Competing moral minds? Estimating moral disagreement in American politics

Abstract What drives ideological and partisan divisions in contemporary American politics? An influential line of research suggests they are rooted in disagreement about the nature of morality. While the left uses principles of care and fairness in moral judgment, the right considers loyalty, authority, and sanctity to be additional morally relevant values. This creates a “moral empathy gap” that makes it difficult for people to understand the perspective of their political opponents and fosters intolerance and gridlock. Evidence for moral disagreement between the left and right rests largely on a survey measure with significant limitations—the moral foundations questionnaire. We review the methodological issues associated with this measure and use two alternative strategies to examine moral disagreement in American politics. Across six distinct empirical tests with U.S. adults, we find that moral differences between the left and right are smaller than what is measured with the moral foundations questionnaire.