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

Area of Science:

• Moral psychology
• Cognitive neuroscience
• Social psychology

Background:

• Deontology: morality based on norms; Utilitarianism: morality based on consequences.
• Prior research links deontology to affect and utilitarianism to cognition.
• Gender differences in moral judgments are debated.

Purpose of the Study:

• To independently assess deontological and utilitarian inclinations using process dissociation (PD).
• To investigate gender differences in these moral inclinations.
• To explore the role of affect versus cognition in gender-based moral judgments.

Main Methods:

• Process dissociation (PD) to measure deontological and utilitarian inclinations.
• Meta-analytic re-analysis of 40 studies.
• Total participant count: 6,100 (men and women).

Main Results:

• Men showed a stronger preference for utilitarian judgments over deontological ones compared to women (d = 0.52).
• Women exhibited significantly stronger deontological inclinations than men (d = 0.57).
• Men showed only slightly stronger utilitarian inclinations than women (d = 0.10).

Conclusions:

• Gender differences in moral dilemma judgments are primarily driven by affective responses to harm.
• Cognitive evaluations of outcomes play a lesser role in these observed gender differences.
• Findings highlight the differential influence of emotional and cognitive processes in moral decision-making between genders.