Moral Foundations and Political Ideology in the UK

TY - JOUR

T1 - Moral Foundations and Political Ideology in the UK

AU - Stoneman, Paul

AU - Wright, James

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2024.

PY - 2024/11/11

Y1 - 2024/11/11

N2 - Moral foundations theory is one of the most popularised and tested lenses of recent years, with its ability to account for differences in political ideology. For the first time using a nationally representative random probability sample, we assess how the newly refined moral foundation questionnaire may explain differences in political ideology and views on political issues in the UK. We confirm a six-factor model with robust estimates for the moral intuitions of care, equality, proportionality, authority, loyalty, and purity. We then use moral intuitions to predict (a) economic left-right and socially liberal-conservative ideology and (b) the relationship between political ideology and views on salient political issues. We find moral intuitions mostly play a unifying role across a series of issues, with the exception of feelings toward patriotism and Brexit.

AB - Moral foundations theory is one of the most popularised and tested lenses of recent years, with its ability to account for differences in political ideology. For the first time using a nationally representative random probability sample, we assess how the newly refined moral foundation questionnaire may explain differences in political ideology and views on political issues in the UK. We confirm a six-factor model with robust estimates for the moral intuitions of care, equality, proportionality, authority, loyalty, and purity. We then use moral intuitions to predict (a) economic left-right and socially liberal-conservative ideology and (b) the relationship between political ideology and views on salient political issues. We find moral intuitions mostly play a unifying role across a series of issues, with the exception of feelings toward patriotism and Brexit.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85208814215&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/13691481241291426

DO - 10.1177/13691481241291426

M3 - Article

SN - 1369-1481

JO - British Journal of Politics and International Relations

JF - British Journal of Politics and International Relations

ER -