His early research radically transformed the field, pulling it away from its earlier focus on moral reasoning. Haidt showed that moral intuitions and emotions come first—flashes of gut feelings that people then strive to justify, after the fact. This explains why it is so difficult to win a moral argument with good reasoning. Haidt’s research has helped people to understand those who differ from them morally—not just across nations, but across the political divide within each nation (see www.CivilPolitics.org). In his latest work, he is applying his research on moral psychology to the study of business ethics. He is developing tools and techniques that leaders can use to improve the ethical functioning, trust and ultimately profitability of their companies (see www.EthicalSystems.org).