Researching moral foundations using the Bayesian approach

english

2023

volume 20, issue 1

Univerza v Ljubljani, Fakulteta za družbene vede
(Obvezni izvod spletne publikacije)

Moral foundations theory describes a complex space of human morality along five moralfoundations: care/harm, fairness/cheating, loyalty/betrayal, and sanctity/degradation. Thefirst aim of this study is to explore the role of socio-demographic variables in endorsing thefive moral foundations and to provide insight into the role of moral foundations in attitudestowards homeless people. The second objective of the study is to provide an example ofemploying the Bayesian statistical approach. There were 162 participants in our study (27%male, mean age 36 years). Convenience sampling method was used. Age and educationfound to be the most important predictors of moral foundations, with Bayesian factorsshowing the strongest evidence for age as a positive predictor of moral foundations. Gender,political affiliation, care and authority were found to be important predictors of attitudestowards homeless people, with Bayesian factors showing much stronger evidence for moralfoundations than sociodemographic variables. This study lays the groundwork for researchon moral foundations in Slovenian samples and provides a practical example of Bayesianapproach application in social science.

16.12.2024