Unmasking Outrage: The Moral Scale

Exploring how we measure moral outrage and why it matters

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It’s a strange feeling, realizing just how complex moral outrage can be. There’s this scale—the Moral Outrage Scale (MOS)—developed by Montada in 1989. It’s supposed to quantify an experience so human that it feels like it should resist numbers and metrics altogether. But that’s the thing: in psychology, breaking down emotions into measurable parts isn’t just helpful; it’s essential.

Let’s imagine a researcher, working late into the night, browsing through endless journals. Their task? To find the Moral Outrage Scale or at least a hint of the questionnaire Montada designed. Unfortunately, access remains an obstacle, even for those with institutional access. The MOS seems hidden away, like a relic lost to time—its structure, questions, and design almost as elusive as the very emotion it seeks to define.

What kind of questions could be on a moral outrage scale, anyway? Would it ask us to rate our anger toward injustice, or our feelings of contempt when people behave unethically? Maybe it would tap into the rage we feel toward systems and institutions that fail people. Thinking about this, it becomes clear that understanding this scale is more than just an academic exercise. The MOS could reveal much about our own emotional thresholds, the triggers for our outrage, and the moral convictions that shape our reactions to societal events.

In today’s world, moral outrage feels almost constant. From social media to news headlines, people have endless outlets for expressing moral anger. But here’s where it gets complicated. Not all moral outrage is created equal, and it’s not always productive. Sometimes, the same outrage that unites people can also turn toxic, reducing complex issues into soundbites and making enemies out of allies. The MOS, as abstract as it might seem, offers a lens into how moral outrage functions—not just in individuals but in society.

For those of us still in the dark about what the MOS really looks like, we can only guess at its structure. But one thing is certain: the scale invites questions about how we, as individuals and communities, grapple with justice, anger, and moral responsibility. Maybe one day, accessing it won’t be so hard. For now, it remains a mystery—a scale as elusive as the emotion it seeks to measure.