JOURNAL 3

Nellie Gotebeski

Semptember 09, 2009

Moral Development

What kinds of differences in moral behavior do I notice between the sexes and among cultures in my student peers or in other groups? Are they deep differences (value differences) or shallow differences (differences in forms of value expression)? How do I compare with others?

In our Moral Development class, we were assigned to read a study carried out by Carol Gilligan. Gilligan studied under Kohlberg and was also a key member of his team. As we all know, Kohlberg created a six staged theory for moral reasoning based on responses to moral dilemmas. However, when the answers to Kohlberg’s test were scored, men continued to score at a higher moral reasoning level than women. In several study’s, women were excluded from the sample, and therefore, were not incorporated into the theories themselves. Gilligan believed that because women were excluded from moral reasoning studies and because the performance on the test differed according to gender, there could possibly be two modes of moral reasoning; one for men and one for women. She proposed two different developmental trajectories. Gilligan claimed that males organized social relationships into a hierarchical order and subscribe to a morality of rights and females value interpersonal connectedness, care, sensitivity, and responsibility to people. This would explain why women scored poorly on Kohlberg’s scale which was based on logic and justice. Gilligan claims that women base their moral reasoning on “care” and, therefore, go through a different set of stages. 

Is there a different mode of reasoning between men and women? I decided to investigate this issue by viewing the moral behavior of my friends. I observed different behavior in the way that men and women react to someone upset. When a friend is clearly upset, my girl friends tend to hug that person and allow them cry. They ask questions and try to figure out what is wrong. On the other hand, my guy friends also notice that their friend is sad, but take a different approach to consolation (possibly asking them to watch a game or hang out with other friends). After viewing these behaviors, it is still very difficult to decide if moral reasoning effected their moral behavior. It is even more difficult to decide if a different mode of moral reasoning was implemented by men and women. It appears that both could have surfaced from “care” or “justice.” By understanding that their sad friend belonged to a social group, and attempting to console their friend, the individual could have been motivated by caring for someone who was sad and felt connectedness to them. On the other hand, the same individual could have acted based on their belief that it is simply unjust for someone to be sad without intervening to console them. In sum, I observed the behaviors of men and women to be similar. Although their reasoning may be different, both were encouraged to act in situations they deemed appropriate. It is promising to see such morally aware students here at Notre Dame!

Cultural differences were a bit more difficult to observe, because I often missed the moral dilemmas that were presented to my friends from different cultural backgrounds. However, I spent a semester in Santiago, Chile and it was very interesting to think back upon the moral behavior of Chileans and compare their behavior to Americans. I must note that I lived in a very large city, which could have also played a part in the moral behavior that took place or didn’t take place. I noticed that Chileans were very inclined to act in a positive moral way with issues that involved their family, even trivial issues that as Americans we would not deem noteworthy of help. However, moral behavior directed toward a stranger was extremely rare. I went to a fútbol game, and after the game my friends and I were walking when all of a sudden, a man snatched my friend’s purse from her arm. We both screamed for help, but nobody intervened. When I think back on this issue, the cultural differences played a big role; however, I also thought that men should take more responsibility for this moral dilemma because they would be more capable of chasing the robber down. This stirred another intriguing question in my mind: Does our capabilities for moral behavior influence our moral reasoning or vice versa? 

Finally, when I compare my moral reasoning to others, it probably fits into a mix of those stages guided by “justice” and those stages guided by “care.” Gilligan also claimed that both men and women use “care” and “justice” reasoning to guide moral behavior.