Moral foundations in the 2020s: Advancements in measurement, genetics, brain science, and real-world impact

The last decade has seen major progress in understanding moral judgment, driven in part by advances in Moral Foundations Theory (MFT). Given these developments and their implications for psychology, sociology, and public policy, a review of recent progress is timely. We synthesize developments in four key areas: 1) measurement, 2) genetic underpinnings, 3) neural mechanisms and 4) real-world tests of MFT. Measurement advances include the release of the new MFQ-2 instrument with improved reliability and predictive validity and the division of the fairness foundation into distinct equality and proportionality foundations. Behavioral genetic studies indicate that variation in moral foundations reflects both genetic and environmental influences. Alongside this, neuroimaging studies have revealed dissociable neural areas linked to moral foundations. Finally, global events - especially the COVID-19 pandemic – enabled the evaluation of MFT predictions in real-world contexts, showing both a substantive role for moral foundations in predicting public health behaviour and yielding new insights into MFT.