Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of Moral Foundations Questionnaire in Three Iranian Samples

Moral judgment is one of the subjects studied in social cognition. Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) is a recent theory in moral psychology which has an intercultural and intuitive approach to moral beliefs of people around the world. The current study is concerned with examining psychometric properties of a Persian version of the questionnaire associated with this theory, and comparing findings with available reports from the original version as well as other cultures. Data are provided by three studies on Iranian samples: Golkar (2016) and phases II and III of Nejat (2016), with 280, 314, and 180 participants respectively, who responded to Moral Foundations Questionnaire (MFQ-30). Calculations of Cronbach alphas, as well as exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were conducted and comparisons were made between genders in reliance on foundations. Cronbach alphas for care, fairness and loyalty were relatively low and generally lower than obedience and sanctity. Exploratory factor analysis has led to a three-factor solution in phase II of Nejat (2016), and two-factor solutions in Golkar (2016) and phase III of Nejat (2016). Fit of data to the correlated five-factor model was acceptable. Women scored higher than men in care, fairness, and sanctity. Psychometric properties of the Persian MFQ, though not perfect in some respects, were comparable to those reported by other cultures, and therefore seem to be mainly caused by the complex nature of morality itself. Observed gender differences were similar to international findings and thus supportive of the known-groups validity for this questionnaire.