The Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ) measures five universal moral foundations of Harm/care, Fairness/reciprocity, Ingroup/loyalty, Authority/respect, and Purity/sanctity. This study provided an independent test of the factor structure of the MFQ using Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a large New Zealand national probability sample (N = 3,994). We compared the five-factor model proposed by Moral Foundations Theory against alternative single-factor, two-factor, three-factor, and hierarchical (five foundations as nested in two second order factors) models of morality. The hypothesized five-factor model proposed by Moral Foundations Theory provided a reasonable fit. These findings indicate that the five-factor model of moral foundations holds in New Zealand, and provides the first independent test of the factor structure of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire.
Social Psychology (2014), 45, pp. 431-436. https://doi.org/10.1027/1864-9335/a000201. © 2014 Hogrefe Publishing.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire
Independent Scale Validation in a New Zealand Sample
Caitlin L. DaviesRelated information
1 Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
, Chris G. SibleyRelated information 2 University of Auckland, New Zealand
, James H. LiuRelated information 1 Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
Accepted February 26, 2014
Published online January 1, 2014
Abstract
Keywords: confirmatory factor analysis, scale validation, moral foundations, New Zealand