Moral Priorities Research Articles

Advocating for Mask-Wearing Across the Aisle: Applying Moral Reframing in Health Communication

ABSTRACT During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States public polarized along political lines in their willingness to adopt various health-protective measures. To bridge these political divides, we tested moral reframing as a tool for advocating for wearing face masks when audiences vary in their moral priorities. We additionally address a gap in prior moral reframing research by comparing responses to a topic-relevant non-moral appeal. Across two studies, we examined effects on perceived message effectiveness, intentions to wear masks, support for a nationwide mask mandate, and willingness to share messages on social media. We find support for the efficacy of ideology-matched moral arguments and generally find support for the boomerang effect of ideology-mismatched moral arguments. However, these effects were restricted to relatively liberal audiences; politically conservative message recipients did not differentiate between message conditions. We discuss these asymmetric effects and their implications for theory in moral rhetoric.

HRYHORII SKOVORODA AND DISCOURSE OF UKRAINIAN MODERNISM

The aim of the paper is to explore the line of Ukrainian Modernity which is expressed in the writings of Hryhorii Skovoroda by combining the Christian concept of human life and the experience of Antiquity, perceived through the prism of Christianity. In this context, the motive of spiritual renewal is directly conditioned by the understanding of the interaction of God’s Word with the human one, which is manifested in the persistent work of revealing the biblical meaning and creating a new form for its preservation and transmission. In this way, the timeless nature of the human ideal and its function in distinguishing the temporal forms of the new and the old, the real and the false, is affirmed. It is noticed that Skovoroda's concepts and images agree with the theories of modernism and modern identity of the 20th and early 21st centuries.
 Against the background of the elongated, even irritating discourse of Ukrainian Modernism caused by external and internal transformations of national existence, Skovoroda’s markers prove that spiritual, moral, and expressive priorities may be conflicting but not deny each other. This is mostly true for language and correlation of religion and metaphysics. According to Skovoroda, the art of the form serves as a shell, amulet, and translator of the divine meaning revealing life-giving depths. In this sense, the whimsical clothing of the word draws attention to the process of cognition, gives an opportunity to see the inner behind the external. In this regard, the continuity between the Baroque and Romanticism determines primarily their common spiritual space, due to the whirlpool of the same sources.
 It is concluded that Skovoroda’s creative figure always becomes a landmark for Ukrainian Modernism, because due to him even modernity is understood not only as a certain era or ideology but as the inner state and inner world of an author. This state can coexist with the patriarchal way of life and with the phenomena of real or conditional progress. In this sense, the thesis of the unfinished project of Ukrainian modernism must be understood from the perspective of eternal travel and distant horizons, which may not always equally reveal but do equally contain sources of Antiquity and Christianity.

Политическая мораль современной российской молодежи: ценности, представления, установки

In modern socio-humanitarian science, there is a certain lack of research on the moral priorities of young Russian citizens as regulators of their life in the state and society. The study presented in the article was aimed at identifying the political values, ethical representations and attitudes of young people that guide them in assessing the sphere of politics and in their relationships with the state and other political actors. The theo-retical and methodological basis of the study was the political-psychological ap-proach, in which values, ideas and attitudes are considered from psychological posi-tions in the structure of moral and political consciousness. The empirical basis of the study was the materials of the All-Russian questionnaire survey and focus group dis-cussions with young people conducted in 2020-21. The results of the study show that young people consider moral values and norms to be a measure of political relations, albeit a rather relative one. It imposes on politicians the moral demands of sincerity, honesty, work for the benefit of citizens, concern for the public interest. Young peo-ple leave politicians the right to make mistakes, they are ready to forgive politicians for many mistakes, except for those that are associated with a threat to life and health of people and have serious consequences. Young people consider corruption, wars and violence, violation of laws and rights of citizens to be immoral actions in politics themselves. The meaning-forming foundations of the moral assessment of the sphere of politics by young people are the political values of freedom, human rights, justice, security, self-realization. Young people's representations about duty are differentiat-ed: they recognize the duty of a person, but reject the duty of a citizen. Young people are not ready to take responsibility for others, and sometimes for themselves too. They place the responsibility for providing public goods and satisfying their needs on the state. This reflects paternalistic attitudes, traditional for our political culture. The political morality of youth is contradictory and often relativistic.

By all means necessary: Closed mindedness, ingroup morality, and weapon ownership

AbstractThis research investigated the motivational underpinnings of attitudes towards weapon ownership. We propose that people who have a strong need for closure (NFC) would be more likely to approve of weapon ownership, but that this relationship would be serially mediated by the endorsement of binding moral foundations and fear of immigrants. Specifically, heightened NFC would promote moral concerns for the safety of one's group (i.e., the binding foundations), which, in turn, would trigger fear of immigrants, or the belief that immigrants threaten one's society. In turn, fear of immigrants would generate the approval of defensive means (i.e., weapons). We tested this serial mediation model in three studies with Italian and US samples, where NFC was both measured (Studies 1 and 3; N = 286 and N = 278) and experimentally induced (Study 2; N = 290). The results supported the proposed model. These findings suggest that a high NFC might explain individuals’ approval of weapon ownership through their moral priorities, which heighten their prejudice towards immigrants.

Проблемное поле стратегии национальной безопасности: нравственный аспект

The article discusses the problems of modern civilizational changes associated with the acceleration of the pace of social development, the consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, the conduct of a special military operation in Ukraine, the endless sanctions policy of the western world against Russia. What influence do they have on the processes of formation of values and spiritual and moral priorities of the mass consciousness of Russians? The question is raised about the need to develop a new paradigm of spirituality, a thought-out program of information support and the creation of a set of measures for the positive solution of emerging unforeseen problems in conditions of civilizational development of society, including in extreme situations.

Humans first: Why people value animals less than humans

People routinely give humans moral priority over other animals. Is such moral anthropocentrism based in perceived differences in mental capacity between humans and non-humans or merely because humans favor other members of their own species? We investigated this question in six studies (N = 2217). We found that most participants prioritized humans over animals even when the animals were described as having equal or more advanced mental capacities than the humans. This applied to both mental capacity at the level of specific individuals (Studies 1a-b) and at the level typical for the respective species (Study 2). The key driver behind moral anthropocentrism was thus mere species-membership (speciesism). However, all else equal, participants still gave more moral weight to individuals with higher mental capacities (individual mental capacity principle), suggesting that the belief that humans have higher mental capacities than animals is part of the reason that they give humans moral priority. Notably, participants found mental capacity more important for animals than for humans—a tendency which can itself be regarded as speciesist. We also explored possible sub-factors driving speciesism. We found that many participants judged that all individuals (not only humans) should prioritize members of their own species over members of other species (species-relativism; Studies 3a-b). However, some participants also exhibited a tendency to see humans as having superior value in an absolute sense (pro-human species-absolutism, Studies 3–4). Overall, our work demonstrates that speciesism plays a central role in explaining moral anthropocentrism and may be itself divided into multiple sub-factors.

Дослідження цінностей громадських активістів в умовах сучасних перетворень в Україні

The article presents the research results on the values of the members of the public movement “Centres for Civic Initiatives” (CCI). The research was conducted in the fall of 2021. The activities of these CCI are done through the self-organisation of citizens at the local level. The activists themselves identify socially significant issues, set goals, and their implementation. This is the most branched public organisation with its centres throughout Ukraine. The research geography covers all regions of Ukraine (10 regions and the city of Kyiv). Research in such public organisations (scale, self-organisation, self-sufficiency) has not been previously conducted. This is the uniqueness of this study. In this research, it was assumed that the respondents selected for the survey (leaders and ordinary members of the organisation) are the most conscious and decisive part of Ukrainians, who, by their actions, claim to solve complex problems of social construction in the context of the general socio-economic crisis. Therefore, they were chosen as information providers for the issues under study. The study was conducted based on M. Rokeach’s methodology (list of terminal and instrumental values). The study shows the hierarchy of respondents’ values. Most of the members of the public movement “Centres for Civic Initiatives” believe that the value system is the moral norms and priorities of the individual, which serve as a motivating factor in their lives. According to respondents, the top ten values include the following: health, material well-being, family, love, life wisdom, responsibility, efficiency in business, honesty, responsiveness, and cheerfulness. The study focuses on the fact that such public organisations as CCI, which are considered here, are necessary for the conditions of global socio-economic transformations since their activities are aimed at protecting the interests of the country and individual groups of citizens; these activities are of practical importance and produce socially significant results at the local level. The study highlights that to implement of socially significant tasks, suprapersonal rather than individual values must dominate a person participating in social activities. The researcher puts forward a working hypothesis: among civic activists, suprapersonal values (responsibility, responsiveness, happiness of others) dominate over individual ones. The article gives definitions of the concepts “system of values”, and “suprapersonal values”. This study was carried out in order to determine the dominant values of socially active citizens of Ukraine – the members of the CCI in the context of global socio-economic transformations.

The Immanent Infinite

The Immanent Infinite

Axiology of Transbaikal Territory Media Image

Region’s media image modelling is a very topical problem of the information age from the view of productive functioning of territories, their socio-economic and political status. The article presents the role of values in the media image structure, analyzes axiological components of the Transbaikal Territory media image, and shows its cultural and content characteristics. Research findings are based on some data from a sociological survey carried out in 2021, where 911 residents of the region of different ages (20 to 68) took part, as well as the results of a survey of 48 regional journalists from different communication channels. The attention is paid to the conceptual component of the Region Media Image, as well as to the special role of the actor of multimedia content.Typological and cognitive analyses allowed us to identify the empirical material and present it as a system of cultural and historical dominant ideas. Major characteristics of media image axiology are based on linguocultural approach, emphasizing the values of traditional culture. Media image axiology presents a triple-stage system with its regional specific features, distinct content including spiritual and moral, cultural and historical, and natural values. Spiritual and moral priorities reflect region’s mental view of the world and focus on the values of labour, kindness, grace, sincerity and patriotism, preservation of family values, faith in justice. Cultural and historical context is enriched by the folk heroes of the past and present, traditions, beliefs and customs. Coronavirus pandemic made actors of information flows focus on natural resources of Transbaikalia. During the study, we revealed a correlation between the axiological instrumentation of designing the media image of the region and the level of influence of the media discourse on the consumer, between the spiritual and moral picture of the author’s view of the world and the demand for media products by the audience. We justify the need to adjust the work of regional journalists with a texture inherent in modelling the media image of the region.The authors make a conclusion that, on the one hand, a productive media image is designed using values and ideals characteristic of the territory, on the other hand, the cultural and historical space of the region is a tool for necessary identification with a place of residence, a link between generations and residents of the region.

COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF CHRISTIANITY AND BUDDHISM VALUES

The article considers dynamics and carries out comparison of significant valuable guidelines of Christianity and Buddhism which form the basis of theological conceptions if these world religions and demonstrate ideological and moral priorities of people professing these religions. The issues under consideration are of relevance as the problem considered in the article and reacquired results of the survey reveal the difference in the mentality of people confessing definite religion and as a result can remove difficulties arising in the process of communication of people sharing different religious views.
 The aim of the carried investigation is to identify values forming the basis of the two of the world’s principal religions. To determine causes and main directions of historical dynamics of the pointed values as well as influence of the values of a certain religion on the society’s functioning.
 In the process of conducting research the following methods were used: semantic and content analysis method, conceptual analysis and discourse analysis.
 The study showed that the following values can be referred to traditional Christian values: faith, good (kindness), love, mercy, modesty, forgiveness, purity of morals, God. At the present stage of social development Christian values have undergone changes, and at present such values as life, truth, and good have come to the fore. Besides, modern Christianity refers to values such notions as patriotism, freedom and family values. Buddhism historically refers to the category of values the guidelines determining foundations of human life: correct views, correct intentions, correct speech, correct behavior, correct lifestyle, correct efforts, correct attention. At the present stage of social development modified values of Buddhism come to the forefront: cleansing the mind and developing wisdom, compassion, the law of karma and rebirth. In modern Buddhism, values present complex concepts implying that a person has particular moral qualities. The results of the study showed that Christian values have been kept unchanged, while values of Buddhism have been subject to changes under the influence of changing historical conditions.

Materialism and the Moral Status of Animals

AbstractConsciousness has an important role in ethics: when a being consciously experiences the frustration or satisfaction of its interests, those interests deserve higher moral priority than those of a behaviourally similar but non-conscious being. I consider the relationship between this ethical role and an a posteriori (or ‘type-B’) materialist solution to the mind-body problem. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that, if type-B materialism is correct, then the reference of the concept Phenomenal Consciousness is radically indeterminate between a neuronal-level property that is distinctive to mammals and a high-level functional property that is much more widely shared. This would leave many non-mammalian animals (such as birds, fish, insects and octopuses) with indeterminate moral status. There are ways to manage this radical moral indeterminacy, but all of these ways lead to profoundly troubling consequences.

Rethinking the Precedent Autonomy, Current Minimal Autonomy, and Current Well-Being in Medical Decisions for Persons with Dementia.

As patient autonomy expands, a highly controversial issue has emerged. Should the advance directives (ADs) of refusing life-saving treatments or requesting euthanasia of persons with dementia (PWDs) who express changed minds or are often in a happy state be fulfilled? There are two autonomy-related positions. The mainstream position in philosophical discussions supports the priority of ADs based on precedent autonomy. Buchanan and Brock, and Dworkin represent this view. The other position supports the priority of PWDs' current wishes based on minimal autonomy represented by Jaworska. By rethinking the theoretical and practical challenges of the two positions and their arguments respectively, the paper concludes that in such a scenario, the priority of ADs is morally indefensible, and it is also challenging to establish minimal autonomy defend the moral priority of PWDs' current wishes. For PWDs whose past values, beliefs, and preferences fade away but who retain apparent intrinsic sentience of well-being, a modified defined quality-of-life (QoL) approach serves as another reasonable basis in their medical decision-making, and the ADs and the QoL should be further merged to reduce the uncertainty of the grey zone.

THE INFLUENCE OF MORALITY ON THE ECONOMIC BEHAVIOR OF A SUBJECT OF THE SOCIETY IN THE CONDITIONS OF INCLUSION

Introduction. The problems of the influence of morality, spiritual orientations and ideological ideals on the economic activity of society become not only an actual scientific idea, but is also a center of acute social discussion directed on a finding of a balance between rationality, which is rapidly growing in modern society and morality as universal human value, which must harmonize our society. Certainly, moral values are an important connecting link between society, social environment and individual, personality and its inner world. Purpose. The purpose of this article is to determine the priority of morality that affects on the economic behavior of the subject of society in conditions of social and educational inclusion in Ukraine. Results. On the basis of comparative analysis of notions «morality» and «moral» reached the following conclusions that: «moral» is a system of norms, rules and requirements, produced in society, which regulate the interaction among people, their relation to the phenomena of real world; «morality» – is a set of consciousness, skills and habits of person, which connected with compliance of these norms, rules and requirements. The morality formed with the personality of subject of society and inseparable from ones «I am». In the result of monitoring identified factors of influence on the formation of content of moral education of subject of society in the process relationship with the purpose of creation of Gross Domestic Product and value added in the country. Different approaches of understanding of result of influence of morality on the economic behavior of subject of society in conditions of inclusion, because the state of economics of Ukraine first of all depends on the moral and professional stimulus of the manager, the politician, the businessman etc.

КОНЦЕПЦІЯ «ГОМО СОВЄТІКУС» О.О. ЗІНОВ'ЄВА ЯК СКЛАДОВА ЧАСТИНА Z-ІДЕОЛОГІЇ

The article reveals the peculiarities of the Russian Federation's use of the concept of "homo sovietikus" by the philosopher and sociologist O. O. Zinoviev (1926–2006) as a tool of information warfare in the world media space. The relevance of the problem is determined by the urgent need for the state and society of Ukraine to intensify the search for effective means of countering the influence of socially destructive technologies of the aggressor country. The authors consider the literary work of O. O. Zinoviev as one of the sources of the formation of so-called Z-ideology, that is, a complex of ideas and beliefs aimed at justifying the feasibility of Russia's implementation of the Eurasian geopolitical concept in international relations and the legitimization of its armed expansion in the East and West Europe. The article analyzes the content of O. O. Zinoviev's novels "Homo Sovieticus" (1982) and "Para Bellum" (1982). According to the authors of the study, it is necessary to move away from the satirical genre notion of these works established in literary criticism and, instead, to concentrate attention on the practical aspect of the author's recommendations, regarding methods of education, informational and psychological influence on the mass consciousness of a potential mobilization resource of the aggressor state. O. O. Zinoviev described quite clearly and consistently the process of formation of beliefs and moral priorities of the Soviet "superman", who is supposed to destroy Western European civilization. The main methods of raising "homo sovieticus" are the formation in his mind of an anomalous hierarchy of values, where the most important qualities of an individual are aggressiveness, cruelty, mistrust of others, indifference to the family, adaptability, recognition of the priority of the interests of the state. The obvious inferiority of such a person should be compensated by his ability to quickly adapt to the extreme conditions of the future great continental war, unpretentiousness in everyday life, the ability to build relations with representatives of other nations with maximum benefit for himself. The article states that already in the first half of the 1980s O. O. Zinoviev described certain elements of the "hybrid war", which were later used by the Russian Federation during 2014–2022 against Ukraine and the states of the European Union. The authors of the study hope that their conclusions could convince the scientific and general public of Ukraine in the need for an objective rethinking of the Russian literary heritage, including the works of representatives of the so-called "third wave" Russian emigration from the USSR (1960s and early 1990s) who, due to the mass inertia of the political worldview, often get the image of fighters against totalitarianism.

MAIN DIRECTIONS OF SPIRITUAL AND MORAL EDUCATION OF CHILDREN IN PRESCHOOL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

The basic ideas of education of spirituality and morality in folk pedagogy and ethno pedagogy are revealed. The views of prominent Ukrainian teachers on the spiritual and moral education of preschool children are analyzed. The influence of Christian traditions on the spiritual and moral development of the individual is clarified. The leading components of spiritual and moral education are highlighted. Forms of work with children in preschool education institutions are covered, directions of spiritual and moral education are determined. The relevance of spiritual and moral education of preschool children is substantiated.
 The instability of the spiritual and moral atmosphere in society has caused a particularly acute problem of spiritual values formation and moral priorities in the life of the child. The concepts of sensitivity, mercy, compassion, empathy, conscience, the need to act well should be a key guideline in the implementation of a spiritual life-affirming model of personality. The study found that in folk pedagogy were common areas of spiritual and moral education of children: household, customary, civic education. Spiritual and moral education of preschool children by the legacy of prominent teachers of the first third of the twentieth century was carried out in the following areas: national education; family upbringing; religious education; mental education; aesthetic education). Spiritual and moral education of preschool children at the present stage is a priority for the harmonious development of personality. The upbringing of children is based on a certain system of values such as: universal, national and civic. It is carried out in the following areas: national-patriotic, civic education; family upbringing; labor education; aesthetic education; environmental education.

From Habermas to Derrida: A Weak Form of Secular Universalism

In this article, I argue that a universalistic thrust of secularism should not be located in a Habermasian deontological liberal principle of the priority of universal morality over particularistic ethical doctrines. I show that Habermas cannot plausibly demonstrate that this principle can be invariably applied across different cases. However, in order not to succumb to parochialism, the failure of the deontological model should not prompt us to give up on the search for a universalistic drive behind secularism. To this end, I advocate a Derridean critique of religion and secularism as an alternative solution. By deconstructing the Kantian dichotomy of faith vs. knowledge, Jacques Derrida shows that secularism is, paradoxically, both a concrete socio-political regime and a possibility for a radical change.

Games and rituals are the most important means of social interaction in human society

The article comprehensively investigates the phenomenon of play and its relationship with cultural and social categories such as ritual, ritual, customs, and traditions based on folklore and ethnographic materials of the Kazakh and Turkic peoples. Game culture as the most active means of cultural and social interaction in society, deeply rooted in all spheres of human life, is an integral element of the development of modern society. Folk customs and traditions are reflected in religion, arts, crafts, politics, science, military sports games, education, upbringing, economics, and entrepreneurship. The game, reflected in public life, affects socio-cultural activity, diversity in diversity, the transformation of concepts, and the future development of society. The article defines the ontological meaning and archetypal basis of the interaction of games and socio-cultural processes of our time, identifies the general attributes and originality of games. The manifestation of ancient beliefs in the games of a shaman is illustrated, their role in a specific ritual is revealed, the integration of play elements in the ritual complex, the versatility of the shaman's personality, the relationship between play elements and rituals are traced. The origins of the gaming culture go back to ancient beliefs, magic, cults, family rituals. For example, the youth games "Shivering Baba Baba", "White Storm" and "Hand Trap" recreate the opposition of winter and summer, old and new, young, the relationship between a girl and a boy. Mostly "summer", "new" and "young", "guy" win and win. These game elements, which were once an integral part of the ritual complex, were later combined and separated into a separate game. Each subsequent time they deviate from the original ritual. This tendency can be traced in many national games, the origin of which dates to the period of ritual folklore. The game "Kokpar", extremely popular among the Turkic peoples, is a national equestrian game. The name of the game comes from the "blue wolf" totem. The author of the article conclusively states that during a long hunt, a young man kidnapped a killed (wounded) wolf, the other participants in the game tried to catch him. As a result of the study, it is important to conclude that ritual and play are multifunctional, multilingual, differ not only in their symbolism, but also in how beliefs, religious motives and everyday life are reflected in them. Their ontological, epistemological, and axiological significance and ambivalence are great. The game has always been and remains a universal way of interacting with reality. Traditional ceremonies, games and holidays reflect the cultural component of the people, reveal the nature of the world. The game promotes cultural and moral priorities in the social environment, stereotypes related to age, gender, profession. Today, the game goes beyond the strictly limited framework of traditional ethnocultural phenomena, reflecting the socio-cultural situation, the system of relations and values, changes in human consciousness in the postmodern era. The game is cosmopolitan, sometimes artificial. The game culture, thus, is undergoing radical changes and is experiencing a crisis, which actualizes the need to increase moral values, moral foundations, preservation of the historical roots, and socio-communicative potential of the game culture. This, in turn, contributes to the stability and vitality of human and social life. The article was prepared within the framework of the grant project of the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan AP08856460 "Great steppe games (game folklore): the role of national games in the revival of public consciousness as a special cultural phenomenon".

칼 슈미트(K. Schmitt)의 헌법구성의 토대인 ‘정치적 통일체’에 관한 연구

In the divided place between liberalism and republicanism on the relationship of politics and law, we meet K. Schmitt’s constitution. His constitution is based not on moral priority, but on the politics. In other words His constitution is founded on the political unity. In this point the idea that constitution itself is founded is not reasonable. His constitution is formed by the political judgement of sovereign. His constitution is the outcome of Sovereign’s judgement for the special being of political unity. In this point, his constitution is similar with republicanism which connects law with politics. But while republicanism is based on political optimism on commensurability, he is based on political realism on incommensurability.<BR> K. Schmitt forms the inequivalency of power and antagonism among diverse ethic life-forms which political reality shows as ‘the political’. His ‘political’ is formed not on pure or romantic motivations such as common-good and humanity, but on the dichotomy such as enemy and friend. The political unity formed in the hostile confrontment with enemy is the outcome of the war between enemy and friend. This is the essence of politics. Though this political position of K. Schmittis understanded as the violent, our history and reality have showed this. The deep investigation for our political reality gets us to realize that the war and conflict among political powers is the more daily than the consensus and harmony among them.

The Online Life: the version of Moscow students

The authors consider the issues of the attitude of students to the measures of the Moscow Government against the COVID-19 at the peak of the pandemic, reveal changes in social values, moral and communicative priorities in conditions of mass restrictions when study, work, leisure, and human contacts of Muscovites, or rather when all the life has smoothly flown online. Hence, everyone found himself in a new reality, when fatigue comes not from an excess of communication, but from an excess of its fictitious quasi-forms, or the absence of communication in real. A new type of media space is emerging, a kind of metamedia space that overlaps all media communications of the dock-like world, leaving no room for public, group and personal connections in usual form.

Giving Moral Competence High Priority in Medical Education. New MCT-based Research Findings from the Polish Context

Nowadays, healthcare and medical education is qualified by test scores and competitiveness. This article considers its quality in terms of improving the moral competence of future healthcare providers. Objectives. Examining the relevance of moral competence in medico-clinical decision-making despite the paradigm shift and discussing the up-to-date findings on healthcare students (Polish sample). Design and method. N=115 participants were surveyed with a standard Moral Competence Test to examine how their moral competence development was affected by the learning environment and further important factors. Results. The sample allowed the identification of a regress in moral competence during students’ pre-clinical curriculum, and progress during their clinical curriculum. A gender-related bias, a segmentation effect, and a pronunciation effect were noticed. Explanations. Scholarly literature usually reports a linear decrease of medical students’ C-scores resulting from, e.g., competitive trends in education. We identified such trends in terms of gender-specific competitive tactics. Religious and ethical affiliations were discussed to explain the unexpected gender bias and the related segmentation and pronunciation effects. The findings can be regarded as predictive for similar developments in educational institutions regardless of cultural contexts as the sample examined in this article represents medical education in a country facing a transition from a non-competitive to competitive tertiary education model, and between presecular and monocultural to secular and pluralist social ethics.