Carol Gilligan’s Theory of Moral Development

Carol Gilligan wrote in her 1982 book, In a Different Voice, “(Psychology) implicitly adopted the male life as the norm [and] tried to fashion women out of a masculine cloth” She led the feminist revolution in psychology which led the field to recognise and embrace women’s unique psychological configurations. A ‘different voice’ has been omitted in psychology since its inception, the voice of women, which has led to an assumption that women are inferior to men.

Born on November 28th, 1963, Carol Gillian is an American psychologist, ethicist, and feminist. She is celebrated as the originator of the ethics of care. She worked under Lawrence Kohlberg as a research assistant. Kohlberg has famously proposed the stages of moral development. While it remains a vital theory in understanding how moral reasoning evolves in an individual through different developmental stages, it has garnered numerous criticisms. While some criticised its ecological validity, poor research design, and the very division of morality into distinct stages, Gillian criticised it for being androcentric, i.e. focused on only men’s moral reasoning. 

Carol Gillian on Kohlberg’s Stages

According to Gilligan, boys have a justice perspective which makes them rely on formal rules to define right and wrong. Girls on the other hand have a care and responsibility perspective and judge situations with an eye towards relationships and compassion. Boys might say stealing is wrong because it breaks the law but girls are more likely to wonder what would lead a person to steal and whether they have done so to survive or feed their family. Stage 3 of Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development is concerned with good interpersonal relationships, girls usually scored higher in this stage. Boys tend to score well at Stage 4, which focuses on law and order morality.

Kohlberg treated rule and law-based male reasoning as superior to the compassion-based female approach. According to Gillian, impersonal rules govern men’s lives whereas due to women’s role as caregivers, personal relationships take the forefront in their moral reasoning. So why should male standards be used as the standard by which to judge everyone, asks Gilligan? 

Carol Gillian’s Stages 

During her research on women’s morality, Gilligan conducted interviews with girls and women, including one with women considering abortion. Her work aimed to demonstrate that women don’t necessarily stop developing morally before men do, rather their moral development follows an alternative trajectory. Gillian’s research led her to outline her own stages of moral development. This followed Kohlbeg’s three-level outline with two transitions between the levels.

Preconventional Morality

At the Preconventional Level, moral judgment is dictated by the need to survive. Between the needs of the self and the needs of others, a woman will choose the former.

Transition 1

During the first transition from the Pre-conventional to the Conventional Level, the woman realises that she has a responsibility to others. For the first time, she realises her previous moral perspective may have been selfish.

Conventional Morality

At the Conventional Level, moral judgment becomes focused on caring for others. Her concern for others prevails over her own self-interest, resulting in a morality of self-sacrifice.

Transition 2

During the second transition from the Conventional to the post-conventional level, there is a tension between the needs of others and the needs of self. She begins to realise she must strike a better balance between her needs and the needs of others. By assessing her desires and responsibilities honestly, she shifts her moral judgement from “goodness” to “truth”.

Postconventional Morality

At the post-conventional level, the principle of non-violence dominates moral judgment. The needs of the self and the needs of others are given equal importance, which causes the woman to arrive at a universal ethic of care and concern. Gilligan didn’t mention the specific ages when each level of moral development would be reached. Like Kohlberg, she noted some women might not reach the highest level.

Critics

Gillian’s study has been critiqued by psychologists for painting a homogenous picture of women without accounting for differences. Since Gillian’s theory emphasises that men are rational while women are compassionate while making moral decisions, it reinforces gender stereotypes. Some argue that the difference between the morality of men and women is seen due to societal expectations and not innate gender differences.

Every theory has loopholes and Carol Gillian’s also has many, but her work did contribute to the development of psychology from a feminist lens and made sure that women’s experiences are not sidelined. Despite the criticisms, Carol Gillian’s study has ushered a new wave in psychology where female voices are given recognition and male standards are not treated as the norm.