Moral Foundations Theory - Definition and examples

Moral Foundations theory is a psychological theory that seeks to explain why moralities differ, but still share fundamental characteristics. Conceptually About Listofconcepts MoralFoundationsTheory Wheredofeelingsofrightnessandwrongnesscomefrom?  WhatisMoralFoundationsTheory?DefinitionandexplanationIfyou’veevertraveledtoanothercountry,you’llhaveseendifferingnormstothoseofwhereyougrewup.Thesedifferencesmightevenhaveshockedyou!Howeverunderneaththedifferences,you’veprobablynoticedsimilaritiesandsharedthemesabouthowsocietiesthinkaboutwhatmakesthingsrightandwrong.Canweexplainthesetrends?MoralFoundationstheoryisapsychologicaltheorythatseekstoexplainwhymoralitiesdiffer,butstillsharefundamentalcharacteristics.ItwasfirstoutlinedbypsychologistJonathanHaidt.Thetheoryproposesthateachoneofuscomesequippedwithwhathecallsan‘intuitiveethics’,whichisaninnatecapacitytofeelflashesofapprovalordisapprovaltowardscertainpatternsofhumanbehaviour.Theseunconsciousandautomaticintuitionsreflectpre-wiredreactionsthatweevolvedtohave.Haidtoutlinesatleastfivecommonthemesfrommoralitiesaroundtheworld,whichreflectmodulesofour‘intuitiveethics’:theCaremodule(theinstincttoprotectothers),theFairnessmodule(theinstincttopunishcheating),theLoyaltymodule(feelingtiestoyour‘team’),theAuthoritymodule(knowingwhentoobey),andthePuritymodule(disgustforrevoltingthings).Whydoweallcareaboutthesefivethings?MoralFoundationstheoryclaimswecantracethembacktouniversalinstinctsourancestorsevolved,inresponsetothepressuresoftheirprehistoricenvironment.We’reallprewiredwiththefivemoralmodules.However,eachofthemcanbeeitheramplifiedortoneddownbyfactorssuchasourpersonality,environment,andexperiences.Thisleadstodifferentmoralandpoliticalviewsacrossandwithincultures.HowtouseMoralFoundationsTheoryHaidtenvisionedMoralFoundationstheoryasfacilitatingnewapproachestoresolvingandunderstandingmoralconflicts,throughtherecognitionthatculturesbuilttheiruniquemoralitiesontopofafoundationofshared,universalintuitions.Imagineaheatedpoliticalargumentatworkaboutgovernmentwelfare.Oneofyourco-workersscreamsthatthegovernmentshouldincreasetaxlevelsandfundmorewelfare:“Ifyoudon’tsupportmoretaxesyou’reheartless!”Anotherviolentlyyellsbackacrosstheoffice“Ifpeopledon’tworkhard,theyshouldfail.Ifpeopleworkhard,theyshouldsucceed.Thegovernmentisevil!Ittakesfromthesuccessfulandgivestothosewhohaven’tworkedhard.”Doesthisheatedscreaming-matchfeelfamiliar?Insuchsituationsweareoftenblindtoeachother’smoralfoundations;whenwedisagreewefailtoseehowouropponent’sbehaviourisdrivenbymoralconsiderations.Ifyouwanttogetlessangryinpolitics,resisttheurgetoleaptotheleastcharitableexplanationofyourpoliticalopponent’sbehaviour.Instead,firsttryreframingtheirperspectiveasbeinggroundedinaparticularmoralfoundationandseehowtheiropinionisgroundedinthesharedfivemodulesweallhave.AlsocheckoutThemoralrootsofliberalsandconservatives(video),JonathanHaidtWhyyouthinkyou’reright- evenifyou’rewrong(video),JuliaGalefMoralityandEvolutionaryBiology,StanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy ShareonFacebook ShareonTwitter Getoneconcepteveryweekinyourinbox EmailAddress Getstarted   All SignallingandCountersignalling ExploreorExploit? MarginalThinking DualProcessTheory EfficientMarkets Heuristics OvertonWindow CognitiveDissonanceTheory Counterfactual ReferenceClassForecasting ExpectedValue ScopeInsensitivity CoordinationProblems Discounting 6PrinciplesofInfluence ComparativeAdvantage RegressiontotheMean Bayes’Rule Zero-vsPositive-Sum ExAnteVsExPostAnalysis CognitiveBiases StrawmenandSteelwomen SignalandNoise Occam'sRazor Principal-AgentProblems EmpiricalEvidence Determinism Elasticity MoralFoundationsTheory FalsePositivesandFalseNegatives Efficiency DeclineofViolence Foxvs.Hedgehog OptionValue ObjectivevsSubjective Equilibrium TheMapisnottheTerritory Externalities ParetoPrinciple Abstraction Meta Naturalselectionandmemes SignallingandCountersignalling ExploreorExploit? MarginalThinking DualProcessTheory EfficientMarkets Heuristics OvertonWindow CognitiveDissonanceTheory Counterfactual ReferenceClassForecasting ExpectedValue ScopeInsensitivity CoordinationProblems Discounting 6PrinciplesofInfluence ComparativeAdvantage RegressiontotheMean Bayes’Rule Zero-vsPositive-Sum ExAnteVsExPostAnalysis CognitiveBiases StrawmenandSteelwomen SignalandNoise Occam'sRazor Principal-AgentProblems EmpiricalEvidence Determinism Elasticity MoralFoundationsTheory FalsePositivesandFalseNegatives Efficiency DeclineofViolence Foxvs.Hedgehog OptionValue ObjectivevsSubjective Equilibrium TheMapisnottheTerritory Externalities ParetoPrinciple Abstraction Meta Naturalselectionandmemes