"a child decides to steal a small item from a neighborhood store in order to be accepted into the hawk club. the child reasons that the stealing behavior is acceptable because it is what his friends expect of him. according to kohlberg, this child is operating at the level."

As nina and erin were eating lunch in the central high school student cafeteria, they were discussing the news coverage about the girls' athletic coach being arrested for selling steroids to student athletes. "i think the guy just did it because they don't pay teachers enough money," nina suggested. "i bet the guy had some other kind of drug addiction he was trying to pay for," erin countered. nina and erin's ideas about the cause of the coach's drug-selling behavior are examples of: