Gender differences in ethical judgments

Abstract

Student ratings of the ethicality of 19 behavioral interactions between male and female clients and counselors were used to explore gender differences in ethical judgments from the perspective of several theoretical models. Models pertinent to individual and gender differences were tested and included Kohlberg's (1976) theory of moral development, Gilligan's (1982) theory of moral orientation, Bem's (1981a) sex role schema theory and Eagly's (1987) social role interpretation. Significant gender differences across all dependent variables were found in the ratings of unethical behaviors. Women rated sexual interactions between clients and therapists more conservatively than did men ~ regardless of the gender of the therapist and client except in one condition. The one condition where men provided ethics ratings comparable to women was in response to sexual interactions between male therapists and male clients. It was hypothesized that males in this one condition identified more strongly with a scenario depicting a male client as victim, and therefore gave ratings more consistent with the ratings females provided. Hierarchical regressions in which the variance in ethicality ratings were predicted by gender, academic ability, moral development, moral orientation, sex role identification, and general opinion of counselors were conducted. Main effects were found to be significant for gender of subject and for the therapistclient gender pairings depicted, with a significant interaction between these two main effects. While some mediation effect was found for the sex role identification of feminism, neither moral development stage or moral orientation had significant effects on ethical judgment.