130 Chapter 4■ The controversy sparked the concept of two differ-
ent views of morality, one emphasizing individual
rights (justice) and the other emphasizing respon-
sibility to others (care). The former was said to
characterize men, and the latter was said to charac-
terize women.
■ However, research has shown that it is not so much
that men and women view morality differently as that
men and women face different kinds of moral dilem-
mas. Men seem to face moral dilemmas that focus on
justice, and women seem to face moral dilemmas that
focus on relationships.Sex Comparisons in Social Development
List 10 responses to the following question:
“Who am I?” Your responses to this ques-
tion indicate how you define yourself, that is,
your identity. The achievement of an identity
is one of several stages of Erikson’s (1950)
stages of social development. According
to his theory, social development proceeds
through a set of stages; the issues of one stage
of development must be resolved success-
fully before proceeding to the next stage. The
identity stage precedes the intimacy stage.
That is, one must have established a firm
identity before one can establish a truly inti-
mate relationship.
People who study gender have taken is-
sue with the sequence set forth by Erikson. If
the achievement of an identity precedes the
achievement of intimacy, how do we explain
the person who achieves his or her identity in
part by connection to others? Some research-
ers have argued that Erikson’s sequence may
describe men’s social development better
than women’s social development (Gilligan,
1982; Marcia, 1993) because women are more
likely to experience identity and intimacyThus, when women and men are faced with
a similar moral issue, they may respond in
similar ways.
Sex differences in morality also are
likely to be influenced by ethnicity and cul-
ture. In a study of 600 middle schoolers,
White females, Black males, and Black fe-
males viewed moral behavior in terms of its
effects on an individual’s well-being, similar
to a care orientation, whereas White males
viewed moral behavior more from a rule-
based perspective, similar to a justice orien-
tation (Jackson et al., 2009).
Morality can be construed in other ways
besides Kohlberg’s theory. If one views moral-
ity in terms of attitudes toward extramarital
affairs, divorce, or legalizing marijuana, for
example, women hold more traditional views
than men (Eagly et al., 2004). Women also
score higher on an index of social compas-
sion, which reflects issues such as gun control,
racial discrimination, decrease in the income
differential between rich and poor, and the
death penalty. These sex differences have
remained the same over 25 years.
One reason for some of these sex dif-
ferences in morality is that women are more
religious than men, and religiosity underlies
attitudes toward some of these social issues.
A 2007 study from Pew Research showed that
77% of women compared to 65% of men be-
lieve in God, 63% of women compared to 49%
of men say that religion is very important to
them, and 44% of women compared to 34%
of men attend weekly services (Pew, 2009a).TAKE HOME POINTS
■ Kohlberg’s (1981) theory of moral development was
criticized for excluding women during its creation; the
concern was that women emerged as morally inferior to
men.M04_HELG0185_04_SE_C04.indd 130 6/21/11 8:02 AM