Abstract

The current study explored the accuracy of consensual moral stereotypes that women and men hold about each other, as well as whether the gender differences in morality found in previous literature replicate on a sample of Pakistani individuals. A sample of 300 was used with an equal number of men and women. Data from 50 of the respondents was collected online, whereas the rest was collected in person from universities. The 30-item Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ30) was used as a measure of five Moral Foundations, which are the basic elements of moral psychology as posited by Moral Foundations Theory. Men and women answered the questionnaire for themselves and then a second time, according to their perception of how a typical member of the other gender would respond which gave a measure of their stereotype. Comparison of actual scores of men and women revealed a statistically significant difference where women scored higher than men on the Harm foundation (p = 0.001). All other foundations, except for the Authority foundation showed the same pattern of differences as the previous literature, although they did not reach statistical significance. Stereotypes about men held by women were inaccurate underestimations on the Harm and Fairness foundations. The stereotype about women, held by men, was accurate on the Fairness foundation and inaccurate on the Authority foundation in the direction of underestimation. This research serves to further the study of Moral Foundations Theory as well as exploring the reasons behind the inaccurate moral stereotypes that men and women hold about each other, and actual gender differences in morality.

Highlights

  • Psychological literature has generally considered inaccuracies and exaggerations as an inherent attribute of stereotypes [1] [2] [3]

  • Women scored higher than men on the Care foundation, and the stereotypes they held about men were inaccurate, with men scoring higher than the stereotypes about them

  • The results revealed statistically significant differences at the corrected alpha level

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Psychological literature has generally considered inaccuracies and exaggerations as an inherent attribute of stereotypes [1] [2] [3]. There are some serious problems with such a perspective, as mentioned in [4], because of which a general definition of stereotypes as “beliefs about the attributes of social groups” is proposed. This is in line with research that does not make inaccuracy a part of the definition on stereotypes [5]. A distinction can be drawn between stereotypes held by a group and an individual: “Consensual stereotypes” are stereotypes shared by the members of a group, and are usually measured by means of samples, whereas, “personal stereotypes” are stereotypes held by an individual [6].

Methods
Results
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call