Acceptability and emotional states in moral dilemmas across sex: a cross-cultural analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACT Studies have investigated cognitive and emotional processes related to moral judgment, with recent findings showing sex-related differences in moral reasoning. This study aimed to investigate sex differences in acceptability and emotional states in relation to resolving moral dilemmas, comparing Brazil and Spain. The sample consisted of: 333 Brazilian participants (46.2% men and 53.8% women) and 292 Spanish participants (45.5% men and 54.5% women), aged between 18 and 39 years. They read and judged five utilitarian and deontological moral dilemmas. Main results: men presented higher scores in acceptability and lower scores in emotional states; the Spanish subsample scored higher in both variables; there was no interaction between gender and country; sex predicted acceptability only in the second utilitarian dilemma. The results suggest that moral transgressions are more acceptable to men and Spanish people. This suggests that sociocultural factors are important for a proper understanding of morality.

Keywords

• sex differences
• moral judgment
• moral reasoning
• utilitarian
• deontological