Musa Malik, Kylie Falcione, Brittany Wheeler, and Rene Weber’s study The ecological determinants of morality: A global analysis of news media content has been awarded Top Paper at the 8th meeting of the Moral Media (2025) conference, held in Buffalo, NY.
Abstract. This study examines the influence of ecological factors on representations of morality in global news media. Using Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) and the extended Moral Foundations Dictionary (eMFD), we analyze textual data from the Global Database of Event, Language, and Tone (GDELT) to assess how climate, resource availability, parasite stress, disaster impacts, and population density shape moral language across cultures. We included a total of 15,068,000 records from 200 territories across 1,369 unique dates, spanning from June 15, 2020, to August 31, 2024 in our analysis. Findings show that higher daily temperatures are associated with reduced use of both individualizing and binding moral language, with this effect more pronounced in historically warmer regions. Elevated precipitation is associated with decreased emphasis on binding moral foundations. Additionally, increased disaster-related injuries amplify both individualizing and binding moral expressions, while high population density uniquely heightens the emphasis on binding foundations. Altogether, we believe our findings contribute to the emerging literature on ecological determinants of morality, offering future research an empirical foundation for understanding how ecological contexts shape global moral narratives.