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The moral foundations of conservatives and liberals.
The moral foundations of conservatives and liberals.
Some years ago, my hubby (whom I affectionately refer to as The Mac Geezer) and I went to see the Jim Carrey
film, Liar, Liar. I was bored beyond belief. TMG was rolling in the aisles and laughing
till the tears poured out his eyes, something he NEVER does. It was like we were sitting next to each other but seeing two different
movies. The plot involves a man who
finds himself, to his horror, suddenly incapable of lying. Here’s a clip.
It went on like this for. two.hours. Rolls eyes.
The difference between the Geezer and me is kinda like how liberals and conservatives can look at
the same event and see it in totally different ways. Take gay marriage, for example. Liberals tend
to see this as a given and describe it as marriage equality. Some deeply religious conservatives see it as
evil and describe gay sex as an abomination.
That’s some split, considering they’re both looking at the same thing.
There are lots of reasons why this happens: differences in
personalities, differences in deeply felt beliefs about how families are
structured, and differences in moral foundations. Today I’m going to touch on the issue of
moral foundations.
Based on lots and lots of research (I’ll put a few links at
the bottom), societies tend to share a few common moral foundations.
· CARE/HARM. Because of
this, we are sensitive to signs of suffering and need in others. “…it makes us despise cruelty and want to
care for those who are suffering.”
· FAIRNESS. It makes us altruistic.
It makes us want to shun or punish cheaters. But primarily for liberals, it
makes us want to be sure that all people are treated equally and fairly.
· LOYALTY. This foundation makes us sensitive to how well
others are team players. It makes us
especially fierce in dealing with those who violate our trust or sell us out to
the enemy. It’s the force behind conformity, especially in the face of
adversity.
· AUTHORITY. We
recognize those who have higher or lower rank than us and respond accordingly.
It makes us respectful of authority and of the rules of relationships, like
reciprocity.
· SANCTITY. This makes
us value purity and sanctity, like adherence to Biblical laws that evolved
thousands of years ago. A good example are the Jewish dietary laws that
designate various foods and mixtures of foods as unclean. It also makes us wary
of symbolic objects and threats.
If you want to see how these things are
measured, I've set up a little questionnaire based on some of the research questions. If you like, give it a shot. It'll take about 10 minutes. LINK.
I’ll wait or you can just continue to read.
Are you done?
Great! Here’s what researchers
found when they gave this test to liberals and
conservatives:
You don't have to be a statistician to see that strongly liberal people (that's the folks on the left of the political identity line) score much higher on statements about issues of harm and fairness and not so much about the other three foundations. Strongly conservative people (the folks on the far right of the line) score much higher on things like respect for authority and purity/sanctity.
In general, and over many types of studies, what the research shows is that liberals care most about equality and caring for others. Strongly conservative people tend, overall, to feel about the same about all five foundations. So when it comes to something like gay marriage, liberals see it as a fairness issue. Conservatives see it as a purity/sanctity issue. As a result, their opinions can be very different. However, conservatives also care about fairness (just not as much as liberals), so if you describe it as marriage equality instead of gay marriage, it’s easier for them to get on board. Just don’t show them two guys kissing.
In general, and over many types of studies, what the research shows is that liberals care most about equality and caring for others. Strongly conservative people tend, overall, to feel about the same about all five foundations. So when it comes to something like gay marriage, liberals see it as a fairness issue. Conservatives see it as a purity/sanctity issue. As a result, their opinions can be very different. However, conservatives also care about fairness (just not as much as liberals), so if you describe it as marriage equality instead of gay marriage, it’s easier for them to get on board. Just don’t show them two guys kissing.
Anyway, the next time you see a very liberal or
very conservative pundit saying something that sounds just crazy to you, see if
you can figure out what moral foundation they’re drawing from to make that judgment.
It’ll help understand where they’re coming from. Doesn’t mean you have to
agree. And in fact, some pundits are actually pulling stuff out of their behinds, but still, give it a shot.
Much of this is drawn from these two papers and from Richard Haidt's The Righteous Mind
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