Formed

Moral standards are formed or founded by the autonomy of good reason and not by its being endorsed by authority persons or leaders. Good reason means sound or logical so that the moral standards it independently establishes should be backed supported by adequate and sound reasoning.  For rules to be moral standards, it should not be because an authority figure validates it so but because they are beyond question. An authority figure can be powerful or dominant because of position, influence, money, information, connections or friends but it does not suffice.