Perceptions of Gender on Moral Intensity

Despite the fight for gender equality, differences in reactions to certain behaviors and decisions based on gender prevail (Lee & James, 2007). Research shows that preference for a male employer continues to exceed preference for a female employer (Thoroughgood, Sawyer, and Hunter, 2013). Because of this important division, we sought to investigate whether individuals would make different ethical judgments based on gender. We predicted that participants would report differences on perceived moral intensity when reading about a male (versus female) character in an ethical dilemma. Results showed that participants reported more perceived social pressure when the employee in ethical dilemma was male. Results also showed that participants reported more perceived potential harm when a female was in a position of power. Implications will be discussed.