Not so conservative: Suppression effects between social and economic ideology on moral foundations and moral absolutism

The Mediating Role of Moral Absolutism Between the “Binding Moral Foundations” and Sexist Attitudes: A Path That May Lead to Intimate Partner Violence

Violence Against Women ◽

10.1177/10778012211038974 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107780122110389

Author(s):

María L. Vecina ◽

José C. Chacón ◽

Raul Piñuela

Keyword(s):

Partner Violence ◽

Intimate Partner ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Mediating Role ◽

Sexist Attitudes ◽

Adaptive Mechanisms ◽

Court Mandated ◽

Definition Of ◽

Moral Absolutism

The binding foundations (loyalty, authority, and purity) constitute adaptive mechanisms for preserving groups’ interests. However, they have also been related to intergroup prejudice and violence. We show that the known relationship between the binding foundations and sexist attitudes is mediated by moral absolutism, a variable that reflects the degree to which people believe that their own definition of morality is objectively correct. Two different samples are used: a conventional one (Study 1, N = 321), and a forensic one at the beginning ( T1) and at the end ( T2) of court-mandated psychological therapy (Study 2, N = 354; N = 327).

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Moral foundations, worldviews, moral absolutism and belief in conspiracy theories

International Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1002/ijop.12459 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 54 (2) ◽

pp. 197-204 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Luigi Leone ◽

Mauro Giacomantonio ◽

Marco Lauriola

Keyword(s):

Moral Foundations ◽

Conspiracy Theories ◽

Moral Absolutism

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The Morality of Men Convicted of Domestic Violence: How It Supports the Maintenance of the Moral Self-Concept

Violence and Victims ◽

10.1891/0886-6708.vv-d-15-00143 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 31 (6) ◽

pp. 1155-1170 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Daniela Marzana ◽

María L. Vecina ◽

Sara Alfieri

Keyword(s):

Domestic Violence ◽

Psychological Treatment ◽

Point Of View ◽

Self Report ◽

Self Concept ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Moral Self ◽

The Family ◽

Court Mandated ◽

Moral Absolutism

The phenomenon of abuse toward women is a prevalent social problem in most societies. In the present work, we take into consideration the abusive man’s point of view with particular reference to the sphere of their morality and set as aims: (a) to show that high levels of self-deception are mediating between an extreme moral worldview, called moral absolutism, and a functional high moral self-concept, (b) to analyze the relation of the five moral foundations (Harm, Fairness, Ingroup, Authority, and Purity) with this moral absolutism, and (c) to test a comprehensive model of the relationships between the individuated variables in the preceding hypotheses.Participants are 264 men convicted of domestic violence offenses, who, having begun court-mandated psychological treatment lasting 12 weeks, have filled out a self-report questionnaire during the second meeting.The results reveal that (a) self-deception is as a full mediator between moral absolutism and moral self-concept in men convicted of domestic violence and in such a way that the more they felt right about their moral beliefs, the more they deceived themselves, and the more they felt good about themselves, (b) the moral foundations could be explaining moral absolutism understood as a rigid moral vision of the world, and (c) the tested model produces satisfying fit indices.Finally, we discuss the applied implications, for example, a key role can be played by the family and the school: Moral socialization begins within the family and there finds the first push that will accompany it the rest of life.

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Moral Dichotomization at the Heart of Prejudice: The Role of Moral Foundations and Intolerance of Ambiguity in Generalized Prejudice

Social Psychological and Personality Science ◽

10.1177/1948550618817347 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 1002-1010 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Erik Forsberg ◽

Artur Nilsson ◽

Øyvind Jørgensen

Keyword(s):

Moral Foundations ◽

Moral Intuitions ◽

Direct Association ◽

Swedish Sample ◽

Moral Absolutism ◽

Recent Idea ◽

Intolerance Of Ambiguity

This study confronted the classical idea that generalized prejudice is rooted in a cognitive tendency to sort reality into rigid and simple categories with the more recent idea that prejudice is shaped by moral intuitions. In a diverse Swedish sample ( N = 430), moral absolutism was more strongly associated with generalized prejudice against derogated and dissident (but not dangerous) groups than were other aspects of intolerance of ambiguity. But there was little direct association between any aspect of intolerance of ambiguity and generalized prejudice once indirect relations through binding moral intuitions (which elevated prejudice) and individualizing moral intuitions (which decreased prejudice) had been taken into account. These findings suggest that intolerance of ambiguity is associated with generalized prejudice mainly insofar as it leads to a distinctly moral dichotomization of persons into categories such as insiders and outsiders, law-abiding citizens and deviants, and the righteous and the impure.

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Resolving the Progressive Paradox: The Effects of Moral Reframing on Support for Economically Progressive Candidates

10.31234/osf.io/mtfjn ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jan G. Voelkel ◽

Joe Mernyk ◽

Robb Willer

Keyword(s):

Moral Values ◽

Moral Foundations ◽

Moral Foundations Theory ◽

Economic Policies ◽

Presidential Debates ◽

Total N ◽

Moral Rhetoric ◽

Economic Ideology ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

The U.S

While progressive economic policies are popular, economically progressive candidates rarely win elections in the U.S., a pattern we call the “progressive paradox.” In the current paper, we examine whether the electoral disadvantage of economically progressive candidates results in part from the moral rhetoric these candidates commonly use to frame their policy platforms. Using a Moral Foundations Theory perspective, we combine previously validated machine learning based measures of economic ideology and new text-based measures of candidates’ moral rhetoric to analyze transcripts of 137 primary and general election presidential debates since 2000. We find economically progressive candidates, compared to economically conservative candidates, rely less on “binding” moral foundations (loyalty, respect for authority, and purity) relative to “individualizing” foundations (care and fairness). In addition, we conducted two experiments (total n = 4,138), including one nationally representative, pre-registered experiment, to test whether economically progressive candidates can build support beyond their liberal base by framing their economic policy platform in terms of binding moral values. Results show that a presidential candidate who used binding framing for his progressive economic platform as opposed to individualizing or a neutral framing, was supported significantly more by conservatives and, unexpectedly, by moderates as well. These results suggest that moral reframing offers an under-utilized solution to the longstanding puzzle regarding the gap between support for economically progressive policies and candidates.

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