Age and Moral Foundations: A Meta-Analytic Approach.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Moral Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) provides a framework for understanding moral psychology.
• Research exploring the relationship between age and moral development is ongoing.
• Meta-analyses are crucial for synthesizing findings across multiple studies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To meta-analytically examine the relationship between age and various moral constructs.
• To identify moderators influencing the age-morality link.
• To propose a predictive model for age-related moral variations.

Main Methods:

• Conducted meta-analyses on Pearson's correlation estimates from 122 studies (239 samples).
• Examined heterogeneity and potential moderators for correlations.
• Developed a predictive model when significant moderators were identified.

Main Results:

• Pooled correlation estimates between age and moral constructs were null or negligible (ranging from -.02 to .08).
• Participant's mean age and ideology explained 40.80% of variability in the Loyalty/Betrayal foundation.
• Mean age explained 8.85-25.12% of variability for other moral foundations and the Individualizing group.

Conclusions:

• Moral foundations appear relatively stable across the human lifespan.
• Further research is recommended to investigate potential non-linear relationships between age and moral foundations.
• Ideology emerges as a significant moderator in the age-Loyalty/Betrayal relationship.