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Jonathan Haidt

Jonathan Haidt Quotes

Psychologist

Jonathan Haidt is an American psychologist known for his research in moral psychology and social psychology. His work focuses on moral judgment, political ideology, and religious beliefs. Haidt's book, 'The Righteous Mind,' explores the evolution of morality and ideology and how they shape human behavior and social structures.

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Famous Jonathan Haidt Quotes

“. . . decades of research on public opinion have led to the conclusion that self-interest is a weak predictor of policy preferences . . . Rather, people care about their GROUPS, whether those be racial, regional, religious, or political . . . Political opinions function as "badges of social membership." They're like the array of bumper stickers people put on their cars showing the political causes, universities, and sports teams they support. Our politics is groupish, not selfish.”

Politics Groups Policy Social Psychology Political Opinion

Author:Jonathan Haidt

“Morality binds people into groups. It gives us tribalism, it gives us genocide, war, and politics. But it also gives us heroism, altruism, and sainthood.”

People Giving War Groups Morality Genocide Heroism Altruism Tribalism Sainthood

Author:Jonathan Haidt

“The word religion literally means, in Latin, to link or bind together; and despite the vast variation in the world's religions, Wilson shows that religions always serve to coordinate and orient people's behavior toward each other and toward the group as a whole, sometimes for the purpose of competing with other groups.”

People World Mean Sometimes Whole Shows Together Purpose Groups Behavior Despite Latin Links Competing Variation Wilson Coordinates

Book:The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

Source: The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

“The extreme self-sacrifice characteristic of group-selected species such as ants and bees can often be found among soldiers.”

Self Found Sacrifice Groups Species Soldier Extremes Characteristics Bees Ants Self Sacrifice Selected Often Is

Author:Jonathan Haidt

“[W]hen a group of people make something sacred, the members of the cult lose the ability to think clearly about it. Morality binds and blinds.”

People Thinking Loses Ability Groups Morality Members Sacred Cult Hens

Book:The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Source: The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

“But the most important lesson I have learned in my twenty years or research on morality is that nearly all people are morally motivated. Selfishness is a powerful force, particularly in the decisions of individuals, but whenever groups of people come together to make a sustained effort to change the world, you can bet that they are pursuing a vision of virtue, justice, or sacredness.”

Source: The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

“Groups create supernatural beings not to explain the universe but to order their societies.”

Order Universe Groups Supernatural Beings

Book:The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Source: The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

“I did say that in-group, authority and purity are necessary for the maintenance of order, but I would never give them a blanket endorsement.”

Giving Order Groups Authority Purity Blanket Maintenance Endorsements

Author:Jonathan Haidt

“Our moral sense really evolved to bind groups together into teams that can cooperate in order to compete with other teams.”

Together Order Moral Groups Team

Author:Jonathan Haidt

“Dividing into teams doesn't necessarily mean denigrating others. Studies of groupishness have generally found that groups increase in-group love far more than they increase out-group hostility.”

Mean Found Study Groups Team Increase Hostility Dividing

Author:Jonathan Haidt

“In accounts of men in battle, there is an incredible adrenaline rush from group-versus-group conflict. The fervor and passion of partisans is clearly rewarding; and if it's rewarding, it involves dopamine; and if it involves dopamine, then it is potentially addictive.”

Ifs Men Passion Groups Battle Conflict Accounts Incredibles Versus Partisans Adrenaline Dopamine Fervor Adrenaline Rush

Author:Jonathan Haidt