Care-based moral reasoning of early adolescents: Its relationship with sex differences, feminine gender role identity, and teacher-perceived cooperation

This study investigated the relationship between care-based moral reasoning, age, sex, feminine gender role identity, and teacher-perceived cooperation. Participants were 80 male and 80 female students ages 10--13 years old. They were interviewed individually using the Ethic of Care Interview (ECI), a measure operationalizing Carol Gilligan's model of levels of care, to examine the participant's care level. The participants also completed the short form of the Children's Sex Role Inventory (CSRI) to assess feminine gender role identity. In addition, the cooperation subscale from the Social Skills Rating System (STRS-T) was completed by selected teachers of the participants. A qualitative analysis was conducted after the completion of the quantitative analysis to examine the contents and themes of the participant generated real-life dilemmas.;ECI scores were positively significantly related to age, sex, feminine gender role identity, and teacher-perceived cooperation. Females, overall, demonstrated more advanced levels of care, and the oldest participants demonstrated higher levels of care than the youngest participants. More females generated personal dilemmas than males, and more males generated impersonal dilemmas than females. Overall, more personal dilemmas than impersonal dilemmas were generated by early adolescents. In addition, females scoring below the normative mean on ECI, feminine attributes, and cooperation generated impersonal dilemmas and males scoring above the normative mean on the three measures generated personal dilemmas. Regression analyses revealed that age and cooperation were significant predictors of care for males only. Endorsement of feminine attributes was not a significant predictor of care for early adolescent males or females.;This study adds to the growing body of knowledge on the hierarchical sequence of the care construct and incorporates a methodological measure that includes hypothetical as well as participant generated real-life dilemmas. The methodology includes qualitative analyses that add to the richness of the quantitative assessments. The findings are discussed in terms of the promotion of moral competence through a care-based moral lens and the integration of more cooperative activities in the classroom.