Morality, activism and radicalism in the brazilian left and the brazilian right

Abstract

In the last few years, there has been a rising tension in Brazilian politics between individuals who identify as left-wing and those who identity as right-wing. Sometimes those tensions have resulted in radical behavior from people who identify with either side of the political spectrum. This paper has two main goals: (a) to investigate (using the Moral Foundations Theory as a basis) the moral matrices of participants who identify as being left, center-left, center-right, and right; and (b) to compare the indices of activism and radicalism between participants with different political orientations. There were 226 participants in the study, most of which were from the Federal District (64.16%). The participants answered an online survey composed of the Moral Foundations Questionnaire, the Activism and Radicalism Intention Scale, and informed demographic data (including their political preference). Differences were found in the moral matrices of participants with different political positions. Higher indices of activism and radicalism were found among participants who self-declared as being left and center-left. Based on the field’s literature, the perception of unfairness held by individuals who identify as left in the current political context may help to understand these findings.