Most of us like to think we’re basically good people. The trouble is, morality varies from person to person, and is linked to – among other things – your political views. Measure your own morality by answering (a) agree, (b) disagree or (c) feel ambivalent to each of the following questions
1. Parents should never slap their children (harm)
2. If I were standing in a long queue, I’d feel uncomfortable letting a friend push in front of me (fairness)
3. I wouldn’t turn in a family member who had committed a murder (ingroup loyalty)
4. If I were in the army, I’d obey my commanding officer even if I strongly disagreed with his orders (respect for authority)
5. It’s wrong to do things other people find disgusting, even if nobody is physically harmed (purity)
If you agreed with 1 and 2, but disagreed – or were ambivalent – with 3-5, you have a liberal notion of morality. For you, the way to be a moral person is to try to protect others from harm, and to be fair to everyone. If you agreed with the majority of these statements, you have a more conservative view of morality. You of course agree with liberals that, in an ideal world, we should avoid harming other people or treating them unfairly. But, for you, these aren’t absolutes. Sometimes it might be necessary to harm others or treat them unfairly (for example, in situations of war or terrorism). These findings help explain why liberals and conservatives tend to view each other as immoral – they have different views of what constitutes morality in the first place.
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