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Age and Moral Foundations: A Meta-Analytic Approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2021

David Castilla-Estévez Open the ORCID record for David Castilla-Estévez [Opens in a new window]  and
Desirée Blázquez-Rincón Open the ORCID record for Desirée Blázquez-Rincón [Opens in a new window]
David Castilla-Estévez*
Affiliation:
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain)
Desirée Blázquez-Rincón
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to David Castilla-Estévez. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. E-mail: psico.castillaestevez@gmail.com
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Abstract

Several meta-analytic analyses are carried out to analyzed the relationship between age and different moral constructs based on the Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) framework. Pearson’s correlation estimates between age and any of the moral construcs were available for a total of 239 independent samples out of 122 studies. Correlation coefficients were meta-analyzed, heterogeneity was examined by searching for moderators when there were more than 30 estimates available, and a predictive model to estimate the expected correlation was proposed when several moderators showed a significant effect. The correlation between age and all the moral constructs analyzed exhibited pooled estimates of null or not relevant magnitude, ranging from –.02 to .08. The moderator analyses led to a predictive model in which participant’s mean age and ideology explained 40.80% of the total variability among the correlation between age and the Loyalty/Betrayal foundation, whereas participant’s mean age explained a significant percentage of variability (8.85 – 25.12%) for the correlations between age and the rest of moral foundations and the Individualizing group. Results show a quite stable moral matrix over the lifespan, but future research is needed for examine a possible non-linear relationship between age and moral foundations.

Keywords

agemoral developmentmoral foundationsmeta-analysissocio intuitive model
Type
Review Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 24 , 2021 , e41
Copyright
© Universidad Complutense de Madrid and Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2021

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Footnotes

Conflicts of Interest: None.

Funding Statement: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

References

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