2011 August | Jesse Graham, Brian A. Nosek, Jonathan Haidt, Ravi Iyer, Spassena Koleva, Peter H. Ditto
The Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) was developed to measure the five universal moral foundations: Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, and Purity/sanctity. The MFQ provides evidence for internal and external validity, showing that moral concerns predict personality features and social group attitudes not previously considered morally relevant. It also establishes pragmatic validity by providing new insights into demographic and cultural differences in moral intuitions. The study shows that moral concerns are broader than previously thought, involving not just harm and fairness but also spiritual purity, hierarchical role fulfillment, and loyalty to groups. The MFQ was validated using large heterogeneous samples and showed that a five-factor structure of moral concerns is supported by confirmatory factor analyses. The study also found that the five moral foundations are related to different aspects of personality and social attitudes, and that the MFQ has predictive validity beyond existing measures of morality. The results suggest that moral concerns vary across cultures and that the MFQ is useful for measuring and describing cultural differences in moral concerns. The study also highlights the importance of considering moral foundations in understanding moral psychology and prejudice.The Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) was developed to measure the five universal moral foundations: Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, and Purity/sanctity. The MFQ provides evidence for internal and external validity, showing that moral concerns predict personality features and social group attitudes not previously considered morally relevant. It also establishes pragmatic validity by providing new insights into demographic and cultural differences in moral intuitions. The study shows that moral concerns are broader than previously thought, involving not just harm and fairness but also spiritual purity, hierarchical role fulfillment, and loyalty to groups. The MFQ was validated using large heterogeneous samples and showed that a five-factor structure of moral concerns is supported by confirmatory factor analyses. The study also found that the five moral foundations are related to different aspects of personality and social attitudes, and that the MFQ has predictive validity beyond existing measures of morality. The results suggest that moral concerns vary across cultures and that the MFQ is useful for measuring and describing cultural differences in moral concerns. The study also highlights the importance of considering moral foundations in understanding moral psychology and prejudice.