Ideology-Specific Patterns of Moral Indifference
Predict Intentions Not to Vote
Procedure
Participants from a nationally
representative data set (Study 1;
N=1,341) completed the Portrait
Values Questionnaire in which
they read 21 descriptions about a
person and rated “how much do
you like this person” and the Moral
Foundations Sacredness Scale in
which they rated how much money
they would have to be paid to do
three actions violating each of 5
moral concern domains.
Participants also completed
measures of political ideology and
whether or not they voted in the
previous election.
Online participants in 2008 (Study
2; N=12602) and 2012 (Studies 3
and 4, N=39506) were asked to
either complete the Schwartz
Values Survey or the Moral
Foundation Questionnaire, which
rate their endorsement of 5 moral
concerns (from “not at all relevant”
to “always relevant” and “strongly
disagree” to “strongly agree”). Five
items reflected each foundation,
such as this example of Harm:
“Whether or not someone did
something cruel.” Participants also
completed measures of political
ideology as well as whether and for
whom they intended to vote in the
upcoming election.
Background
 Feeling like the act of voting is tied to
one’s core moral beliefs is correlated
with higher intentions to vote in the
future (Morgan, Skitka, & Wisneski,
2010), and Concerns over family values
led to the rise of the Right during the
last few decades of the 20th century
(Gross, Medvetz, & Russell, 2011), and
moral concerns continue to predict
political outcomes today.
 Both politics and morality concerns bind
individuals together into tightly knit
communities (Graham & Haidt, 2010;
Vaisey, 2007), and feeling connected to
one’s community influences one’s
decision to vote. Given the robust
tendency for political liberals to
primarily endorse moral concerns of
Harm and Fairness , and conservatives’
stronger endorsement of binding moral
concerns of Authority, Loyalty, and
Sanctity, it is possible that a mismatch
between political group concerns and
one’s own moral motivations could also
affect voting intentions.
Results
 Data from the nationally representative
data set and online participants were
congruent with our hypotheses:
individuals with low overall moral
concern were less likely to report having
voting in past elections and more likely
to report intentions to not vote in the
future.
 Importantly, low moral concerns across
all domains was not necessary to affect
political participation. Participants were
also less likely to intend to vote in future
elections specifically when they
experienced a mismatch between their
individual moral foundation
endorsements and their self-identified
political group’s moral beliefs.
4
c
Vaisey ,
c
Miles ,
a
Chu ,
Answers
Schwartz Value Endorsement
Voter
Non-Voter
Value Endorsement
1. Does indifference towards
moral concerns predict
intentions to not vote?
2. Can a mismatch between
individuals’ moral foundation
concerns and those of their
political party explain voting
intentions?
Sean P.
b
Wojcik ,
Stephen
Andrew
Veronica
a
& Jesse Graham
aUniversity of Southern California, bUniversity of California, Irvine, cDuke University
Questions
Ravi
a
Iyer ,
3.5
3
1. Yes: Those who score lower
on measures of moral concern
are more likely to have not
voted in the past and to intend
to note vote in the future.
2. Yes: conservatives who scored
low on binding concerns and
liberals who scored low on
individualizing concerns were
significantly less likely to intend
to vote in future elections.
Conclusions
2.5
2
Moral Values
Non-Moral Values
Moral Foundation Endorsement
4
Moral Foundation Endorsement
Kate M.
a
Johnson ,
Voter
3.5
Non-Voter
3
As hypothesized, self-reported past
non-voting behavior and future
intentions not to vote were predicted
by low endorsement of moral
concerns and values, which was not
the case for non-moral values.
Additionally, explicit intentions to not
vote in the future was specifically
associated with low endorsement of
concerns typically associated with
one’s political group; Care and
Fairness concerns for liberals and
Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity
concerns for conservatives and Tea
Party members from the
FreedomWorks group.
References
Morgan, G. S., Skitka, L. J., &Wisneski, D. C.
(2010). Moral and religious convictions and
intentions to vote in the 2008 presidential
election. Analyses of Social Issues and Public
Policy, 10(1), 07–320.
2.5
2
Gross, N., Medvetz, T., & Russell, R. (2011). The
contemporary American conservative
movement. Annual Review of Sociology, 37,
325–354.
1.5
Graham, J., & Haidt, J. (2010). Beyond beliefs:
Religions bind individuals into moral
communities. Personality and Social
Psychology Review, 14, 140–150.
1
Individualizing
Binding
Liberals
Individualizing
Binding
Conservatives
Vaisey, S. (2007). The search for belonging in 50
urban communes. American Sociological
Review, 72, 851–873.
For additional information/follow up studies, email [email protected]