Prestige and Dominance as Differential Correlates of Moral Foundations and Its Clinical Implications

How people use social rank (dominance vs prestige) could explain different attitudes toward five moral foundations. This study aimed to investigate the differential relationships between prestige, dominance, and moral foundations.

This study was conducted on 150 participants who responded to the moral foundation questionnaire and dominance-prestige scale. 

Multiple regression analysis revealed that prestige was positively associated with four kinds of moral foundations (harm/care, reciprocity/fairness, loyalty/subversion, and purity/sanctity), whereas dominance was negatively associated with harm/care, reciprocity/fairness, and progressivism. Prestige had a stronger association with moral foundations than dominance.

It seems that dominance as a social status seeking-strategy is against any moral foundation, but prestige could increase attention to moral foundations in decision making toward every life issue.