Moral Considerations in Political Decision-Making: Differences by Political Orientation and Gender

Abstract

There may be many factors determining the moral dimensions used by individuals when making political decisions. Two important dimensions worthy of examination are political orientation and gender. Based on Moral Foundation Theory (Graham et al., 2009), the present study examined how both of the aforementioned factors influence the moral dimensions used in political decisions. Participants (n = 338) completed a demographic survey, rated their self-perceived political orientation and then completed the Moral Relevance Scale (Graham, Haidt, & Nosek, 2009) and the Ideological Consistency Scale (Pew Research Center, 2014), which was used to place participants in liberal, moderate or conservative political orientation groups. A MANOVA showed no differences in participants based on gender, but significant differences in decision-making based on political ideology. Discussion focused on how moderates differ in their views from other ideologies, a relatively new finding.