Moral Foundations Theory In Politics

The 2016 political election has caused great uproar on both the democratic and republican side. Yet, the main focus has been devoted to the actions of the candidates. Meanwhile coverage has been very minimal in terms of the unfortunate events that are to some extent influenced by the actions of these politicians. Recently there have been unfortunate hate expressions and attacks on people of color, in the name of current politicians. Although these events are very concerning, the rest of society seems to view these events as temporary and deem the importance. Social Psychologist, Jonathan Haidt looks at politics through moral foundations theory, in analyzing the relationship between morality and human reasoning. Therefore, this paper will analyze

Moral foundation theory is composed of six systems for which only three of those are attributed to republicans. Those are loyalty, which means conservatives always alert for betrayal, making their authority very well known, and maintaining sanctity to prevent degradation. In the case of conservatives sanctity comes in the shape of a place that can be similarly related to liberty, freedom and something that requires endless dedication. On the other hand democrats are associated with being fair by staying away from cheating and by saving society from harm. By attributing these values to each group, there is a clear explanation of why there can be such different perspectives on politics for both conservatives and liberal groups. From the current campaigns it has been obvious that politicians use this elements to frame issues in accordance to moral values that can offer a vision of the U.S that will best fit the needs and desires of society as

Instead, this events are treated as if they were happening elsewhere and this bodies are the bodies of the “them” not “us.” So if “they” become excluded form full humanity, according to the moral intuition of conservatives, it is acceptable because the out-group didn’t try hard enough to become outstanding citizens and embrace extremist views of bringing back a “great country,” which was founded in slavery and segregation. Considering, what defines a great country to conservatives; it is no surprise that during the event, members carried confederate flags and American flags. Given the recent removal of the confederate flag, conservatives show much fear that the culture they have always defended is vanishing at a speed that is not under their control. Therefore, framing fear of loss of values as necessary to maintain loyalty and save the country is a great tactic on behalf of conservatives to not only victimize themselves but also carry on devastating