Two Moral Orientations: Gender Differences and Similarities.

Recent discussions of sex differences in moral development equate moral stage in Kohlberg's justice framework with moral orientation—the distinction between justice and care perspectives. The present study of real-life dilemmas from 46 men and 34 women, primarily adolescents and young adults, shows that: (a) Concerns about both justice and care are represented in people's thinking about real-life moral dilemmas, but people tend to focus on one set of concerns and minimally represent the other. And (b) There is an association between moral orientation and gender such that men and women use both orientations, but Care Focus dilemmas are most likely to be presented by women and Justice Fo cus dilemmas by men. Consideration of moral orientation transforms the debate over sex differences in moral reasoning into serious questions about moral per spectives that are open to empirical study.