Doctoral Dissertation Research Support: The Moral Public: Moral Judgment and Political Attitudes

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。道德判断一直是社会和政治探究的核心组成部分。政治哲学家认为，由道德原则引导的态度本质上是好的，是必须的。但是，尽管有大量关于道德的文献，经验主义政治学家一直回避研究人们在形成政治态度时使用道德判断的程度。这个项目吗?S的贡献是发展了一种理论和方法来识别道德问题，观察道德判断，并将道德判断与政治态度联系起来。道德公众的一般问题是通过回答三个更具体的问题来解决的：第一，什么标准使政治问题合乎道德，对谁来说？第二，道德判断的基础是什么？道德心态如何影响政治态度？第三，道德判断在政治态度形成中的作用是什么？本研究使用了不同的样本，一个基于匹配的全国代表性样本，道德判断的替代措施，以及实验和相关设计。这个项目的主要智力价值在于运用政治哲学的开创性理论以及社会和生命科学的最新理论来建立理论和方法基础，在此基础上道德可以被整合到随后的政治行为研究中。这项研究对政治行为和民意研究中的关键当代问题有启示，如投票行为、民意动员、竞选效率和民主制度的运作。例如，如果人们使用直觉或基于情感的道德判断，那么他们可能会形成合理和有效的基于道德的政治态度，尽管他们在意识形态上不成熟，在政治上不了解。这个项目也有更广泛的影响。首先，本研究项目中验证的措施适用于政治学、心理学和经验哲学的各个分支。通过建立跨学科研究，本研究推进了一个关键的科学目标，即增加跨科学领域知识的一致性。第二，经验证的量表和数据将在co-PI的网站上提供，供其他研究人员进一步研究道德和价值观在美国社会中的重要作用。最后，该项目通过识别对道德理解的差异，并为更富有成效和更宽容的公共政治讨论提供途径，从而造福社会。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).Moral judgment has always been a central component of social and political inquiry. Political philosophers have argued that attitudes guided by moral principles are intrinsically good and obligatory. But despite the vast literature on morality, empirical political scientists have shied away from studying the extent to which people use moral judgment in forming political attitudes. This project?s contribution is to develop a theory and methodology for identifying moral issues, observing moral judgments, and connecting moral judgment to political attitudes. The general question of the moral public is addressed by answering three more specific questions: First, what criteria make political issues moral and to whom? Second, what underlies moral judgment and how does the moral mindset affect political attitudes? Third, what is the role of moral judgment in the formation of political attitudes? This study uses diverse samples, a matching-based nationally representative sample, alternative measures for moral judgment, and experimental as well as correlational designs. The chief intellectual merit of this project lies in applying seminal theories from political philosophy as well as up-to-date theories in the social and life sciences to establish the theoretical and methodological foundations upon which morality can be integrated in subsequent political behavior research. The study has implications for key contemporary questions in political behavior and public opinion research, such as voting behavior, public opinion mobilization, campaign efficacy, and the functioning of democracies. For instance, if people use intuitive or emotions-based moral judgment, then they may form reasonable and efficient morally based political attitudes despite being ideologically unsophisticated and politically unknowledgeable. This project has broader implications as well. First, the measures validated in this research program are applicable across various branches of political science, psychology, and empirical philosophy. By building on interdisciplinary research, this study advances a key scientific goal of increasing the consistency of that knowledge across scientific fields. Second, the validated scales and data will be made available on the co-PI's website for other researchers to further research into the important role played by morality and values in the American society. Finally, this project benefits society by identifying differences in the understanding of morality, and offering ways to a more productive and tolerant public discussion of politics.