When you think about your boss, do you have positive or negative emotions? How about when you consider the reality of a hierarchy at your workplace or social institution? In general, do you think that hierarchies and their resulting authority structures are good and helpful, or do you see them as something to be bucked against?

The next moral foundation that Jonathan Haidt lays out in his text, The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion, is authority/subversion. This moral foundation is rooted in our innate development of social and other hierarchies. On one side of this spectrum is the authority of those in hierarchical leadership positions; on the other are those who seek to subvert those structures. This moral foundation originally arose from people seeking to develop helpful relationships within the hierarchies they found themselves in.

Consider a small town in the distant past. The town’s lord, who owned the land, had a responsibility to care for the people living on it. When he exercised his authority properly and well, those people would submit to his authority and trust his care. However, if the lord was uncaring and exploitative, the resulting suffering of the people under his charge would lead to all sorts of subversions.

We see this authority/subversion foundation embedded in small things, like how we speak to elders. Growing up, I always referred to adults as “Mr.” or “Mrs. Last Name.” Perhaps you did too. Adults who were connected to our family through more intimate relationships often gained the title “Aunt” or “Uncle,” even if they weren’t blood-related. Why? It was a display of respect and endearment for an adult who was in authority over me within our family hierarchy.

Let’s think back to the opening questions. How do you respond when you think about authority? I typically have a negative reaction, unless the authority has in some way earned my respect. I’m guessing that for many of us, this is the norm.

Many people think of authority only in terms of power. That is, there’s an immediate jump from recognizing some authority to assuming they will use their authority to benefit themselves, as opposed to caring for those under them.

Haidt argues that those on the left side of the political spectrum tend toward the subversion of authority, while folks on the right side tend toward the authority side. We live in a world of hierarchies with all kinds of resulting authority structures. This means that those on the right typically carry a characteristic sense of respect toward authority, whereas those on the left typically present with a sense of fear toward those in authority.

When we relate to the various hierarchies of authority in our world in such different ways, it’s not surprising to see gulfs widening between people. If you are someone who embraces the moral foundation of authority, you perceive those who are subversive as disrespectful and morally inferior. If you tend toward subversion of authority, you will experience those who respect authority as immorally uncaring and without empathy for those not in beneficial relationships with authority. The kicker here, though, is that these roles will likely reverse when a preferred authority rises in the hierarchy.

When I engage in conversation with people, I try to identify their placement on this spectrum. It’s helpful to know if they are carrying a sense of subversive fear or submissive respect. In doing so, I can try to meet them where they are on particular topics. I have identified in myself a sense of subversive fear. I tend to see the worst in any and all authority. I assume that they are seeking to only benefit themselves (at best) or are seeking to do me harm (at worst).

How about you? Where do you find yourself on this spectrum of moral foundation?