Jonathan Haidt | |
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.jpg) Haidt in 2012 | |
| Born | (1963-10-19)October 19, 1963 (age 62) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | |
| Known for | |
| Notable work |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Social psychology Moral psychology |
| Institutions | University of Chicago University of Virginia New York University |
| Thesis | Moral Judgment, Affect, and Culture: Or, Is It Wrong to Eat Your Dog? (1992) |
| Doctoral advisor | Jonathan Baron Alan Fiske |
| Website | Official website |
Jonathan David Haidt (/haɪt/; born October 19, 1963) is an Americansocial psychologist and author. He is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at theNew York University Stern School of Business.[1] Haidt's main areas of study are thepsychology of morality andmoral emotions.[2]
Haidt's main scientific contributions come from the psychological field ofmoral foundations theory,[3] which attempts to explain the evolutionary origins of humanmoral reasoning on the basis of innate, gut feelings rather than logic and reason.[4] The theory was later extended to explain the different moral reasoning and how they relate to political ideology, with different political orientations prioritizing different sets of morals.[5] The research served as a foundation for future books on various topics.
Haidt has written multiple books for general audiences, includingThe Happiness Hypothesis (2006) examining the relationship between ancient philosophies and modern science,[6]The Righteous Mind (2012) on moral politics,[7] andThe Coddling of the American Mind (2018) on rising political polarization, mental health, and college culture. In 2024, he publishedThe Anxious Generation, arguing that the rise of smartphones and overprotective parenting has led to a "rewiring" of childhood and increased mental illness.
Haidt was born to a secularJewish family and was raised inScarsdale, New York. His grandparents were Russian and Polish natives who immigrated as teenagers to the United States, where they becamegarment workers.[8] Haidt described his upbringing as "very assimilated", identifying as anatheist by age 15.[9] His father, anAshkenazi Jew,[10] was acorporate lawyer. The family generally wereNew Deal liberals.[11]
At age 17, Haidt recalled that he experienced anexistential crisis upon readingWaiting for Godot and existential literature.[10] After attendingScarsdale High School, he was educated atYale University, graduatingmagna cum laude in 1985 with aBachelor of Arts in philosophy, then briefly held a job as acomputer programmer before pursuing graduate studies in psychology at theUniversity of Pennsylvania,[12] where he received aMaster of Arts andPhD in the field in 1988 and 1992, respectively, on a graduate fellowship awarded by theNational Science Foundation.[13] His dissertation was titled "Moral judgment, affect, and culture, or, is it wrong to eat your dog?" and was supervised by psychologistsJonathan Baron andAlan Fiske.[14] Inspired by anthropologistPaul Rozin, Haidt wrote his thesis on the morality of harmless but disgusting acts.[15]
From July 1992 to June 1994, Haidt was anNIMHpostdoctoral fellow at theUniversity of Chicago, where he studiedcultural psychology under the supervision of cultural anthropologistRichard Shweder.[14] Haidt called Shweder "the teacher that most affected me".[13] At Shweder's suggestion, Haidt researched moral complexity inBhubaneswar, India,[16] where he conducted field studies and "encountered a society in some ways patriarchal, sexist and illiberal".[11] From July 1994 to August 1995, he was a postdoctoral associate with theMacArthur Foundation under psychologistJudith Rodin.[14]
In August 1995, Haidt became anassistant professor at theUniversity of Virginia (UVA), where he was eventually named anassociate professor in August 2001, then a full professor of the university's psychology department in August 2009.[14] He remained at Virginia until 2011, winning four awards for teaching,[a] including a statewide award conferred by GovernorMark Warner.[17] Haidt also earned a reputation for challenging the general assumptions in moral psychology.[15] His research, centered on the emotional origins of morality with particular focus on the emotions of disgust andelevation, led to the publication ofThe Happiness Hypothesis in 2006.[18]
In 1999, Haidt became active in the new field ofpositive psychology, studying positive moral emotions.[19] This work led to the publication of an edited volume,Flourishing, in 2003. In 2004, Haidt began to apply moral psychology to the study of politics, doing research on the psychological foundations ofideology. This work led to the publication in 2012 ofThe Righteous Mind. Haidt spent the 2007–2008 academic year atPrinceton University as the Visiting Professor for Distinguished Teaching.[20] In July 2010, he delivered a talk at theEdge Foundation on the new advances in moral psychology.[21]
In 2011, Haidt moved toNew York University's Stern School of Business as the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership, relocating to New York City with his wife, Jayne, and two children.[11] In 2013, he co-founded Ethical Systems, a non-profit organization which makes academic research on ethics more easily available to businesses.[22] In 2015, Haidt co-foundedHeterodox Academy, a non-profit organization that works to increaseviewpoint diversity, mutual understanding, and productive disagreement.[23][self-published source] In 2018, Haidt andRichard Reeves co-edited an illustrated edition ofJohn Stuart Mill'sOn Liberty, titledAll Minus One: John Stuart Mill's Ideas on Free Speech Illustrated (illustrated by Dave Cicirelli). Haidt's current research applies moral psychology tobusiness ethics.[1]
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Haidt's research on morality has led to publications and theoretical advances in four key areas.[24]
Together withPaul Rozin andClark McCauley, Haidt developed the Disgust Scale,[25] which has been widely used to measure individual differences in sensitivity todisgust.[25] Haidt, McCauley and Rozin have written on the psychology of disgust as an emotion that began as a guardian of the mouth (against pathogens), but then expanded during biological and cultural evolution to become a guardian of the body more generally, and of the social and moral order.[26]
With Sara Algoe, Haidt argued that exposure to stories about moral beauty (the opposite of moral disgust) cause a common set of responses, including warm, loving feelings, calmness, and a desire to become a better person.[27] Haidt called the emotionmoral elevation,[28] as a tribute toThomas Jefferson, who had described the emotion in detail in a letter discussing the benefits of reading great literature.[29] Feelings of moral elevation cause increases in milk produced during lactation in breastfeeding mothers,[30] suggesting the involvement of the hormoneoxytocin.[31]
Haidt's principal line of research has been on the nature and mechanisms of moral judgment. In the 1990s, he developed thesocial intuitionist model, which posits that moral judgment is mostly based on automatic processes—moral intuitions—rather than on conscious reasoning.[32] People engage in reasoning largely to find evidence to support their initial intuitions. Haidt's main paper on the social intuitionist model, "The Emotional Dog and its Rational Tail", has been cited over 7,800 times.[33]
In 2004, Haidt began to extend the social intuitionist model to identify what he considered to be the most important categories of moral intuition.[34] The resultingmoral foundations theory, co-developed with Craig Joseph and Jesse Graham, and based in part on the writings ofRichard Shweder, was intended to explain cross-cultural differences in morality. The theory posited that there are at least five innate moral foundations, upon which cultures develop their various moralities, just as there are five innatetaste receptors on the tongue, which cultures have used to create many different cuisines. The five values are:[35]
Haidt and his collaborators asserted that the theory also works well to explain political differences. According to Haidt,liberals tend to endorse primarily the care and fairness foundations, whereas conservatives tend to endorse all foundations more equally.[35] Later, inThe Righteous Mind, a sixth foundation,Liberty/oppression, was presented. More recently, Haidt and colleagues split the fairness foundation into equality (which liberals tend to endorse strongly) and proportionality (which conservatives tend to endorse strongly). In this work, they also developed the new revised Moral Foundations Questionnaire-2 which has 36 items, measuring Care, Equality, Proportionality, Loyalty, Authority, and Purity.[36] He has also made the case for Ownership to be an additional foundation.[37]
One widely cited metaphor throughout Haidt's books is that of the elephant and the rider. His observations ofsocial intuitionism, the notion that intuitions come first and rationalization second, led to the metaphor described in his work.[38] The rider represents consciously controlled processes, and the elephant represents automatic processes. The metaphor corresponds to Systems 1 and 2 described inDaniel Kahneman'sThinking, Fast and Slow.[39] This metaphor is used extensively in bothThe Happiness Hypothesis andThe Righteous Mind.
Haidt has referred to himself as apolitical centrist.[40][41] He has participated in efforts to reducepolitical polarization in the United States.[42] In 2007, he founded the websiteCivilPolitics.org, a clearinghouse for research on political civility.[7]
In a 2011Ted talk, Haidt argued that liberals and conservatives differ in their value systems and that disciplines like psychology have biases against conservative viewpoints.[43]
In 2019, Haidt argued that there is a "very good chance American democracy will fail, that in the next 30 years we will have a catastrophic failure of our democracy".[44]
 | This sectionmay beunbalanced towards certain viewpoints. Please helpimprove it by adding information on neglected viewpoints. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page.(July 2025) |
Haidt was named one of the "top global thinkers" byForeign Policy magazine in 2012, and one of the "top world thinkers" byProspect magazine in 2013.[45][46]
Although describing himself in 2007 as an atheist,[47] Haidt argued at that time that religion contains psychological wisdom that can promote human flourishing, and that theNew Atheists have themselves succumbed to moralisticdogma.[47][needs update] These contentions elicited a variety of responses in a 2007 online debate sponsored by the websiteEdge;PZ Myers praised the first part of Haidt's essay while disagreeing with his criticism of the New Atheists;Sam Harris criticized Haidt for his perceived obfuscation of harms caused by religion;Michael Shermer praised Haidt; and biologistDavid Sloan Wilson joined Haidt in criticizing the New Atheists for dismissing the notion that religion is an evolutionary adaptation.[47]
David Mikics ofTablet magazine profiled Haidt as "the high priest ofheterodoxy" and praised his work to increase intellectual diversity at universities throughHeterodox Academy.[48]
In 2020,Peter Wehner wrote inThe Atlantic, "Over the past decade, no one has added more to my understanding of how we think about, discuss, and debate politics and religion than Jonathan Haidt." He added that, "In his own field, in his own way, Jonathan Haidt is trying to heal our divisions and temper some of the hate, to increase our wisdom and understanding, and to urge us to show a bit more compassion toward one another."[49]
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom (2006) draws on ancient philosophical ideas in light of contemporary scientific research to extract potential lessons and how they may apply to everyday life.[50] The book poses "ten Great Ideas" on happiness espoused by philosophers and thinkers of the past –Plato,Marcus Aurelius,Buddha,Jesus, and others – and then considers what modern scientific research has to say regarding these ideas.[51]
The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion (2012) draws on Haidt's previous research onmoral foundations theory. It argues that moral judgments arise not from logical reason, but from gut feelings, asserting that liberals, conservatives, and libertarians have different intuitions about right and wrong because they prioritize different values.
The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure (2018), co-written withGreg Lukianoff, expands on an essay the authors wrote forThe Atlantic in 2015.[52] The book explores the rising political polarization and changing culture on college campuses and its effects on mental health. It also explores changes in childhood, including the rise of "fearful parenting", the decline of unsupervised play, and the effects of social media in the last decade.[53]
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (2024) examines the impact of modern technology and parenting trends on children's mental health. Haidt posits that two major factors have contributed to a significant shift in childhood experiences and a subsequent increase in mental health issues among young people: The widespread adoption ofsmartphones and the rise ofoverprotective parenting styles. He suggests that these factors have fundamentally altered how children grow up, leading to what he terms a "rewiring" of childhood. He argues that this transformation began late in the first decade of the 2000s and has had detrimental effects on children's well-being.[54]
A review ofThe Anxious Generation by journalistsMichael Hobbes andPeter Shamshiri on theIf Books Could Kill podcast purported that many of its cited studies are methodologically weak, and do not support the claims Haidt makes in the book.[55][full citation needed]
Media related toJonathan Haidt at Wikimedia Commons
