Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The Moral Reasoning Of Males And Females In Response To Hypothetical Dilemmas Involving The Care Of Elderly Family Members, Denise Litterer

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

Twenty Midwestern Caucasian college students, ten males and ten females, were tested on justice and care orientations when reasoning about hypothetical moral dilemmas involving the care of elderly family members. A slightly modified version of the dilemma developed in Stack's (1990) study was used along with a new dilemma developed by the author of this study to further clarify the coding process. Lyons' (1983) scoring method and Gilligan's (1982) guidelines were used to code subjects' responses. No sex differences in the type of moral reasoning were found. The results of this study did not support Gilligan's theory that there are …