Category — Psychology

Psychologists at Cornell have found a link between high disgust sensitivity and conservative political views, lending support to the idea that emotion (rather than some form of reason) is the driving factor behind our sense of morality:

“To test whether disgust sensitivity is linked to specific conservative attitudes, the researchers then surveyed 91 Cornell undergraduates with the DSS (Disgust Sensitivity Scale), as well as with questions about their positions on issues including gay marriage, abortion, gun control, labor unions, tax cuts and affirmative action.

Participants who rated higher in disgust sensitivity were more likely to oppose gay marriage and abortion, issues that are related to notions of morality or purity. The researchers also found a weak correlation between disgust sensitivity and support for tax cuts, but no link between disgust sensitivity and the other issues.”

This is an interesting issue, because the disgust reaction is believed to have evolved as a mechanism to help humans avoid disease, and yet here it is playing a part in how we define moral ideas of purity.  One of the more interesting results of the study is that people who generally fit the tag of liberal tend to weigh the moral worth of an act by the actual good or harm it does, and less by their emotional reaction to it, while conservatives seem to be very much the opposite.

Just wanted to share this great TED talk by Harvard Psychologist Dan Gilbert:

Johnathan Haidt is a psychology researcher at the University of Virginia who has developed a theory of moral psychology that I suspect many people will find naturally appealing.  The theory identifies five fundamental moral values that are common to all cultures:

1. Caring for and protecting others
2. Equality between individuals
3. Group loyalty
4. Respect for tradition and legitimate authority
5. Purity (of mind, body and/or spirit)

Where an individual falls along these five dimensions defines their personal moral code, shapes their worldview and plays a role in defining their political beliefs.  Haidt’s analysis of people’s moral attitudes (from all over the world) have revealed some interesting results.  Those who self-identify as liberals place care/protection and equality (1 and 2) higher than the other three, while those who consider themselves conservative place values 3-5 higher than the other two.  It’s important to note that everyone considers these five values important in some way.  It’s not that liberals have no respect for authority, or that conservatives don’t believe in equality, they just prioritize them differently.

Liberals do appreciate the need for order and tradition, and even believe them to be good things (to some extent), they’re just more willing to sacrifice them for the sake of equality.  Likewise, conservatives (except the racist ones) believe in the virtues of equality, but they appreciate that an ordered society is a difficult state  to attain, and are willing to sacrifice some measure of equality to ensure that order survives.  This is all related to the differing liberal and conservative views of change and comfort.  Most liberals tend to embrace change and find it exhilarating and refreshing, while most conservatives tend to find comfort in the familiar.

To take a questionnaire and get your own moral profile, head over to yourmorals.org.  To get a far more eloquent explanation than the one I just provided, check out Haidt’s TED 2008 talk.