Exploring Differences in Liberal and Conservative Moral Conviction and Moral Motivation

Several recent theories in moral psychology have attempted to explain the differences in the morality of liberals and conservatives. To date, however, little research has tested whether the differences described in these theories actually predict differences in the moral relevance that liberals and conservatives attach to social phenomena. That is, it’s not yet clear whether the differences between liberals and conservatives that these theories predict reflect differences in the morality of the two groups rather than differences outside the moral domain. To this end, the current dissertation tested whether one such theory (the Model of Moral Motives, Janoff-Bulman & Carnes, 2013) predicts the moral conviction liberals and conservatives attach to their social and political attitudes. In three studies, the current research tested whether (1) social justice moral motives better predict the moral conviction of liberals than conservatives, (2) social order moral motives better predict the moral conviction of conservatives than liberals, and (3) each of these two moral motives predict the morally motivated activism intentions of liberals and conservatives. Furthermore, I also tested whether social order and social justice motives reflect broader regulatory focus concerns about preventing societal harm and promoting societal wellbeing, respectively. The results of these three studies provided evidence that the motives described in the Moral Motives Model are, in fact, morally relevant and underlie the differences between liberal and conservative moral conviction. I also found mixed support for the prediction that the two motives underlie morally motivated activism, and little support for the prediction that the two motives reflect distinct regulatory focus concerns.