Remapping the foundations of morality: Well-fitting structural model of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire

Moral foundations theory posits five moral foundations, however 5-factor models provide poor fit to the data. Here, in five studies, each with large samples (total N = 11,496), we construct and replicate a well-fitting model of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ). In study 1 (N = 2,271) we tested previously theorised models, confirming none provide adequate fit. We then developed a well-fitting model of the MFQ. This required 7 domains resulted from splitting the loyalty/purity and loyalty/patriotism aspects of existing domains, adding a general moral factor as well as a moral “tilt” factor, corresponding to left-right political distinctions. The new model replicated in 4 independent samples including western and eastern countries (N = 9,225). These findings demonstrate the first well-fitting replicable model of the MFQ. They also highlight the importance of modelling measurement structure, improving measurement precision and revealing important additional factors and group-factor structure within the moral foundations questionnaire.