The Two Moralities

The Two Moralities by Ronnie Janoff-Bulman provides the most complete picture to date of the moral worlds of the political left and right, and how their different views relate to specific political issues.

The left and right will always have strong policy disagreements, but constructive debate is not possible when ideologies are distorted and weaponised to the point that there is no common ground for discussion. In this book, social psychologist Ronnie Janoff-Bulman provides a new framework for understanding why and how we disagree.

She asks readers to consider the possibility that, amid the current poisonous politics in the United States, the motives of both liberalism and conservatism are morally based and reflect genuine concern for the country. Moral psychology is an invaluable lens for understanding the roots of political differences. Janoff-Bulman presents a “Model of Moral Motives” that maps the most fundamental motivations recognised by psychology—approach and avoidance—onto these differences.

Conservatives' motive to protect the group and liberals' motive to provide for the group's well-being help us understand why different positions resonate on each side of the political spectrum. Why, for example, do conservatives oppose abortion and favour unfettered free markets, while liberals favour a woman’s right to choose and economic regulation? The two moralities ground these positions in naturally occurring psychological differences between liberals and conservatives and show why a well-balanced society, like a well-balanced individual, requires both sets of motives.