Gender and moral judgments: the role of who is speaking to whom

ISSN： 1465-3869

Source： Journal of Gender Studies, Vol.22, Iss.4, 2013-12, pp. : 423-443

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Abstract

This paper describes the significance of interpersonal context in the making of moral judgments. The study reveals the dynamics of moral development with regard to gender and age. The article draws on the social comparison orientation (Guimond et al. 2006) and questions Gilligan's (1977) structuralist position. The study focuses on the developmental aspect of morality in children aged between 7 and 12, and it specifies how gender identities are context and social role-specific and their impact on information processing. The study engaged some 240 children who finished incomplete narratives. The basic question concerned the process of solving implicit moral dilemmas and its possible dependence on care orientation (associated with femininity) or justice orientation (associated with masculinity). The analysis showed significant developmental changes with age: girls become more care-oriented but only towards opposite-sex peers, whereas boys become more justice-oriented but also only towards opposite-sex peers. The results of this study suggest, in accordance with Gilligan to some extent, that ‘care’ and ‘justice’ become naturalized ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ identities. However, in contrast to Gilligan's theory, we observe that these identities develop only in opposition to each other, are social context-specific, and coincide with gender role acceptance in the early teenage years. In other words, the study suggests that in the course of social comparisons, gender becomes an important catalyst for moral conduct.