A Study of the Relationship between Environmental Concern and Moral Foundations, Political Ideology, and Trust: An Examination of Data from a Large-scale Web Survey of 10,000 Japanese.

The rise of Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) as a psychometric tool aimed at formalizing the study of political and moral psychology has led to many empirical studies and surveys over the last fifteen years. This present study documents the relationship between self-reported political identities, Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ)-determined political ideology, and a novel attitude assessment concerning political correctness (PC) in academia among randomly sampled high schoolers at a demographically representative and statistically unremarkable high school in the American Pacific Northwest. Contrary to the emerging consensus in this recent field of MFT psychology, evidence here suggests that teenagers of varying political allegiances may be in general agreement when it concerns a political issue that has predominated headlines in the United States: PC culture (and censorship broadly) found in American universities. Though largely a vindication of antecedent MFT surveys, does this unanticipated alignment indicate a possible acquiescence in the zeitgeist of an up-and-coming generation?

Download Full-text

Appraisal of the Fairness Moral Foundation Predicts the Language Use Involving Moral Issues on Twitter Among Japanese

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.599024 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Akiko Matsuo ◽

Baofa Du ◽

Kazutoshi Sasahara

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Language Use ◽

Japanese Version ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Moral Concern ◽

Moral Foundation ◽

Future Directions ◽

Language Communication ◽

The Relationship

Moral appraisals are found to be associated with a person’s individual differences (e.g., political ideology), and the effects of individual differences on language use have been studied within the framework of the Moral Foundations Theory (MFT). However, the relationship between one’s moral concern and the use of language involving morality on social media is not self-evident. The present exploratory study investigated that relationship using the MFT. Participants’ tweets and self-reported responses to the questionnaire were collected to measure the degree of their appraisals according to the five foundations of the MFT. The Japanese version of the Moral Foundations Dictionary (J-MFD) was used to quantify the number of words in tweets relevant to the MFT’s five moral foundations. The results showed that endorsement of the Fairness and Authority foundations predicted the word frequency in the J-MFD across all five foundations. The findings suggest that the trade-off relationship between the Fairness and Authority foundations plays a key role in online language communication. The implications and future directions to scrutinize that foundation are discussed.

Download Full-text

Validation of Morality as Cooperation Questionnaire in Turkey, and Its Relation to Prosociality, Ideology, and Resource Scarcity

European Journal of Psychological Assessment ◽

10.1027/1015-5759/a000627 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-12

Author(s):

Onurcan Yilmaz ◽

Mehmet Harma ◽

Burak Doğruyol

Keyword(s):

Theoretical Approach ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Fit Indices ◽

Significant Relationships ◽

The Us ◽

Independent Test ◽

Full Form ◽

The Relationship

Abstract. The theory of morality as cooperation (MAC) argues that there are seven distinct and evolved universal moral foundations. Curry, Chesters, and Van Lissa (2019) developed a scale to test this theoretical approach and showed that the Relevance subscale of the MAC questionnaire (MAC-Q) fits data well, unlike the Judgment and full-form. However, an independent test of the validity of this questionnaire has not been hitherto conducted, and its relation with ideology is unknown. In the first study, we attempted to validate the Turkish form of MAC-Q and then examined the relationship with prosociality and political ideology. The results showed that the fit indices of MAC-Q Relevance are above the standard criteria, unlike the Judgment and full form ( n = 445), and significant relationships with prosociality and political ideology provided additional evidence for the validity. We used the MAC-Q Relevance in Study 2 ( n = 576, Turkey) and Study 3 ( n = 921, US), and investigated whether manipulating resource scarcity influences the endorsement of MAC. Although there was no effect of the manipulation, correlational findings provided some support for the predictive validity of MAC-Q. Overall, MAC-Q Relevance performs well in representing the lay notions of morality in both Turkey and the US, unlike full-form.

Download Full-text

How Robust Is the Moderating Effect of Extremist Beliefs on the Relationship Between Self-Control and Violent Extremism?

Crime & Delinquency ◽

10.1177/0011128716687757 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 63 (8) ◽

pp. 1000-1016 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Lieven J. R. Pauwels ◽

Robert Svensson

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

Large Scale ◽

Action Theory ◽

Self Control ◽

Web Survey ◽

Moral Beliefs ◽

Violent Extremism ◽

Situational Action Theory ◽

Adolescent Offending ◽

The Relationship

The present research note studies the interaction between the ability to exercise self-control and extremist moral beliefs with regard to the explanation of violent extremism. Although some evidence exists for the interaction between moral beliefs and self-control in the explanation of adolescent offending, no previous study has studied this interaction effect in a survey of young adults and with regard to politically or religiously motivated violence. This study therefore extends the existing literature by testing a key proposition of Situational Action Theory. We use a large-scale web survey of young adults in Belgium. The results support the hypothesis that the effect of the ability to exercise self-control is conditional upon one’s extremist beliefs. The results are stable across extremism-specific measures of extremist beliefs.

Download Full-text

Moral Foundations Theory and the Psychology of Charitable Giving

European Journal of Personality ◽

10.1002/per.2256 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 34 (3) ◽

pp. 431-447 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Artur Nilsson ◽

Arvid Erlandsson ◽

Daniel Västfjäll

Keyword(s):

Political Ideology ◽

Charitable Giving ◽

European Association ◽

Self Report ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Moral Foundations Theory ◽

Personality Psychology ◽

Moral Behaviour ◽

Harm Prevention ◽

The Relationship

Moral foundations theory proposes that intuitions about what is morally right or wrong rest upon a set of universal foundations. Although this theory has generated a recent surge of research, few studies have investigated the real–world moral consequences of the postulated moral intuitions. We show that they are predictably associated with an important type of moral behaviour. Stronger individualizing intuitions (fairness and harm prevention) and weaker binding intuitions (loyalty, authority, and sanctity) were associated with the willingness to comply with a request to volunteer for charity and with the amount of self–reported donations to charity organizations. Among participants who complied with the request, individualizing intuitions predicted the allocation of donations to causes that benefit out–groups, whereas binding intuitions predicted the allocation of donations to causes that benefit the in–group. The associations between moral foundations and self–report measures of allocations in a hypothetical dilemma and concern with helping in–group and out–group victims were similar. Moral foundations predicted charitable giving over and above effects of political ideology, religiosity, and demographics, although variables within these categories also exhibited unique effects on charitable giving and accounted for a portion of the relationship between moral foundations and charitable giving. © 2020 The Authors. European Journal of Personality published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Association of Personality Psychology

Download Full-text

When the going gets tough, the tough are let go? The effects of political ideology on leader tenure in organisations

International Journal of Organizational Analysis ◽

10.1108/ijoa-07-2021-2871 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Teng Zhang ◽

Andrew T. Soderberg

Keyword(s):

Political Ideology ◽

Empirical Support ◽

Community Level ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Head Coach ◽

Organisational Performance ◽

Political Climate ◽

Moral Foundation ◽

Content Type ◽

The Relationship

Purpose Drawing on moral foundations theory (MFT), this paper aims to examine the relationship between community-level political ideology, organisational performance and leader tenure by proposing and testing an “ideology-authority hypothesis” wherein political ideology moderates the relationship between organisational performance decline and leader tenure in organisations. Design/methodology/approach The authors used archival data pertaining to the performance of teams from the National Basketball Association (NBA), the tenure of the head coaches and the voting record of the communities in which the teams are located. The authors used hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) to test the relationships among these variables at multiple levels. Findings The results provided empirical support for the “ideology-authority hypothesis”. Specifically, the magnitude of team winning percentage decrease from the previous season is positively associated with the tenure of the head coach in teams located in more conservative communities but not in teams located in more liberal communities. Originality/value This study examines leadership stability and change by highlighting the moral foundation of authority/subversion. The findings also illustrate the importance of a community-level variable – the general political climate of the community in which an organisation is embedded – in organisational decision-making.

Download Full-text

Right-Wing Stewards: The Promoting Effect of Religiosity on Environmental Concern Among Political Conservatives in A Global Context

10.31235/osf.io/59dek ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Peyman Hekmatpour

Keyword(s):

Natural Environment ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Environmental Concern ◽

Right Wing ◽

Promoting Effect ◽

Economic Interests ◽

Global Context ◽

Meaningful Relationship ◽

Final Sample ◽

The Relationship

This article studies the relationship between individuals’ religiosity, political ideology, and environmental concern, in a cross-national setting. Drawing data from multiple waves of the World Values Survey (1999-2009), the final sample of this study includes 44,391 respondents nested in 43 countries. By using a multi-level modeling technique, I find that, in general, religiosity is positively associated with respondents’ environmental concerns in terms of willingness to pay for the environment, agreement with increased taxes to prevent environmental pollutions, and choosing environmental protection over economic interests. Political ideology, measured via individuals’ self-placement on a left-right continuum, does not have a meaningful relationship with environmental concern in a global setting. Nevertheless, I observe an interaction effect between religiosity and political ideology. Increased religiosity, particularly among more conservative individuals, is associated with a higher probability of environmental concern. Comparatively, religiosity virtually does not affect liberals’ concern for the natural environment. In other words, the gap between liberals and conservatives regarding the natural environment is more pronounced at lower levels of religiosity; as religiosity increases, the gap starts to narrow. Results suggest that religion has the potential to elevate some of the political barriers on the way towards reaching a collective environmental consciousness.

Download Full-text

Right-Wing Stewards: The Promoting Effect of Religiosity on Environmental Concern among Political Conservatives in a Global Context

Social Problems ◽

10.1093/socpro/spaa066 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Peyman Hekmatpour

Keyword(s):

Natural Environment ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Environmental Concern ◽

Right Wing ◽

Promoting Effect ◽

Economic Interests ◽

Global Context ◽

Meaningful Relationship ◽

Final Sample ◽

The Relationship

Abstract This article studies the relationship between individuals’ religiosity, political ideology, and environmental concern, in a cross-national setting. Drawing data from multiple waves of the World Values Survey (1999–2009), the final sample of this study includes 44,391 respondents nested in 43 countries. By using a multi-level modeling technique, the study finds that religiosity is positively associated with respondents’ environmental concerns in terms of willingness to pay for the environment, agreement with increased taxes to prevent environmental pollution, and choosing environmental protection over economic interests. Political ideology, measured via individuals’ self-placement on a left-right continuum, does not have a meaningful relationship with environmental concern in a global setting. Nevertheless, there is an interaction effect between religiosity and political ideology. Increased religiosity, particularly among more conservative individuals, is associated with a higher probability of environmental concern. Comparatively, religiosity virtually does not affect liberals’ concern for the natural environment. The gap between liberals and conservatives regarding the natural environment is more pronounced at lower levels of religiosity; as religiosity increases, the gap starts to narrow. Results suggest that religion has the potential to elevate some of the political barriers on the way towards reaching a collective environmental consciousness.

Download Full-text

Moral foundations theory and the psychology of charitable giving

10.31234/osf.io/wcsq6 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Artur Nilsson ◽

Arvid Erlandsson ◽

Daniel Västfjäll

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Charitable Giving ◽

Self Report ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Moral Foundations Theory ◽

Moral Intuitions ◽

The Real ◽

Harm Prevention ◽

The Relationship

Moral foundations theory proposes that intuitions about what is morally right or wrong rest upon a set of universal foundations. Although this theory has generated a recent surge of research, few studies have investigated the real-world moral consequences of the postulated moral intuitions. We show that they are predictably associated with an important type of moral behavior. Stronger individualizing intuitions (fairness and harm prevention) and weaker binding intuitions (loyalty, authority, and sanctity) were associated with the willingness to comply with a request to volunteer for charity and with the amount of self-reported donations to charity organizations. Among participants who complied with the request, individualizing intuitions predicted the allocation of donations to causes that benefit outgroups, whereas binding intuitions predicted the allocation of donations to causes that benefit the ingroup. The associations between moral foundations and self-report measures of allocations in a hypothetical dilemma and concern with helping ingroup and outgroup victims were similar. Moral foundations predicted charitable giving over and above effects of political ideology, religiosity, and demographics, although variables within these categories also exhibited unique effects on charitable giving and accounted for a portion of the relationship between moral foundations and charitable giving.

Download Full-text

Validation of Morality as Cooperation Questionnaire in Turkey, and its Relation to Prosociality, Ideology, and Resource Scarcity

10.31234/osf.io/9rdjq ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Onurcan Yilmaz ◽

Mehmet Harma ◽

Burak Doğruyol

Keyword(s):

Theoretical Approach ◽

Political Ideology ◽

Resource Scarcity ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Fit Indices ◽

Significant Relationships ◽

The Us ◽

Independent Test ◽

Full Form ◽

The Relationship

The theory of morality as cooperation (MAC) argues that there are seven distinct and evolved universal moral foundations. Curry, Chesters, and van Lissa (2018) developed a scale to test this theoretical approach and showed that the Relevance subscale of the MAC questionnaire (MAC- Q) fits data well, unlike the Judgment and full form. However, an independent test of the validity of this questionnaire has not been hitherto conducted, and its relation with ideology is unknown. In the first study, we attempted to validate the Turkish form of MAC-Q and then examined the relationship with prosociality and political ideology. The results showed that the fit indices of MAC-Q Relevance are above the standard criteria, unlike the Judgment and full form (n=445), and significant relationships with prosociality and political ideology provided additional evidence for the validity. We used the MAC-Q Relevance in Study 2 (n=576, Turkey) and Study 3 (n=921, US), and investigated whether manipulating resource scarcity influences the endorsement of MAC. Although there was no effect of the manipulation, correlational findings provided some support for the predictive validity of MAC-Q. Overall, MAC-Q Relevance performs well in representing the lay notions of morality in both Turkey and the US, unlike full form.

Download Full-text