According to Jonathan Haidt’s explanation of the Authority/Subversion foundation in The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion, this foundation “makes us sensitive to signs of rank or status, and to signs that other people are (or are not) behaving properly, given their position.”
In the fight for survival, groups organized around a hierarchy are more effective at competing against other groups. A flat organization is less effective than a hierarchical one. There is more debate and time spent finding consensus on what and how to do something, rather than a leader quickly deciding and directing subordinates to act. Haidt traces the evolution of groups through history from single-celled animals in the primordial past to the present’s multi-national corporations. With each additional layer of specialized responsibilities and command structure, the more complex groups are better able to use resources and control their environment than the less complex groups.
What behavior is proper depends on where someone is on the hierarchy. For most of human history, those with higher rank or status had a responsibility to protect those beneath them and support those above them. The feudal lord protected the peasants from bandits and invading forces in exchange for the peasants supporting the lord with food and taxes. Within traditional families, it’s the father’s job to protect his wife and children from harm and the wife’s and children’s duty to respect and follow the father’s direction. I believe the duty of protecting those below is now missing from many hierarchical relationships. I believe most corporation executives care for themselves, their stockholders, their customers, and perhaps for their employees, but employees are still expected to follow management’s orders or be fired.
Hierarchies are an intrinsic element in this foundation and those hierarchies can be very subjective. Below are what I believe are common subconscious hierarchies in those who are strongly influenced by this foundation.
| Religion | Skin Color/Race | Wealth | Age |
| Deity | White | Very Wealthy | Senior Citizens |
| Men | Yellow | Wealthy | Middle Aged |
| Women | Brown | Middle Class | Youths |
| Children | Black | Poor | Children |
| Animals | Very Poor |
When subordinates believe higher ups are no longer fulfilling their obligation to protect those below them, subversion by removing the higher up person or group becomes the moral thing to do. When an entire hierarchy system is no longer supporting those below, replacing or changing that system is the moral thing to do. From the perspective of those benefiting from the status quo, changing it is subversion.