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Intuitive Ethics and Political Orientations: Testing Moral Foundations as a Theory of Political Ideology

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  • Kevin B. Smith
  • John R. Alford
  • John R. Hibbing
  • Nicholas G. Martin
  • Peter K. Hatemi

Abstract

Originally developed to explain cultural variation in moral judgments, moral foundations theory (MFT) has become widely adopted as a theory of political ideology. MFT posits that political attitudes are rooted in instinctual evaluations generated by innate psychological modules evolved to solve social dilemmas. If this is correct, moral foundations must be relatively stable dispositional traits, changes in moral foundations should systematically predict consequent changes in political orientations, and, at least in part, moral foundations must be heritable. We test these hypotheses and find substantial variability in individual‐level moral foundations across time, and little evidence that these changes account for changes in political attitudes. We also find little evidence that moral foundations are heritable. These findings raise questions about the future of MFT as a theory of ideology.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin B. Smith & John R. Alford & John R. Hibbing & Nicholas G. Martin & Peter K. Hatemi, 2017. "Intuitive Ethics and Political Orientations: Testing Moral Foundations as a Theory of Political Ideology," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(2), pages 424-437, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:61:y:2017:i:2:p:424-437
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12255
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Michael Zakharin & Timothy C Bates, 2021. "Remapping the foundations of morality: Well-fitting structural model of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(10), pages 1-26, October.
    2. Shalini Sarin Jain & Shailendra Pratap Jain & Yexin Jessica Li, 2023. "Sustaining Livelihoods or Saving Lives? Economic System Justification in the Time of COVID-19," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(1), pages 71-104, February.
    3. Arnaud Wolff, 2022. "The Signaling Value of Social Identity," Working Papers of BETA 2022-15, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg.
    4. Jin Ho Yun & Yaeri Kim & Eun-Ju Lee, 2022. "ERP Study of Liberals’ and Conservatives’ Moral Reasoning Processes: Evidence from South Korea," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 176(4), pages 723-739, April.
    5. Rossen, Isabel & Hurlstone, Mark J. & Dunlop, Patrick D. & Lawrence, Carmen, 2019. "Accepters, fence sitters, or rejecters: Moral profiles of vaccination attitudes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 23-27.
    6. Raphaela Schlicht-Schmälzle & Volha Chykina & Ralf Schmälzle, 2018. "An attitude network analysis of post-national citizenship identities," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-19, December.
    7. Raymond Tatalovich & Dane G. Wendell, 2018. "Expanding the scope and content of morality policy research: lessons from Moral Foundations Theory," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 51(4), pages 565-579, December.
    8. Gazi Islam, 2020. "Psychology and Business Ethics: A Multi-level Research Agenda," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 165(1), pages 1-13, August.
    9. Cullen, Francis T. & Graham, Amanda & Hannan, Kellie & Burton, Alexander L. & Butler, Leah C. & Burton, Velmer S. Jr., 2020. "Catholics and Capital Punishment: Do Pope Francis's Teachings Matter in Policy Preferences?," SocArXiv yv86c, Center for Open Science.
    10. Alrababah, Ala & Casalis, Marine & Masterson, Daniel & Hangartner, Dominik & Wehrli, & Weinstein, Jeremy, 2023. "Reducing Attrition in Phone-based Panel Surveys: A Web Application to Facilitate Best Practices and Semi-Automate Survey Workflow," OSF Preprints gyz3h, Center for Open Science.
    11. Neugart, Michael & Yildirim, Selen, 2020. "What determines perceived income justice? Evidence from the German TwinLife study," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 36(C).

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