# MoralSelf methodology MoralSelf is a self-reflection questionnaire inspired by Moral Foundations Theory. Its statements and interpretations are adapted and reworded from the independently published [Moral Foundations Test](https://moralfoundations.github.io/), whose [source repository](https://github.com/MoralFoundations/moralfoundations.github.io) is publicly available. MoralSelf is not an official questionnaire from the theory's researchers, and no validation study is provided for this adaptation or its translations. ## What the scores describe The full version contains 48 statements: eight each for Care, Fairness, Liberty, In-Group Loyalty, Purity, and Authority. The quick version selects 24 of those statements, four for each foundation. Every item contributes equally to its assigned foundation, with no reverse-scored items. Responses use a seven-point agreement scale: Strongly disagree = 0, Disagree = 1, Slightly disagree = 2, No opinion either way = 3, Slightly agree = 4, Agree = 5, Strongly agree = 6. All statements in the selected version must have a valid response before a profile is calculated. Missing responses are not treated as neutral answers. For each foundation: `score = round(100 × sum of item responses / (6 × number of items))` For example, four responses of 3 produce 50%; four responses of 6 produce 100%. These percentages show agreement with the selected statements. They are not population percentiles, percentages of a person's total morality, or measures of moral worth; the six scores do not need to add up to 100%. Both versions use the same formula, but their item sets differ. A person can therefore obtain different scores on the quick and full versions. Their scores have not been established as interchangeable measurements, and a shorter questionnaire samples fewer aspects of each foundation. ## Interpretations and limits The tier labels use editorial cutoffs applied to the rounded scores: Low emphasis = 0–29%, Moderate = 30–49%, Strong = 50–69%, Defining = 70–100%. These thresholds are presentation choices, not clinically validated categories. The accompanying descriptions invite reflection; they cannot establish personality, conduct, or political identity. Political examples inherited from the adapted test are illustrative. They do not constitute a validated classifier. Research on group averages does not identify a particular respondent's beliefs, and findings from one population do not automatically extend to other countries or cultures. MoralSelf's six categories also differ from those of established research questionnaires. The original MFQ measures five foundations. The newer MFQ-2 distinguishes Equality and Proportionality alongside Care, Loyalty, Authority, and Purity. Keeping Liberty in this adaptation does not make it the MFQ-2. See the researchers' [questionnaire guidance](https://moralfoundations.org/questionnaires/) and [publication catalogue](https://moralfoundations.org/publications/), which describes Atari and colleagues' 2023 MFQ-2 research. Primary research supports broad differences among self-identified US liberals, conservatives, and libertarians, including the greater relative emphasis on liberty among libertarians. It does not validate MoralSelf's rewritten statements or its tier cutoffs. See [Iyer and colleagues, Understanding Libertarian Morality (2012)](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0042366). ## Storage and sharing Answers and the most recent profile are saved in the browser's local storage when available. Scoring does not require an account or sending responses to an application server. A share link exposes the six scores in its URL, so anyone with that link can view the profile. Shared profiles use six integers from 0 to 100 in this fixed order: `/results?s=-----` The link carries the scores only. It does not carry the individual responses, questionnaire length, respondent identity, or evidence of who completed it. Shared scores can also be entered manually, so a link is not proof of a completed assessment. ## Original attribution The upstream [index.html](https://github.com/MoralFoundations/moralfoundations.github.io/blob/main/index.html) includes a notice crediting Sapply, copyright 2017, and naming the GNU General Public License, version 3 or later, for the original program. This records the notice supplied by that source; it does not assert a separate license for every research instrument mentioned above. The [GNU GPL version 3 text](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html) is available from the Free Software Foundation.