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Understanding Libertarian Morality: The Psychological Dispositions of Self-Identified Libertarians

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  • Ravi Iyer
  • Spassena Koleva
  • Jesse Graham
  • Peter Ditto
  • Jonathan Haidt

Abstract

Libertarians are an increasingly prominent ideological group in U.S. politics, yet they have been largely unstudied. Across 16 measures in a large web-based sample that included 11,994 self-identified libertarians, we sought to understand the moral and psychological characteristics of self-described libertarians. Based on an intuitionist view of moral judgment, we focused on the underlying affective and cognitive dispositions that accompany this unique worldview. Compared to self-identified liberals and conservatives, libertarians showed 1) stronger endorsement of individual liberty as their foremost guiding principle, and weaker endorsement of all other moral principles; 2) a relatively cerebral as opposed to emotional cognitive style; and 3) lower interdependence and social relatedness. As predicted by intuitionist theories concerning the origins of moral reasoning, libertarian values showed convergent relationships with libertarian emotional dispositions and social preferences. Our findings add to a growing recognition of the role of personality differences in the organization of political attitudes.

Suggested Citation

  • Ravi Iyer & Spassena Koleva & Jesse Graham & Peter Ditto & Jonathan Haidt, 2012. "Understanding Libertarian Morality: The Psychological Dispositions of Self-Identified Libertarians," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(8), pages 1-23, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0042366
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042366
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Shane Frederick, 2005. "Cognitive Reflection and Decision Making," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(4), pages 25-42, Fall.
    2. Uhlmann, Eric Luis & Pizarro, David A. & Tannenbaum, David & Ditto, Peter H., 2009. "The motivated use of moral principles," Judgment and Decision Making, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(6), pages 479-491, October.
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    1. Damien L Crone & Stefan Bode & Carsten Murawski & Simon M Laham, 2018. "The Socio-Moral Image Database (SMID): A novel stimulus set for the study of social, moral and affective processes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-34, January.

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