Sex Differences in Moral Interests
The Role of Kinship and the Nature of Reciprocity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8975175 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Deborah S Mower (Youngstown State University, corresponding author), DEBORAH MOWER |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 111-119 |
| Publication date | 2009-02-22 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8308 • E-ISSN: 1468-5914 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1468-5914.2008.00395.x |
| OpenAlex | W2050762043 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
Although moral psychologists and feminist moral theorists emphasize males’ interest in justice or fairness and females’ interest in care or empathy, recent work in evolutionary psychology links females’ interests in care and empathy for others with interests in fairness and equality. In an important work on sex differences in cognitive abilities, David Geary (1998 ) argues that the evolutionary mechanism of sexual selection drives the evolution of particular cognitive abilities and selection for particular interests. I mount two main challenges to Geary's claims. First, I argue that female social and intrasexual competitive environments evolve, which challenges the assumption that such environments are largely nonkin‐based and characterized by reciprocity. Second, I grant Geary's entire characterization of female environments, but argue that the natures of reciprocal relationships themselves do not require and may not select for interests in fairness and equality. This analysis not only challenges claims regarding sex differences in moral interests, but also suggests the need for a diachronic model of male and female social and intrasexual competitive environments. In addition, I propose a return to Trivers's (1971 ) focus on the suite of emotions underlying reciprocal altruism as properties and features of individuals as fodder for selection
Altruism (biology · Empathy · Evolutionary psychology · Kinship · Prosocial behavior · Reciprocal · Reciprocal altruism · Reciprocity (cultural anthropology · Sexual selection · Sociology · Ecology · Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |