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Moral Judgments, Gender, and Social Preferences: An Experimental Study

Author

Listed:
  • Juergen Bracht

    (University of Aberdeen)

  • Adam Zylbersztejn

    (GATE - Groupe d'analyse et de théorie économique - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - ENS LSH - Ecole Normale Supérieure Lettres et Sciences Humaines - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

We study questionnaire responses to moral dilemmas hypothetical situations in which sacrificing one life may save many other lives. We demonstrate gender differences in moral judgments: male participants are more supportive of the sacrifice than female participants. We investigate the importance of the previously studied source of the endorsement of the sacrfice: antisocial attitudes. First, we elicit the individual proneness to spiteful behavior using an incentivized experimental game. We demonstrate that spitefulness can be sizable but it is not associated with gender. Second, we find that gender is associated with moral judgments even when we account for individual differences in antisocial attitudes. Our results suggest that the performance of many institutions (related to the distribution of wealth or punishment, for instance) may be affected by the gender of the decision-makers. Abstract We study questionnaire responses to moral dilemmas hypothetical situations in which sacric-ing one life may save many other lives. We demonstrate gender dierences in moral judgments: male participants are more supportive of the sacrice than female participants. We investigate the importance of the previously studied source of the endorsement of the sacrice: antisocial attitudes. First, we elicit the individual proneness to spiteful behavior using an incentivized experimental game. We demonstrate that spitefulness can be sizable but it is not associated with gender. Second, we nd that gender is associated with moral judgments even when we account for individual dierences in antisocial attitudes. Our results suggest that the performance of many institutions (related to the distribution of wealth or punishment, for instance) may be aected by the gender of the decision-makers.

Suggested Citation

  • Juergen Bracht & Adam Zylbersztejn, 2016. "Moral Judgments, Gender, and Social Preferences: An Experimental Study," Working Papers halshs-01382464, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:halshs-01382464
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01382464v2
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David K. Levine, 1998. "Modeling Altruism and Spitefulness in Experiment," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 1(3), pages 593-622, July.
    2. Gary Charness & David Masclet & Marie Claire Villeval, 2014. "The Dark Side of Competition for Status," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(1), pages 38-55, January.
    3. repec:cup:judgdm:v:6:y:2011:i:8:p:771-781 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Charness, Gary & Grosskopf, Brit, 2001. "Relative payoffs and happiness: an experimental study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 301-328, July.
    5. repec:cup:judgdm:v:5:y:2010:i:7:p:497-505 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Gold, Natalie & Pulford, Briony D. & Colman, Andrew M., 2015. "Do as I Say, Don’t Do as I Do: Differences in moral judgments do not translate into differences in decisions in real-life trolley problems," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 50-61.
    7. Greiner, Ben, 2004. "An Online Recruitment System for Economic Experiments," MPRA Paper 13513, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Michael Koenigs & Liane Young & Ralph Adolphs & Daniel Tranel & Fiery Cushman & Marc Hauser & Antonio Damasio, 2007. "Damage to the prefrontal cortex increases utilitarian moral judgements," Nature, Nature, vol. 446(7138), pages 908-911, April.
    9. repec:cup:judgdm:v:9:y:2014:i:1:p:65-76 is not listed on IDEAS
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    Cited by:

    1. Dickinson, David L. & Masclet, David, 2019. "Using ethical dilemmas to predict antisocial choices with real payoff consequences: An experimental study," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 195-215.
    2. Luzuriaga, Miguel & Heras, Antonio & Kunze, Oliver, 2020. "Hurting Others versus Hurting Myself, a Dilemma for Our Autonomous Vehicle," Review of Behavioral Economics, now publishers, vol. 7(1), pages 1-30, March.

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    Keywords

    gender; moral dilemmas; moral judgments; spite; antisocial attitudes; experiment;
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