The purpose of this study is to demonstrate an experimental procedure which lends itself to the controlled study of adult moral behavior. The procedure is a variation of Prisoner's Dilemma, a game widely used for the study of conflict resolution. The conflict generated by the game is both interpersonal and intrapersonal. The key issue in the dilemma is the agreement between partners to regulate self-centered behavior in the interest of the common good. The sample was drawn from women enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and continuing education classes at the University of Toledo. In the laboratory simulation of a moral dilemma in which two women agreed to cooperate and one partner subsequently ignored that agreement, principled women were found to maintain the contract and cooperate regardless of their losses, whereas conventional women broke the contract and minimized their losses. This and other results are discussed in relation to such factors as anxiety, level of moral reasoning, situational characteristics and sense of commitment. (SJL)