Morality Test

[Eos of the Eons]

You scored 36 out of a total of 44.

Your score puts you in the mature category of social reasoning

Most people get this category. I should think you all would ;)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/morals/index.shtml

[da bear]

You scored 39 out of a total of 44

Your score puts you in the highest category of social reasoning. You will see ethical and moral values as important to the needs of society and will appeal to basic rights or values. You might say "Honesty is a standard which everyone should accept" or "Life is sacred."

Conformity to ethical norms is important to you, in terms of a responsibility, obligation or commitment for all individuals, although you may be willing to consider exceptions in some particular circumstances. You are likely to suggest that with entitlement or privilege comes responsibility.

You will appeal to considerations of responsible character or integrity in others, preferring a consistent or standard practice of behaviour in order to avoid damage to social institutions such as the legal system.

However, you will want to see an adjusted case-by-case application of standards for the sake of fairness to all people. Lastly, you are very likely to appeal to standards of individual or personal conscience, as well as of honour, dignity or integrity.

I found myself second guessing some of my answers, but decided to stick with my first choice on each question.

I'd say the summation is fairly accurate, at least I like to think so anyway.

[roger]

This test seems very flawed. I got bored with it, so decided to go back and answer "not important" to all the answers, just to see how it described me at the end. The problem is, all of the reasons below that you are supposed to choose from assume that is IS important to you. I dunno, maybe if it isn't important to you, than the reason it isn't important isn,t well, important. But I found myself choosing a reason randomly because none seem to fit somebody who considered the issue unimportant.

Okay, after all, that, I got 29 out of 44, along with the description "Your score puts you in the mature category of social reasoning and the majority of people will have scores in this range".

Clearly flawed, I deliberately tried to answer as immorally as possible.

[evildave]

46116 people have completed this questionaire so far.

You scored 42.5 out of a total of 44.

My Results

Your score puts you in the highest category of social reasoning. You will see ethical and moral values as important to the needs of society and will appeal to basic rights or values. You might say "Honesty is a standard which everyone should accept" or "Life is sacred."

Conformity to ethical norms is important to you, in terms of a responsibility, obligation or commitment for all individuals, although you may be willing to consider exceptions in some particular circumstances. You are likely to suggest that with entitlement or privilege comes responsibility.

You will appeal to considerations of responsible character or integrity in others, preferring a consistent or standard practice of behaviour in order to avoid damage to social institutions such as the legal system.

However, you will want to see an adjusted case-by-case application of standards for the sake of fairness to all people. Lastly, you are very likely to appeal to standards of individual or personal conscience, as well as of honour, dignity or integrity.

Heh! I always do good on a multiple guess test.

The test looks familiar. I'm certain it's been linked here before, perhaps under Religion & Philosophy.

[evildave]

Originally posted by roger
This test seems very flawed. I got bored with it, so decided to go back and answer "not important" to all the answers, just to see how it described me at the end. The problem is, all of the reasons below that you are supposed to choose from assume that is IS important to you. I dunno, maybe if it isn't important to you, than the reason it isn't important isn,t well, important. But I found myself choosing a reason randomly because none seem to fit somebody who considered the issue unimportant.

Okay, after all, that, I got 29 out of 44, along with the description "Your score puts you in the mature category of social reasoning and the majority of people will have scores in this range".

Clearly flawed, I deliberately tried to answer as immorally as possible.

But did you try answering immaturely? Consistently choose reasons like 'Because I'll get in trouble.' or 'Bad people should be punished.' to gain an immature score.

[kimiko]

You scored 40 out of a total of 44.

blah,blah,blah....However, you will want to see an adjusted case-by-case application of standards for the sake of fairness to all people.

I imagine that makes me a bleeding heart liberal. :)

[Eleatic Stranger]

You scored 41.5 out of a total of 44.

Your score puts you in the highest category of social reasoning. You will see ethical and moral values as important to the needs of society and will appeal to basic rights or values. You might say "Honesty is a standard which everyone should accept" or "Life is sacred."

Conformity to ethical norms is important to you, in terms of a responsibility, obligation or commitment for all individuals, although you may be willing to consider exceptions in some particular circumstances. You are likely to suggest that with entitlement or privilege comes responsibility.

You will appeal to considerations of responsible character or integrity in others, preferring a consistent or standard practice of behaviour in order to avoid damage to social institutions such as the legal system.

However, you will want to see an adjusted case-by-case application of standards for the sake of fairness to all people. Lastly, you are very likely to appeal to standards of individual or personal conscience, as well as of honour, dignity or integrity.

It sounds like being a Kantian is the best thing to be, with rule utilitarianism and act utilitarianism second and third best, respectively. At the bottom, of course, is moral egoism.

But what about a non-codifiable virtue ethical conception, hmm?

I think this is just another case of my general tendency to wonder whether or not psychologists really know what they're doing -- I mean, did they even read up on the relevant ethical theories before collecting and analyzing their data? If not they've got an awfully naive set of answers.....

[TillEulenspiegel]

41.5 usual message.
This is like so many IQ tests, the outcome of different methods can provide a semi consistent base average, especially if there close in score.
Theres all kinds of weighting mechanisms , so the outcome has as much to do with the questions and how their couched as the final outcome.

[Art Vandelay]

It does seem to a but odd to have a morality test, seeing as how it pretty much comes down to "how much does your morality comform to mine?" Especially since often none of the choices really fit my point of view. And what was the "right" answer for the suicide one?

One possible answer for another question was: "Without laws, people wouldn't think twice about breaking the law and there would be anarchy". If there were no laws, how could one break them?

It's also a bit odd to see someone who puts people on her ignore list for disagreeing with her starting a thread about morality.

[Eleatic Stranger]

I don't think there was a right answer at all - and I suspect that the importance bar was only there to make you think there might have been. If you look you'll notice also that it didn't claim to be right or wrong, only to conform to the general trends people go through in maturing when they talk about morality (ie, how they talk about it, mostly), and that your score was based not on how right you were but on how your responses correllated with the most mature of the catagories.

That said, I still find it somewhat suspicious.

[Mycroft]

You scored 42 out of a total of 44.

Your score puts you in the highest category of social reasoning. You will see ethical and moral values as important to the needs of society and will appeal to basic rights or values. You might say "Honesty is a standard which everyone should accept" or "Life is sacred."

Conformity to ethical norms is important to you, in terms of a responsibility, obligation or commitment for all individuals, although you may be willing to consider exceptions in some particular circumstances. You are likely to suggest that with entitlement or privilege comes responsibility.

You will appeal to considerations of responsible character or integrity in others, preferring a consistent or standard practice of behaviour in order to avoid damage to social institutions such as the legal system.

However, you will want to see an adjusted case-by-case application of standards for the sake of fairness to all people. Lastly, you are very likely to appeal to standards of individual or personal conscience, as well as of honour, dignity or integrity.


Originally posted by Art Vandelay
It does seem to a but odd to have a morality test, seeing as how it pretty much comes down to "how much does your morality comform to mine?" ...

I dunno, I thought the test was interesting because it looked at more that just the answer you gave, but your reasoning for the answer. I suspect the reason so many people score in the highest catagory is that it's weighted for age group.

I tried the test again, this time trying to pick the most selfish immoral options:

You scored 26 out of a total of 44.

Your score suggests that you treat social ethics and behaviour as a matter of pragmatic deals or exchanges. One helps a friend who has done you favours because he or she may return the favour.

You are likely to appeal for "tit-for-tat" exchanges or deals with others; even legal justice may be seen in this way. You will generally emphasise an approach to others based upon strict equalities (or inequalities), appealing to unfettered or unlimited freedoms as concrete rights, for example not helping others because "you shouldn't stick your nose in someone else's business."

Your reasoning is likely to depend upon your own preferences or needs at a particular time. You may also decide upon issues in terms of the advantages or disadvantages to be gained from action.

Which is still the second highest catagory. One wonders what one must say to get into the lower two?

[Mycroft]

Come to think of it, I wonder how many of the 32% who didn't make the highest category are people like Roger and I who purposefully tried to answer immorally to get a low score?

[Eleatic Stranger]

What will give you a low score, by the way, is answering the way a small child would....

[peptoabysmal]

46116 people have completed this questionaire so far.

You scored 39 out of a total of 44.

hmmm...

I don't know how morality can be objectively verified to an invariant unity, unless morality is assumed to be lack of conflict with law?

[varwoche]

Originally posted by Mycroft
I tried the test again, this time trying to pick the most selfish immoral options: I got a 21.

[Mycroft]

Originally posted by varwoche
I got a 21.

Did you? What did it say?

[varwoche]

Originally posted by Mycroft
Did you? What did it say? Yes, didn't save the text. I went pure nasty. My daughter watched with interest, and tried a different tact -- answering the questions with the correct "moral" answer, but choosing the lamest reason -- and got a 26. (Since then, I cant pry her away from the site -- it has many interesting surveys.)

[Eos of the Eons]

:D My evil plan to suck people into the science site is working!

[kedo1981]

I'm a 40.5 so all you low lifes can bite me; wait; I'm to moral to say that.

[Marvel Frozen]

I think this quiz is rather silly. The important/not important answer is irrelevant. Here's the scores you get for each answer for question 8 to 11. Personally, I strongly disagree with the score for some of the answers.

How important is it for a person to live even if they don't want to?

2 If you die you won't find out what would have happened if you had lived longer
4 Under severe circumstances, individuals should be able to choose to die with dignity
3.5 You can make it if you have the courage; if you just quit, it's a cop-out
2 Other people may want you to live
3 Life is a gift we should appreciate
2.5 There may be children who need to be cared for
1 We should live our lives until our time comes
3.5 Each person should follow their own judgement
3.5 It depends on whether the suffering is physical or emotional
4 Life is sacred and everyone can make a contribution to society
2 You shouldn't have to live if you don't want to
2.5 Things can change and you might become happier later on

How important is it for people not to take things which belong to others?

4 You have to judge each case individually. Sometimes you must follow your own internal laws
2 You don't want people to steal your things
3 It will be on your conscience if you steal
4 Respecting the right to property is an obligation that goes along with the privileges of living in a society
2.5 The victim might care a lot about their possession
1.5 You could go to jail, or even get killed
1 The law is there for you to follow
4 If stealing was widespread, there would be no incentive for people to produce things that improve quality of life
3 If there were no laws and everyone stole, the world would break down and there would be chaos
2 The other person might have stolen from you, so why shouldn't you steal back?
3.5 You should make your own decision, but you should also be willing to accept the penalty
2 Stealing gets you nowhere and if you are caught you may get hurt


How important is it for people to obey the law?

4 Laws cannot always be fair or appropriate for every particular circumstance
2 People would be getting away with all kinds of crimes
4 Laws must be enforced to protect society, even if a particular law is unfair
4 Laws make order possible in society
3.5 The laws must be enforced if there is to be order and an effective deterrent against crime
3.5 Without laws, people wouldn't think twice about breaking the law and there would be anarchy
3.5 Laws are made for the people. If people don't follow them there is no point in having them
2 The law will benefit you if you abide by it
1 You should obey the law in order to be good
4 The law has to be consistent. Exceptions will only lead to chaos
2.5 The world would be unsafe for people to live in
3.5 Laws are important for the sake of not only order, but also harmony and justice

How important is it for the courts to send people who break the law to prison?

4 Lawbreakers must accept the consequences of their actions. If you live in a society, you must be willing to accept its restrictions
2 They may have committed the crime because they needed to
3.5 The lawbreaker might be rehabilitated in jail
1 Bad people have to go to jail
2.5 It will make them think twice before committing another crime. They may even learn from their mistakes
2.5 They may have had a good reason. Perhaps he intended to help someone and now feels sorry for what they did
3 Lawbreakers shouldn't get off lightly - if they do there will be chaos
2 If lawbreakers aren't sent to jail, they'll think they can get away with committing crimes
3.5 If lawbreakers aren't properly punished, people will feel it is more acceptable to break the law
4 In the long run, society must find better solutions than prison
1.5 If lawbreakers aren't sent to jail, there will be more crime on the streets
4 Judges must temper justice with mercy, especially since the criminal may have been responding to a higher law

[Jeff Corey]

Dumb test, probably constructed by grad students in Education.
If there is no choice that describes your answer, you can't proceed without lying.

[Mycroft]

Okay, with lots of work, I managed to shave my score down to 11.5. Try as I might, I just can't seem to shave the extra half point to get into the lowest category. The answers I have are as follows:

1. You're told to do it.

2. It's not important because they're a stranger.

3. Everyone should keep a promise.

4. You will be punished if you don't.

5. Parents are grown-ups, so they can tell you what to do.

6. He may be your best friend.

7. The stranger might be an important person, you should save him to be nice.

8. We should live our lives until our time comes.

9. The law is there to follow.

10 You should obey to be good.

11. Bad people have to go to jail.

In the spirit of immorality, while experimenting with low scores, I falsified the biographical data claiming I was a professional woman so that anyone keeping track of this data might come to some misogamistic conclusions. :P

[shemp]

This is one of the most idiotic tests I have ever seen. I don't think even Hitler could score poorly! (Godwin's law invoked.) Even when I answered in the most irresponsible way I could imagine, I still scored 22.5! Some ivory tower nitwit must have designed it.

[Dorian Gray]

You scored 43.5 out of a total of 44.

Your score puts you in the highest category of social reasoning - God is on your side. You will see ethical and moral values as important to the needs of society and will appeal to basic rights or values, and you will say whatever it takes to get people to believe you possess these qualities. You might say "Honesty is a standard which everyone should accept" or "Life is sacred" or "Resistance is futile."

Conformity to ethical norms is important to you - specifically other people's conformity to your ethical norms - in terms of a responsibility, obligation or commitment for all individuals, although you may be willing to consider exceptions in some particular circumstances, such as when it's you under the microscope. You are likely to suggest that with entitlement or privilege comes responsibility, and then turn around and blame those less moral people around you.

You will appeal to considerations of responsible character or integrity in others, preferring a consistent or standard practice of behaviour in order to avoid damage to social institutions such as the legal system, unless you or your lawyers can find a loophole or end-around.

However, you will want to see an adjusted case-by-case application of standards for the sake of fairness to all people, such as removing rights for detainees, spying on your own citizens or reducing awards for legitimate and extremely damaging malpractice cases. You are very likely to appeal to standards of individual or personal conscience, as well as of honour, dignity or integrity, and entice such people to approve of the reprehensible cronies you prefer to surround yourself with. You would have gotten that last .5 if it weren't for your penchant for fabricating survey results and not giving a f*ck.