Measuring Morality: An Examination of the Moral Foundation Questionnaire's Factor Structure.

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Moral Psychology

Background:

• Moral Foundations Theory outlines five moral domains: harm, fairness, loyalty, purity, and authority.
• The Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) is a widely used 30-item scale to assess these domains.
• Previous research has identified measurement issues with the MFQ, prompting calls for scrutiny.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate an improved Bifactor measurement model for the MFQ.
• To assess the impact of this enhanced model on the correlations between moral foundations and various psychological constructs.
• To provide recommendations for the optimal use of the MFQ in research.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of five large-scale datasets (N = 464,229).
• Application and comparison of the traditional MFQ model with a Bifactor model.
• Examination of correlations between moral foundations (using the Bifactor model) and attitudes, cognitive styles, and moral decision-making.

Main Results:

• The Bifactor model demonstrated significantly improved model fit compared to traditional models.
• The enhanced measurement structure altered the strength of correlations between moral foundations and other psychological variables.
• The Bifactor model accounts for both judgment and relevance item types within the MFQ.

Conclusions:

• The Bifactor model offers a more accurate representation of the MFQ's structure.
• Researchers are recommended to adopt the Bifactor model for improved measurement precision.
• Further research is needed to clarify the substantive meaning of the judgment and relevance factors.