Are women more moral than men?

[C C]

Are women more moral than men?
https://cosmosmagazine.com/people/behavi...-than-men/

EXCERPTS: Women score consistently more highly than men on moral dimensions of caring, fairness and purity, according to a comprehensive, cross-cultural study of gender differences in morality published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. While the differences were robust, the study found they were stronger in more flexible, individualistic cultures with greater gender equality. Other moral dimensions of loyalty and authority, on the other hand, showed negligible and highly variable sex differences.

These dimensions are thought to be psychologically innate and then moulded by culture. “Each moral system produces fast, automatic gut-level reactions of like or dislike when certain phenomena are perceived in the social world,” write Mohammad Atari and colleagues from the University of Southern California, US, “which in turn guide judgements of right and wrong”.

“These systems, according to [the theory], have evolutionarily adaptive underpinnings present in all individuals.” They are: care, aversion to the suffering of others; fairness, based on ideas of justice, rights and autonomy; loyalty to our tribe or group; authority, supporting the merits of leadership and respect for traditions; and spiritual purity.

[...] The primary study involved an anonymous online survey of more than 330,000 people from 67 countries, providing feedback on their own morality, ethics and values... (MORE - details)

[Syne]

"higher concerns for Care, Fairness, and Purity in their moral judgements" doesn't necessarily equate to being more fair, caring, or pure. You can care about fairness and still have double standards about what's fair for who. Let's face it, women are more concerned than men about a ton of stuff. That's one reason they have trouble shutting their thoughts off.

[confused2]

It might be an age thing - I have no idea what 'purity' means in the context of this paper. Promiscuity? Is lack of purity a Bible belt code for 'promiscuous? Or something else?

[Syne]

It might be an age thing - I have no idea what 'purity' means in the context of this paper. Promiscuity? Is lack of purity a Bible belt code for 'promiscuous? Or something else?

It's from the Moral Foundations Theory. It means "abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, actions". This is related to the evolutionary psychology of avoiding disease and illness, whether through food, filth, or behaviors that can lead to STDs. So yes, promiscuity could possibly fit purity, but evolutionary psychology would be more apt to place a woman's desire for monogamy into loyalty, as monogamy is driven by a need for security in women. But it's more likely that female security is a much deeper need than moral considerations.

[Secular Sanity]

Maybe our sensitivities simply enhanced infant survival.

[Ben the Donkey]

Maybe our sensitivities simply enhanced infant survival.

In a nutshell.