The association between moral foundation and political orientation in Australia:
Do the American studies carry over to an Australian Population?
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Swinburne University of Technology
Psych 101-Assesment 1
Due Date: 31st August 2015
Tutorial: Thursday 4.30-5.30

Introduction
Political preferences seem an obvious topic of research, as the findings of such research are highly sought after. As such any research relating to what motivates political orientation would be very useful. For this reason a great deal of research into the relationship between moral foundation and political orientation has been done in recent years.
For this study political orientation is measured using a 7-point scale from liberal to conservative. Liberal being characterised by an emphasis on social and political liberty, holding ideals of equity, individualism, liberty and rationalism (Ballamy, 2015, pp.26-31). Conservative is characterised by an emphasis on traditional class systems and government control (Sigmund, 2015, pp. 689-691).
For this study moral foundation is measured by a scale from the moral foundations questionnaire (MFQ)(Graham Et Al, 2011). This is derived from Haidt and Joseph’s Moral foundations theory (MFT) (2004). Although the original theory has 4 foundations, the MFQ revolves of five different categories. Them being Harm / Care, Fairness / Reciprocity, Ingroup / Loyalty, Authority / Respect, and Purity / Sanctity (Graham Et Al, 2011).
Previous research in this area has shown that their, in the US at least, is an association between the moral foundations and political orientation. Graham, Haidt and Nosek(2009) found that people who report a strongly liberal political identity, place Harm / Care and Fairness / Reciprocity at a much higher relevance to making moral decision, where as those who claim a strongly conservative political identity valued