrence kohlberg's stages of moral development , situational ethics , psychology , social psychology , perspective (graphical) , criminology , political science , moral development , artificial intelligence , computer science
As evidenced in their Senate testimony and other public statements nearly all members of the Nixon team seem to have reasoned at stages 3 and 4 as measured by Kohlberg's sequence of moral development. Indeed, many of the acts of the Watergate participants were “right” or at least “permissible” when viewed from the perspective of these stages. Survey responses of 370 persons not involved in Watergate demonstrate that those who reasoned at stages 3 and 4 agreed with the decisions of the participants more often than did their stage 5 counterparts. This was true regardless of their having supported either Nixon or McGovern. It is concluded that Watergate resulted, in part, because the situational pressures to “win at all costs” were particularly appealing to the stage 3 and 4 persons who comprised the leadership of the Nixon administration.