Ethics of care is a normative ethical theory and academic concept that centers on the moral significance of relationships, responsibilities, and emotional responses within specific contexts. It investigates how individuals respond to needs and vulnerability, emphasizing interdependence, empathy, and compassion over abstract, universal rules of justice. As a research field, it provides an alternative framework to traditional deontological or consequentialist ethics, significantly influencing applied ethics, psychology, education, and political theory by highlighting the moral value of caregiving and relational well-being.