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- Carol Gilligan was at the forefront of a feminist revolution in psychology that led the field to consider the unique psychological configurations of women and to apply them more broadly.
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Dec 5, 2022 · Carol Gilligan became an agent of social change because her inner world and life path coincided with sociocultural readiness to embrace her work as giving voice to an emerging awareness of the suppression and denigration of women's sensibilities in psychology as well as in the larger culture.
- Overview
- Carol Gilligan and Her Theory of Moral Development
- Stages in Gilligan's Theory of Moral Development
- The Ethics of Care and the Developing Sense of Self
- Critiques of Gilligan's Theory of Moral Development
- Carol Gilligan's Theory Today
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Carol Gilligan is a psychologist best known for her innovative views on the development of women's morality and sense of self, which she detailed in her 1982 book In a Different Voice. Gilligan's theory of moral development was created in response to the theory of moral development proposed by Lawrence Kohlberg, which she criticized for ignoring women's perspectives.
Gilligan proposed that women come to prioritize an "ethics of care" as their sense of morality evolves along with their sense of self while men prioritize an "ethics of justice."
This article discusses the history of Gilligan's theory of moral development, how it differs from Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development, and how women develop their sense of self in the world.
Gilligan's Argument Against Kohlberg's Theory
Kohlberg's theory of moral development consists of three levels each made up of two stages. At the lowest, the Preconventional Level, the needs of the self are prioritized. This evolves into the Conventional Level to an understanding of how to be a moral member of society. Finally, at the highest level, the Postconventional Level, the individual adopts a universal idea of justice. Kohlberg observed that most people won't reach the highest stages of his scale but would stop developing morally in the middle stages at the Conventional Level, and that's exactly what research showed. However, while both girls and boys tended to score at the Conventional Level on Kohlberg's scale, girls scored predominantly at Stage 3, which is concerned with being a good person in order to maintain the goodwill and approval of others, while most boys scored at Stage 4, which is focused on adhering to the norms and laws of society. This made it seem like men reached higher levels of morality than women, but Carol Gilligan noted that Kohlberg's theory was formulated exclusively through research with young white males. As a result, she suggested that Kohlberg's theory is biased toward men and boys and doesn't account for women's and girls' perspectives on morality. Men, she said, prioritize an "ethics of justice" where morality is centered on abstract principles and rules that can be applied equally to everyone. Meanwhile, women prioritize an "ethics of care," where morality is centered on interpersonal relationships and moral judgment is based on the context of an issue. Gilligan conducted several interview studies with girls and women, including one with women who were deciding whether to have an abortion, in order to flesh out her ideas about women's morality. The goal of her work was to demonstrate that women don't necessarily stop developing morally before men do, but that their moral development follows a different trajectory than that outlined in Kohlberg's theory.
Gilligan's research in the abortion decision study led her to detail her own stage theory of moral development, which she detailed in a 1977 article that she expanded into her book In a Different Voice. Gilligan's theory used the same basic three-level outline as Kohlberg's along with two transitions between the levels. The levels and transitions a...
Movement through Gilligan's stages of moral development hinges on an evolving sense of self.
•At the Preconventional Level, only the needs of the self are recognized
•At the Conventional Level, the needs of others are prioritized while the needs of the self are denied
•At the Postconventional Level, a balance is struck between the needs of the self and others
While Gilligan's ideas were groundbreaking, some feminist psychologists have also criticized them because they treat women's voices as a single homogenous entity while ignoring the diversity of women based on age, class, race, and other factors.
Moreover, some have expressed concern over the suggestion that women emphasize care and connection more than men, arguing that this reinforces traditional ideas about femininity while potentially continuing to push women into caregiver roles.
Despite these criticisms, Gilligan's theory of moral development continues to be studied today. It is now widely acknowledged that there are two moral orientations, one that emphasizes justice and one that emphasizes care, as Gilligan proposed.
Both genders develop both orientations, however, studies have shown that men tend to emphasize an ethics of justice and women an ethics of care.
Recent research has continued to back up this assertion. For example, one study found that men and women handled ethical dilemmas in business differently, a result that was attributed to Gilligan's theory. Similarly, research analyzing the way men and women thought about morality found that men utilized a detached, intellectual approach while women used a subjective, personal approach.
Although both genders understood one another's moral perspective, men and women were unable to comfortably adopt the other's approach, demonstrating a gender divide consistent with Gilligan's ideas.
This research demonstrates that the moral development of men and women tends to follow different trajectories that emphasize different things. Because women and girls often prioritize relationships and care over rules and principles, their approaches to ethical dilemmas in their professional, academic, and personal lives are likely to contrast with that of men and boys.
Because the world still tends to prize men's perspectives over women's, this may leave women and girls feeling alienated or alone. However, for women, girls, and those raising girls, it helps to keep in mind that Gilligan's theory of moral development shows that many women and girls are likely struggling in similar ways.
Carol Gilligan (/ ˈ ɡ ɪ l ɪ ɡ ən /; born November 28, 1936) is an American feminist, ethicist, and psychologist, best known for her work on ethical community and ethical relationships. Gilligan is a professor of Humanities and Applied Psychology at New York University and was a visiting professor at the Centre for Gender Studies and Jesus ...
Sep 12, 2023 · Carol Gilligan's "In a Different Voice" showed that women differ from men in their moral judgments. Women tend to think more in terms of an ethic of care and relationships than men do. The...
Dec 5, 2022 · Conclusion: Carol Gilligan became an agent of social change because her inner world and life path coincided with sociocultural readiness to embrace her work as giving voice to an emerging...
Oct 12, 2023 · Books. 12 October 2023. Carol Gilligan: why I changed my mind on the gender binary. The psychologist was a feminist icon for her work on how gender shapes our morality. But now, in her eighties, she is revising her thesis. By Ellen Peirson-Hagger. Photo by Sasha Arutyunova/New York Times/Redux/eyevine.
Gilligan’s interest in moral development was deeply affected by her interviews with young women contemplating abortions in the 1970s. Over time, Gilligan began to question Kohlberg’s methodology and the assumptions that grounded his theory. First, the participants in his studies were all privileged white men and boys.
