Is morality gendered? the multidimensionality of moral judgments

Abstract

This paper tackles the complex phenomenon that is the passing of moral judgments. Taking a mixed methods approach, it aims to find whether men or women are perceived as more moral, how they differ in making moral judgments, and how moral judgments are made on them. It additionally explores the Moral Foundations Theory as a basis on which such divisions may occur, in order to corroborate previous literature on the aforementioned subjects, fill in research gaps, and identify reasons behind past contradictory results. Results from an undergraduate sample at Ahmedabad University reveal that: women are perceived as more being moral than men, primarily attributed to the prevalence of crimes by men and alleged emotionality of women

women are less tolerant of morality overall than are men

and men are more harshly judged than women along the moral foundations, with few exceptions in authority and loyalty. A multidimensional model is proposed – which includes moral salience of an act as a moderating factor – to suggest that moral judgments are more complex than previously suggested and must be researched by taking into account the social identities of the moral observer, actor, and victim, as well as the type of act committed.