Drawing on Moral Foundations Theory, we explore how violations of moral values (e.g., care, fairness, loyalty, authority, purity, and liberty) drive change resistance through negative emotions such as anger, contempt, and disgust (the CAD triad). We hypothesize that negative emotions lead to more resistance when moral values are violated but less resistance when perceived values are met or exceeded. We tested this hypothesis with a multi-source survey of 166 employees, using the "Too Little/Too Much" scale to measure perceptions of moral values in organizational changes. Our analysis revealed that the negative effect of moral value violations on resistance weakens as the perceived moral value increases. Notably, while most values only trigger resistance when violated, care leads to resistance even when perceived as "just right." To reduce resistance, care perceptions should exceed the "just right" level, unlike other values. This research underscores the importance of perceived morality in organizational changes and the role of moral emotions in shaping resistance.
