Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to investigate the interaction between Kohlberg's Principled stage of moral development with Gilligan's orientations towards care or justice in terms of the impact these cognitive structures have on reasoning about abortion. A secondary aspect of the study was concerned with how people's gender, previous experience of abortion, religiosity, and demographics influence the assumption of a Pro-Life or Pro-Choice position. Subjects of both sexes participated voluntarily and their ages ranged from 18 through 75. Five instruments were used in this study. Rest's Defining Issues Test was used to measure moral development. Yacker's Moral Orientation Scale measured orientation towards justice or care. Genia's Spiritual Experience Index was used as a measure of religiosity. The Personal Information Questionnaire , created by the author, obtained demographic data and assessed positions on abortion by means of self rating scale. Parson's Reasoning About Abortion Questionnaire and the self rating scale were used to measure Pro-Life or Pro-Choice position on abortion. This combined measure served as the dependent variable. ;No significant difference between Pro-Life and Pro-Choice reasoners was found in terms of moral development and orientation. Gender was not a factor associated with either moral development or moral orientation. Subjects reporting past experiences with abortion showed a significant preference with Pro-Choice reasoning whereas those never experiencing abortion leaned to a Pro-Life position. Pro-Life reasoners were found to be significantly higher in religiosity than Pro-Choice reasoners. Demographic variables failed to predict position towards abortion. Additional analysis of the data revealed significant differences in gender and moral orientation for two sub-scales of the Defining Issues Test, the Utilizer score which takes into account justice reasoning in making moral judgments, and the Stage 6 score which is the highest stage in Kohlberg's model of moral development