Gender differences in responses to moral dilemmas: a process dissociation analysis

Rebecca Friesdorf, Paul Conway, Bertram Gawronski

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The principle of deontology states that the morality of an action depends on its consistency with moral norms; the principle of utilitarianism implies that the morality of an action depends on its consequences. Previous research suggests that deontological judgments are shaped by affective processes, whereas utilitarian judgments are guided by cognitive processes. The current research used process dissociation (PD) to independently assess deontological and utilitarian inclinations in women and men. A meta-analytic re-analysis of 40 studies with 6,100 participants indicated that men showed a stronger preference for utilitarian over deontological judgments than women when the two principles implied conflicting decisions (d = 0.52). PD further revealed that women exhibited stronger deontological inclinations than men (d = 0.57), while men exhibited only slightly stronger utilitarian inclinations than women (d = 0.10). The findings suggest that gender differences in moral dilemma judgments are due to differences in affective responses to harm rather than cognitive evaluations of outcomes.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)696-713
Number of pages18
JournalPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Volume41
Issue number5
Early online date3 Apr 2015
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 May 2015

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