Cross-Cultural Validation of the Morality-as-Cooperation Questionnaire in Brazil

Morality-As-Cooperation provides a framework for understanding how moral behaviors and values are rooted in cooperative social interactions – a fundamental aspect of human evolution. To advance our understanding of moral psychology, particularly to test whether MAC is a universally valid construct, it is important to examine it across different countries and cultures. The present investigation is among the first to extend this theory to Brazil. In Study 1 (N = 223), we translated, adapted, and validated the Morality-As-Cooperation Questionnaire for Brazilian Portuguese, assessing its structural validity, reliability, convergent validity, and measurement invariance with the original U.S. sample. Relevance showed good reliability and model fit, with strongest invariance support at the configural and metric levels under subscale-specific models; Judgment showed acceptable reliability but weaker and less stable properties. Additionally, an important and novel finding was that both subscales correlated moderately with dispositional gratitude, providing evidence of convergent validity while also suggesting a shared cooperative foundation linking moral evaluation and gratitude. In Study 2 (N = 590), we examined discriminant and concurrent validity using a Brazilian general population sample. Relevance again showed good reliability and strongest invariance support at the configural and metric levels across Brazilian and U.S. samples; Judgment showed acceptable reliability but persistent psychometric instability. Scalar and strict invariance received mixed or insufficient support. Together, these findings suggest that Morality-As-Cooperation offers a useful framework for studying morality in Brazil and beyond, although refinement of the Judgment subscale is needed to ensure robust cross-cultural applications.