Gender Differences in Emotion Explain Women’s Lower Immoral Intentions and Harsher Moral Condemnation

• Published in: Personality & social psychology bulletin Vol. 44; no. 5; pp. 653 - 669
• Main Authors: Ward, Sarah J., King, Laura A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.05.2018; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adult; Decision Making; Emotions; Female; Gender differences; Guilt; Humans; Intention; Male; Men; Moral judgment; Morality; Morals; Prone; Regret; Sex Factors; Shame; Social psychology; Women; moral emotions; emotion; gender; morality
• ISSN: 0146-1672; 1552-7433
• DOI: 10.1177/0146167217744525

Why do men view morally questionable behaviors as more permissible than women do? Five studies investigated emotional factors as explanations for gender differences in moral decision-making. In Study 1 (N = 324), gender differences in perceptions of moral wrongness were explained by guilt and shame proneness. Studies 2a and 2b (combined N = 562) demonstrated that instructions to adopt an unemotional perspective (vs. standard instructions) led women to have higher immoral intentions, no longer lower than men’s, as they were in the control group. Studies 3 and 4 (N = 834) showed that men expected immoral actions to result in higher positive and lower self-conscious moral emotions than women do. Study 4 (N = 424) showed that these emotional expectancies account for gender differences in immoral intentions. Study 5 (N = 450) showed that women—but not men—experience heightened self-conscious moral emotions and regret when recalling past transgressions done for personal gain.