We assume women are morally superior to men – and that’s a bad thing

Think of an imaginary person who has a strong moral compass. According to a series of recent experiments, you probably just pictured a woman or a girl. Scientists have found that we tend to associate morality more closely with femininity than masculinity, which may pose a surprising disadvantage for women.

Jordan Wylie and her colleagues at Boston College in Massachusetts wanted to better understand the traits and attitudes that we ascribe to people who are considered morally good.