Abstract
Moral differences contribute to social and political conflicts. Against this backdrop, colleges and universities have been criticized for promoting liberal moral attitudes. However, direct evidence for these claims is sparse, and suggestive evidence from studies of political attitudes is inconclusive. Using four waves of data from the National Study of Youth and Religion, we examine the effects of higher education on attitudes related to three dimensions of morality that have been identified as central to conflict: moral relativism, concern for others, and concern for social order. Our results indicate that higher education liberalizes moral concerns for most students, but it also departs from the standard liberal profile by promoting moral absolutism rather than relativism. These effects are strongest for individuals majoring in the humanities, arts, or social sciences, and for students pursuing graduate studies. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of our results for work on political conflict and moral socialization.
Highlights
Between 2015 and 2019, the number of Republicans who believe higher education has a negative effect on the United States increased by 22 percent (Parker 2019)
In contrast—and contrary to early conservative critiques—higher educational attainment is associated with less moral relativism, especially for individuals majoring in STEM or HASS fields
The first line gives the predicted moral progressivism, moral relativism, and concern for social order for a hypothetical average individual who does not enroll in higher education
Summary
Between 2015 and 2019, the number of Republicans who believe higher education has a negative effect on the United States increased by 22 percent (Parker 2019). Allan Bloom attacked universities for spreading a corrosive moral relativism in his best-selling The Closing of the American Mind (1987) Claims such as these have motivated a substantial body of research aimed at assessing the extent to which colleges and universities shape political attitudes and identities and have fueled larger concerns over cultural conflict in the United States (Campbell and Horowitz 2016; Elchardus and Spruyt 2009; Hunter 1991; Newcomb 1943; Strother et al 2020). Efforts to prove or disprove the existence of a culture “war” often distract from a fundamental and socially significant claim of culture war theories: that moral differences are at the heart of many social and political conflicts
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