Can there be an immoral morality? Dark personality traits as predictors of Moral foundations Cover Image

Can there be an immoral morality? Dark personality traits as predictors of Moral foundations
Can there be an immoral morality? Dark personality traits as predictors of Moral foundations

Author(s): Janko Međedović, Boban Petrović
Subject(s): Ethics / Practical Philosophy, Social psychology and group interaction, Personality Psychology, Criminology
Published by: Društvo psihologa Srbije
Keywords: Moral Foundations; Dark Tetrad; Machiavellianism; Narcissism; Psychopathy; Sadism; HEXACO;

Summary/Abstract: Previous researches have shown that some aspects of Moral foundations do not correlate with indicators of immoral behavior, or even have positive correlations with them. The aim of this study was to explore the relations of Moral foundations with general (HEXACO personality model) and “dark” personality traits (psychopathy, Machiavellianism, narcissism and sadism). Data was gathered via on-line survey (N=402; 70% females). The results have shown that Openness is the best predictor from the set of basic personality traits: It has positive relations with Harm/Care and Fairness/Reciprocity and negative with the other three moral foundations. Psychopathy was negatively associated with Harm/Care and positively with Ingroup/Loyalty foundation. Machiavellianism was a positive predictor of Ingroup/Loyalty and Authority/ Respect. Results confirmed the existence of fundamental differences between moral foundations. Ingroup/Loyalty and Authority/Respect are partly based on immoral personal dispositions, which bring into question their conceptual status as human moral foundations.

  • Issue Year: 49/2016
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 185-197
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: English