Him Vs. Her In The Ethical Fog: Gendered Navigation Of Ambiguous Morality

Abstract Moral uncertainty refers to a state when the individual is not sure about the moral rightness of a certain action or choice in a given situation. Moral confusion arises when one has to face opposites of a moral code, e.g. mercy versus fairness, or fidelity versus integrity. It has become a subject of significant academic study in both philosophical and psychological fields of study as it explains the process by which people are steered through ethical dilemmas in instances where conflicting moral values are involved. While understanding this topic using philosophy as the base, psychology provides insights into the emotional and cognitive processes that actually take place when making the moral decision. For example, a doctor may undergo moral uncertainty in choosing between respecting a terminally ill patient’s wish to discontinue life support or to continue treatment which is in line with their professional duty and the family’s expectations. Both of the options carry equal ethical weightage which leaves the doctor confused as to which course of action is definitely ‘right’. The paper endeavours to look at gender variations in reaction to moral dilemmas by relying on the available empirical evidence and theoretical research. Using a process dissociation analysis, Gawronski et al. found that men are more likely to respond to classic moral dilemmas with a greater extent of utilitarianism and women respond with stronger levels of empathic and self-conscious moral feelings, such as guilt and empathy. These studies show that women focus on the care-based ethical perspective, whereas men focus on norm and justice-based decision making. But these differences are usually mitigated by contextual and social influences like culture, social framing and task structure. Furthermore, there is now emerging evidence to suggest that most gender-related differences in moral reasoning are based on affective processing and socially constructed roles but not on innate cognitive abilities. The study aims to examine how men and women deal with morally ambiguous situations by comparing philosophical concepts of moral pluralism and moral luck to psychological concepts of empathy, cognitive dissonance and emotional intelligence. Using a combination of philosophical thinking and psychological understanding, this paper is based on three in-depth qualitative interviews examining moral uncertainty across dilemmas such as passive euthanasia, whistleblowing, AI driven shifts in locus of control, abortion and white lies. Keywords: Moral Ambiguity, Moral Judgement, Moral Decision-Making, Ethical Dilemmas, Gender, Empathy, Utilitarianism, Deontology, Moral Reasoning, Justice-Based Ethics, Cognitive Dissonance, Care-Based Ethics