Values & Ideology

POLSCI 240 / PSY 225: Political Psychology

February 5, 2025

The roots of ideological structure

Source

(At least) Two dimensions

It is common to point to two or more distinct dimensions of ideology, for example:

Economic

traditional left vs right
big vs small govt
redistribution, social welfare programs
regulation of business

Social (or cultural)

the “culture wars”
newer, lifestyle issues
sexuality, gender, religion, race
perhaps also immigration, environment

Example

Survey data of opinions on government-provided health insurance, minimum wage, taxes on wealthy, gay marriage, and abortion

How highly are they correlated with one another?

             Insurance Minimum Wage Taxes Gay marriage Abortion
Insurance         1.00         0.33  0.34         0.18     0.29
Minimum Wage      0.33         1.00  0.43         0.20     0.21
Taxes             0.34         0.43  1.00         0.21     0.20
Gay marriage      0.18         0.20  0.21         1.00     0.42
Abortion          0.29         0.21  0.20         0.42     1.00

What are these “dimensions”?

Specific policy attitudes are rooted in more abstract political values
- e.g., min wage and taxes both shaped by broader beliefs about “economic” policy such as size of government
Correlations among policy attitudes because they share origins in abstract values
- Issues that share origins (e.g., “economic” vs “racial”) are more highly correlated

Psychological theories of two-dimensional structure

Political observers often point to two primary dimensions of conflict: “economic” and “social”

Why is this 2-dimensional structure so prevalent?
One theory is that it reflects a deeper fact about the structure of human values
- There are two main dimensions of political conflict, because there are two main dimensions of human values

Schwartz value theory

Source

Connections with personality

Conservation values (over openness to change)

See world as dangerous and threatening
Low openness to experience (Big 5; e.g., imagination, curiosity, adventure)
Develop values emphasizing security and conformity

Self-enhancement values (over self-transcendence)

See world as “competitive jungle”, zero-sum, “dog-eat-dog”
Low agreeableness (Big 5; e.g., altruism, trust, modesty)
Develop values emphasizing power and achievement

Connections with personality

Openness to change values (over conservation)

See world as safe
High openness to experience (Big 5; e.g., imagination, curiosity, adventure)
Develop values emphasizing self-direction and stimulation

Self-transcendence values (over self-enhancement)

See world as cooperative, positive-sum
High agreeableness (Big 5; e.g., altruism, trust, modesty)
Develop values emphasizing benevolence, universalism

Schwartz (refined) value theory

Schwartz et al. (2012)

Where are most people?