觀察臺灣北高兩市出現「南北差距」問題的過程，涉及「個人」與「社會」因素，國內多從經濟、社會、政治及政府等個別、單一與行為角度來探討，忽視潛藏、無形與本質面的文化之分析。本研究以文化中的道德認知作為社會系統機制來回應南北差距現象，並從判斷分析觀點，以社會判斷理論（Social Judgment Theory, SJT）為研究方法，探討北高兩市民眾所呈現的道德認知，並提出道德認知操作步驟作為未來道德研究之參考。分析發現呈現公平（38%與31%）、關懷（42%與47%）、公平/關懷（20%與22%）的道德認知差距。這反映高雄市在現代社會中保有傳統社會之現象，相對地，台北市具有現代社會基礎提升到後現代社會之傾向。

Taiwan’s north-south gap includes both individual and social factors. A number of researchers have studied this gap with regard to economic, social, political and governmental aspects. Yet little research so far has focused on the issue of moral cognition, where here I define this (somewhat abbreviated) term to mean the “cognition” or mental awareness, sense or definition of “morality.” Thus this study is an empirical comparison of Taipei/Kaohsiuing’s citizens’ moral cognition of what the researchers call “fairness” and “careness,” where the latter really means an emphasis on or predisposition toward “caring about others.” The study employs Social Judgment Theory to investigate Taipei and Kasohsiung citizen’s “moral cognition” in everyday life. The aim is to clarify the abstract concept of moral cognition, to reflect on the role of individuality in the social structure, and to provide an empirical basis for studying moral cognition in future studies. 　The moral cognition priority ratings were as follows: for fairness, Taipei 38%, Kaohsiung 31%; for “careness,” Taipei 42%, Kaohsiung 47%; for an equal priority to fairness and careness, Taipei 20%, Kaohsiung 22%. These results reflect the fact that Kasohsiung is still a traditional society, Taipei a modern one. Thus it is natural, and could easily have been predicted, that Taipei would emphasize (rational and abstract) justice or fairness more, and Kaohsiung (emotional) care, caring or “careness.” These findings are significant for our future attempts to overcome the problem of Taiwan’s North-South gap, especially as regards economic development, public affairs and management, and also education in these same fields.