Along with ego psychologists, Gilligan is convinced that gender differences in identity are grounded in early childhood experiences with the person who provides primary physical and emotional nurture, usually the infant’s mother. Early in life, girls discover that they are like their mothers. Growing up means relinquishing freedom of self-expression in order to protect others and preserve relationships, Boys’ first psychic task is to understand that they aren’t (and never will be) like their mothers. Maturity means renouncing relationships in order to protect freedom and self-expression. The result is an adult population of men who see themselves as separate from others and of women who think in terms of connectedness. Since distinctions of identity shape the selection of moral perspective, the link between gender and moral judgment is particularly strong in the teenage years when young men and women are highly self-conscious. Justice is ultimate moral maturity for adolescents (usually male) who see themselves as autonomous. Care is the ultimate responsibility of adolescents (usually female) who see themselves linked to others.