Feelings and judgments that a course of action is necessary based on considerations of what is right and wrong. This description approximates the meaning of a moral obligation. In most societies, a moral obligation constitutes a duty that a person has based on such considerations, but which is not necessarily legally binding. An allied concept is that of common-sense moral obligation, something based on a special relationship with, for example, family members and friends, and those to who we have made promises or commitments of one sort or another. Friendships and parent-child relationships have been identified as having particular importance in formation of an understanding of obligations and responsibilities. According to stage-based theory of moral development articulated by Lawrence Kohlberg (1927-1987), children deemed to have attained Stage 4 manifest a sense of obligation derived from obedience to some external authority, a stage some individuals retain for the rest of their lives. There are some interesting insights to be gained from cross-cultural research on the moral development of children with regard to the universality and culture-specific nature of a sense of obligation.
See Friendship, Moral development, Moral judgements, Normative, Rule