Summary Two studies are reported that used a non‐Kohlbergian approach to categorising justifications for moral judgements by subjects from 7 to 15 and from 7 to 21 years, respectively. The first study showed that some developmental trends suggested by earlier studies for the 12‐21 year period could be replicated, while others in the age range 7‐11 years were established. These are interpreted as supporting a social focus and language use rather than a cognitive limitation view of the growth of moral reasoning. There were also appreciable differences in the balance of justification types elicited by different topics, possibly due to variations in perceived degree of personal control in different situations. The second study showed that Colby & Kohlberg's method of categorising moral justifications confounds form of justification with content and masks underlying developmental trends in justification types. The educational implications of the findings are discussed.