Carol Gilligan
Carol Gilligan is a prominent American psychologist and feminist theorist known for her influential work in moral and personality development. Born in the 1940s and educated at Swarthmore College and Harvard University, she began her academic career at Harvard in the late 1960s. Gilligan is widely recognized for challenging traditional psychological theories, particularly those of her colleague Lawrence Kohlberg, by arguing that his stages of moral development predominantly reflect male perspectives. Her seminal book, "In a Different Voice" (1982), introduced the concepts of two distinct moral orientations: the masculine ethic of justice and the feminine ethic of care, highlighting the importance of women's experiences and voices in psychological research.
Gilligan's work emphasizes that both moral orientations are valid and should be studied on their own terms, fostering a deeper understanding of gender differences in moral reasoning. Over her career, she has contributed significantly to feminist ethics and women's developmental psychology, earning recognition such as being named one of Time magazine's twenty-five most influential people in 1996. In addition to her academic roles, she has founded projects aimed at promoting social justice and understanding humanity. Through her various collaborative and independent publications, Gilligan continues to influence discussions around gender, morality, and psychology.
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Subject Terms
Carol Gilligan
American psychologist
- Born: November 28, 1936
- Birthplace: New York, New York
Type of psychology: Developmental psychology
Gilligan theorized that there are differences between men and women in values and views when confronted with ethical dilemmas.
Life
Carol Gilligan grew up in the 1940s in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. After completing a highest honors degree in English at Swarthmore College in 1958 and earning a doctorate in clinical psychology at Harvard University in 1964, she began teaching at Harvard during the late 1960s.
While researching moral and personality development, Gilligan became convinced that the study of psychology was based primarily on studies of men and lacked women’s voices. Although a collaborator of developmental psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, she has argued that Kohlberg's stages of moral development explain the “moral voice” of only boys and young men.
Gilligan is best known for her book In a Different Voice (1982), which presents a conceptual framework for two different “themes” or “voices.” Her theory of moral development contrasts the masculine ethic of justice, as presented by Kohlberg, with the feminine ethic of care. She explains these gender differences in moral perspective as caused by contrasting images of self. The ethic of care stresses the connectedness or relatedness of persons. The ethic of justice or ethic of rights is based on separateness or distinctiveness of the self. Individuals stand alone and independently make moral decisions. Gilligan does not argue for the superiority of either the interpersonal theme of women or the formal rule-bound morality of men. Instead, she insists that male and female moral orientations should be considered apart from each other and that development within each should be studied according to the unique facets of each. Her own studies have also included boys and their development into manhood.
Critics note a lack of empirical research to support Gilligan’s argument that women score lower than men on Kohlberg’s scale. Nevertheless, Gilligan’s work is accepted as having created an appreciation of women’s voices, resulting in a new interest in female developmental psychology and an abundance of literature on feminist ethics.
Gilligan was selected by Time magazine as one of the twenty-five most influential people in 1996. In 1997, she became the first holder of a chair on gender studies at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Five years later, in 2002, she began teaching at New York University, where she is a University Professor of Humanities and cofounded the Radical Listening Project and the Project for the Advancement of Our Common Humanity (PACH). She has also taught at the University of Cambridge in England and the University of Brussels in Belgium.
Collaborative publications include Making Connections (1990), Mapping the Moral Domain (1990), Women's Psychology and Girls' Development (1992), Meeting at the Crossroads (1993), Between Voice and Silence (1997), The Deepening Darkness: Patriarchy, Resistance, and Democracy’s Future (2009), When Boys Become Boys (2014); Darkness Now Visible: Patriarchy's Resurgence and Feminist Resistance (2018), and Why Does Patriarchy Persist? (2018). In addition, Gilligan has independently authored The Birth of Pleasure (2002); a novel, Kyra (2008); and Joining the Resistance (2011).
Bibliography
Aldridge, Jerry, and Lois McFadyen Christensen. "Carol Gilligan." Stealing from the Mother: The Marginalization of Women in Education and Psychology from 1900-2010. Lanham: Rowman, 2013. 125–30. Digital file.
Ball, Laura. "Carol Gilligan." Feminist Voices. Psychology's Feminist Voices Multimedia Internet Archive, 2010. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Berube, Maurice R. Eminent Educators, Studies in Intellectual Influence. Westport: Greenwood, 2000. Print.
Fite, Kathleen E., and Jovita M. Ross-Gordon. "Carol Gilligan." A Critical Pedagogy of Resistance. Ed. James D. Kirylo. London: Springer, 2013. 57–59. Print.
Gilligan, Carol. “ 'Mommy, I Know You': A Feminist Scholar Explains How the Study of Girls Can Teach Us about Boys.” Newsweek 30 Jan. 2006: 53. Print.
Green, Penelope. “Carefully Smash the Patriarchy.” The New York Times, 18 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/18/style/carol-gilligan.html/ Accessed 4 Oct. 2021.
Hekman, Susan J. Moral Voices, Moral Selves: Carol Gilligan and Feminist Moral Theory. University Park: Pennsylvania State UP, 1995. Print.
Puka, Bill. Caring Voices and Women’s Frames: Gilligan’s View. Vol. 6 of Moral Development: A Compendium. New York: Garland, 1994. Print.