C&ILC
Learning Outcomes
Diversity
Residence Life at the University of Arizona
Moral Foundations Theory
One of the many facets of our diversity: people are influenced by
different values when deciding what is right or wrong.
From the research of Jonathan Haidt and Jesse Graham, University of Virginia
Take the Moral Foundations Questionnaire: http://www.YourMorals.org/
This questionnaire measures one’s reliance on five psychological foundations of morality
that can be found across cultures: 1)harm/care, 2) fairness/reciprocity, 3) in group/
loyalty, 4) authority/respect and 5) purity/sanctity.
According to the researchers, human morality comes from both cultural and biological
evolutionary processes making humans sensitive to a variety of different and often
competing issues:
 Treating other people well—harm and fairness
 Being a good member of a group or social order and tradition—the last three
foundations
Haidt and Graham have discovered that when making decisions about what’s right or
wrong, political liberals usually give greater importance to the harm/care and
fairness/reciprocity foundations. For example, issues of inequality and exploitation.
Conversely, political conservatives tend to more equally consider all five foundations,
scoring higher than liberals on three foundations, loyalty/in group, authority/respect
and especially purity/sanctity.
Understanding this difference may be helpful as we educate our residents about issues
relating to diversity, health, social justice and sustainability. Our ability to develop
relationships with our residents may be a key. According to Jonathan Haidt:
Our minds were not designed to discover the truth . . .
We seek to find and select information that affirms our
beliefs and prejudices. Minds are very hard things to open,
and the best way to open the mind is through the heart.
See an op/ed column written by Nicholas Kristof that appeared in the Arizona Daily Star
on May 30, 2009 (Residence Life R-Drive\Training 09\C & I L C \Article_Kristof_moral
decisions
To learn more about “Moral Foundations Theory” read: Haidt, J. and Graham, J. (2007).
When morality opposes justice: Conservatives have moral intuitions that liberals may
not recognize. Social Justice Research, 20, p. 98-116 or go to
www.moralfoundations.org
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In what ways could these moral foundations affect our educational efforts?
What implications are there for diversity and social justice programming?
What if two moral foundations are in conflict such as individual rights vs. rights of
a community?
How could one make use of Robert Nash’s idea about moral conversations?
Which is the more important, individual responsibility or individual freedom?
C&ILC
Learning Outcomes
Diversity
Residence Life at the University of Arizona
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Do people see the moral world as it really is? What are the consequences when
justice and related virtues (equality and fairness) are 50 percent of a liberals
moral reality, while for conservatives it is merely 20 percent?
Excerpt from “When Morality Opposes Justice: Conservatives Have
Moral Intuitions that Liberals many not Recognize” Haidt and Graham
Our thesis … is that there are five psychological foundations of morality,
which we label as harm/care, fairness/reciprocity, in group/loyalty,
authority/respect and purity/sanctity. Cultures vary on the degree to
which they build virtues on these five foundations. As a first
approximation, political liberals value virtues based on the first two
foundations, while political conservatives value virtues based on all five.
A consequence of this thesis is that justice and related issues (based on
the fairness foundation) make up half of the moral world for liberals, while
justice-related concerns make up one-fifth of the moral worlds for
conservatives. Conservatives have many moral concerns that liberals
simply do not recognize as moral concerns. When conservatives talk
about virtues and policies based on the in group/loyalty,
authority/respect and purity/sanctity foundations, liberals (are likely to
discount or dismiss then altogether). For this reason, liberals often find it
hard to understand why so many of their fellow citizens do not rally
around the cause of social justice and why many Western nations have
elected conservative governments in recent years. This essay tries to
explain how moral emotions and intuitions that are not related to justice
can often oppose moral emotions and intuitions that are. In the process
we suggest ways that social justice (educators) can broaden their
appeal and engage in a more authentic, productive and ultimately
persuasive dialogue with the political moderates and conservatives who
compose a majority of the electorate in many democratic nations.
C&ILC
Learning Outcomes
Diversity
Residence Life at the University of Arizona
Ziebell: M\Diversity\Moral_Foundations_Theory 7_09