Morality-as-Cooperation Theory in Iran: Validation of the Persian MAC-Q and a preliminary set of moral violation vignettes

Morality-as-Cooperation Theory (MAC) views moral values in terms of seven distinct domains presumably evolved to resolve conflicts in social interactions. This study aimed to examine reliability and validity of the Persian translation of Morality-as-Cooperation Questionnaire (N = 552) and a preliminary set of MAC violation vignettes (N = 342). External scales used for convergent validity of MAC-Q included Moral Foundations Questionnaire and Liberty items, Family Values Scale, Schwartz Values Scale, Social Dominance Orientation, and Virtues in Action Scale. Both correlated seven-factor and second-order individualizing-binding two-factor models showed good fit, particularly for separate Relevance and Judgement sections of the questionnaire. Alphas were generally higher for Relevance than Judgement subscales. The majority of MAC-Q, especially Judgement, subscales correlated significantly and most strongly with their corresponding external scales. Moreover, MAC-Q, especially Judgement, also made significant improvement over MFQ in predicting most external scales. In light of present findings, MAC-Q subscales most in need of enhancing internal consistency or content refinement are highlighted and discussed. Of the initial set of 27 vignettes developed to represent MAC violations in this study, 10 showed domain overlap as indicated by the wrongness reasons identified by respondents. Criterion validity of vignettes in predicting MAC-Q subscales was fairly satisfactory, though varying across moral domains and the two sets. Based on findings and drawing upon the recently proposed concept of moral molecules, we recommended two mini-sets of first-order and second-order moral vignettes to guide future attempts at vignette development for MAC domains.