This quiz explores your moral intuitions based on Moral Foundations Theory. It is for educational and self-reflection purposes only. Moral foundations are descriptive, not prescriptive — no foundation profile is inherently better or worse.
The Moral Foundations Quiz is based on Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory — one of the most influential frameworks in moral psychology. It measures how strongly you weight five universal moral foundations: Care, Fairness, Loyalty, Authority, and Sanctity. Your profile explains why you and others with different profiles may experience genuine moral disagreement.
Moral Foundations Quiz
30 questions — rate how much each consideration matters to you
all Very
little Slightly Somewhat Mostly Very
much
How to Use the Moral Foundations Quiz
The Moral Foundations Quiz is based on Jonathan Haidt's Moral Foundations Theory, one of the most empirically supported frameworks in moral psychology. It reveals the intuitive moral values you actually use when judging right and wrong — which may differ from the values you believe you hold intellectually. This 30-question quiz takes about 5-8 minutes.
Step 1: Rate Your Moral Relevance and Agreement
The quiz has two parts. The first 15 questions ask how relevant certain considerations are to judging whether something is moral. The last 15 present specific scenarios or statements for you to agree or disagree with. Use the 6-point scale to indicate your reaction. There are no correct answers — respond with your genuine intuition.
Step 2: Understand Your Radar Chart
The radar chart shows your relative score on each of the five foundations. Higher scores indicate that foundation plays a larger role in your moral judgments. The interesting information is in the relative shape — which foundations you weigh most heavily compared to others.
Step 3: Use Results for Understanding, Not Labels
Your results are most valuable when used to understand genuine moral disagreements. When you encounter someone who seems to have completely different values, their MFQ profile likely differs from yours — and understanding that can transform frustrating arguments into productive conversations.
The Five Moral Foundations
Care/Harm: Evolved from mammalian nurturing. Concerns with suffering, vulnerability, and care for others. Violations: cruelty, indifference to suffering.
Fairness/Cheating: Evolved from reciprocal altruism. Concerns with proportionality, justice, and rights. Violations: cheating, free-riding, exploitation.
Loyalty/Betrayal: Evolved from coalition formation. Concerns with group membership, sacrifice, and team cohesion. Violations: betrayal, disloyalty, treason.
Authority/Subversion: Evolved from hierarchical social organization. Concerns with deference, tradition, and legitimate leadership. Violations: disrespect, rebellion, insubordination.
Sanctity/Degradation: Evolved from disease avoidance. Concerns with purity, dignity, and sacredness. Violations: desecration, perversion, degradation.
FAQ
Is this Moral Foundations quiz free?
Yes, completely free. No signup, account, or payment needed. Your answers are processed locally in your browser and never stored or transmitted.
Is my data private?
Yes. Everything runs in your browser. Close the page and your results are permanently gone — nothing is saved anywhere.
What is Moral Foundations Theory?
Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) was developed by psychologist Jonathan Haidt and colleagues. It proposes that human moral intuitions are organized around five (or six) universal foundations: Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Loyalty/Betrayal, Authority/Subversion, and Sanctity/Degradation. The theory explains why people across cultures disagree about moral issues — they weight these foundations differently.
Does this test reveal my political leaning?
Research using MFT shows that people who lean liberal tend to weight Care and Fairness foundations more heavily, while people who lean conservative tend to weight all five foundations more equally. However, this tool describes your moral intuitions — it does not label your political identity. The results are descriptive, not diagnostic.
Are some moral foundations better than others?
No. The theory explicitly holds that all foundations are culturally and evolutionarily significant. Each captures a genuine moral concern with evolutionary roots. Someone who scores high on Authority is not 'more moral' or 'less moral' than someone who scores high on Care — they simply respond to different moral triggers.
Why are my results saved between sessions?
This tool saves your most recent results in your browser's localStorage so you can see changes when you retake the test. Nothing is stored on any server. You can clear your browser data to remove saved results.
How does this relate to the official MFQ?
This quiz draws on questions inspired by the Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ-30) developed by Haidt, Graham, and colleagues. The MFQ is published under a Creative Commons license for educational use. This tool is for personal exploration and is not a validated research instrument.