Jonathan Haidt
| Jonathan Haidt | |
|---|---|
| Fields | psychology |
| Institutions | University of Virginia (professor) |
| Known for | positive psychology, political psychology, ethics and morality, attitudes and beliefs |
Jonathan Haidt is a professor of psychology at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on the psychological bases of morality across different cultures and political ideology. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 1992. He was awarded the Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology in 2001.[1] His book The Happiness Hypothesis examines ten "great ideas" dating from antiquity and their continued relevance to the happy life. A certain portion of his research has been focused on the emotion of elevation.
Contents |
[edit] Moral Foundations Theory
Haidt is best known for what he dubs "Moral Foundations Theory", which has been reported in publications such as The Atlantic,[2] Boston Globe[3], and The Huffington Post.[4] It is also the basis of his talk given at TED.
Moral Foundations Theory looks at the way morality varies between cultures and identifies five fundamental moral values shared to a greater or lesser degree by different societies and individuals.[5] These are:
- Care for others, protecting them from harm. (He also referred to this dimension as Harm.)
- Fairness, Justice, treating others equally.
- Loyalty to your group, family, nation. (He also referred to this dimension as Ingroup.)
- Respect for tradition and legitimate authority. (He also referred to this dimension as Authority.)
- Purity, avoiding disgusting things, foods, actions.
Haidt has recently added a sixth fundamental value, Liberty/oppression: This foundation is about the feelings of reactance and resentment people feel toward those who dominate them and restrict their liberty.[6]
Haidt found that Americans who identified as liberals tend to value care and fairness considerably higher than loyalty, respect, and purity. Self-identified conservative Americans value all five values more equally, though at a lower level across the five than the liberal concern for care and fairness. Both groups gave care the highest over-all weighting, but conservatives valued fairness the lowest, whereas liberals valued purity the lowest. Similar results were found across the political spectrum in other countries.[7]
[edit] Books
- Haidt, Jonathan; Keyes, Corey L.M. (2002). Flourishing: Positive Psychology and the Life Well Lived.. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. pp. 335. ISBN 978-1557989307.
- Haidt, Jonathan (2005). The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. Basic Books. ISBN 0-46502-802-0.
- Haidt, Jonathan (Forthcoming 2012). The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion. Pantheon. ISBN 978-0307377906.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/people/expert/jonathan-haidt-phd
- ^ http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2012/02/studies-conservatives-are-from-mars-liberals-are-from-venus/252416/
- ^ http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-02/bostonglobe/31017802_1_jonathan-haidt-moral-foundations-politics
- ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-b-edsall/conservatives-vs-liberals_b_1262309.html?ref=entertainment
- ^ Haidt, Jonathan; Jesse Graham (2007). "When Morality Opposes Justice: Conservatives Have Moral Intuitions That Liberals May Not Recognize" (PDF). Social Justice Research 20 (1): 98–116. doi:10.1007/s11211-007-0034-z. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=872251. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ [1]
- ^ TED Talks: Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives at TED in 2008
[edit] External links
- Homepage
- Moral Foundations Theory Homepage - homepage of Haidt's research group
- "Moral Psychology and the Misunderstanding of Religion" - piece written for Edge.org
- Video of presentation on morality at New Yorker "2012: Stories from the Near Future" conference
- Wade, Nicholas (2007-09-18). "Is ‘Do Unto Others’ Written Into Our Genes?". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/18/science/18mora.html?ei=5087%0A&em=&en=6df574f0948f0c22&ex=1190347200&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1190222551-imzoLWDSm5bqTDDFMKS/tg. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
- Video interview with Will Wilkinson on Bloggingheads.tv
- Video discussion with philosopher Joshua Knobe on Bloggingheads.tv
- Video of presentation, 2007, Beyond Belief: Enlightenment 2.0
- TED Talks: Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives at TED in 2008
- Bigthink Interview: The Righteous Mind
