Liberalism, Conservatism - Human Psychology - Lecture Slides, Slides of Psychology

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Ideology:

L i ber al i sm, conser vati sm, and the dar ker si de of pol i ti cs

Ideology

• A set of beliefs, attitudes, ideas, values

etc.

– Politics, religion, and other social attitudes.

• A meaningful predictor!

– eg: Have sports-related décor in your

bedroom? Like classical music? Enjoy getting

drunk?

Liberalism vs. Conservatism

• Left-Right distinction:

– 1789 French Legislative Assembly

• Left-wingers (liberals) : progressive,

egalitarian

• Right-wingers (conservatives) : traditional,

religious, supportive of the status quo

Ideology & The Big 5

• Ideology typically predicted by Openness and Conscientiousness; to a lesser extent, Agreeableness.
• Carney et al. (in press):

The Plan

1. Background

 Liberalism vs. Conservatism  Ideology and the Big Five

2. The Dark Side: RWA & SDO

 Theory: Altemeyer’s RWA, Sidanius & Pratto’s SDO  Cohrs et al. (2005a): Values and Post 9/11 attitudes  Cohrs et al. (2005b): Support for war  Altemeyer (2004): The Double Highs

3. Are there more factors?

 Saucier (2000): Isms & the structure of social attitudes

4. Conclusions & directions for future research

T H E D ARK SI D E: RWA &

SD O

Social Dominance Orientation (SDO)

Pratto, Sidanius, Stallworth, & Malle

 Hierarchy vs. Equality

 e.g., “some groups of people are

simply inferior to other groups.”

 r = ~.20 with RWA.

 Politically conservative, but not

religious.

The Plan

1. Background

 Liberalism vs. Conservatism  Ideology and the Big Five

2. The Dark Side: RWA & SDO

 Theory: Altemeyer’s RWA, Sidanius & Pratto’s SDO  Cohrs et al. (2005a): Values and Post 9/11 attitudes  Cohrs et al. (2005b): Support for war  Altemeyer (2004): The Double Highs

3. Are there more factors?

 Saucier (2000): Isms & the structure of social attitudes

4. Conclusions & directions for future research

Cohrs et al. (2005a) Post 9/11 Attitudes (cont’d)

Proposed motivational goals:

• RWA: social control and security

(vs. autonomy and individual freedom).

• Threat-based motivation
• SDO: superiority, power, and dominance

(vs. egalitarian concern for others).

• Cold-hearted motivation

Cohrs et al. (2005a) Post 9/11 Attitudes (cont’d)

Value Hypotheses:

RWA will be related to conservation values.

SDO will be related to self-enhancement values.

Post 9-11 Attitude Hypotheses:

RWA will predict fearful attitudes towards Islam.

SDO will predict lack of concern for negative

consequences of war.

RWA and SDO will equally predict:

General stereotypical attitudes towards Islam. General support for military response to Sept. 11.

Cohrs et al. (2005a) Post 9/11 Attitudes (cont’d)

Summary & Conclusions:

• RWA, not SDO  conservation values and

threat-related prejudice towards Islam.

• But overlap!
  • RWA and SDO predicted self-enhancement (vs.

self-transcendence) values and lack of concern for

human costs.

• Note: RWA, SDO r = .56 (p < .001).

The Plan

1. Background

Liberalism vs. Conservatism Ideology and the Big Five

2. The Dark Side: RWA & SDO

Theory: Altemeyer’s RWA, Sidanius & Pratto’s SDO Cohrs et al. (2005a): Values and Post 9/11 attitudes Cohrs et al. (2005b): Support for war Altemeyer (2004): The Double Highs

3. Are there more factors?

Saucier (2000): Isms & the structure of social attitudes

4. Conclusions & directions for future research

Cohrs et al. (2005b) Support for War (cont’d)

Hypotheses:

1. Self-enhancement and conservation values will affect attitudes

towards war.

2. Mediational model 1:

• Conservation values  RWA  militaristic attitudes
• Self-enhancement values  SDO  militaristic attitudes

3. Mediational model 2:

• Conservation values  threat perceptions  militaristic attitudes
• Self-enhancement values  low concern for human costs  militaristic attitudes

Cohrs et al. (2005b) Support for War (cont’d)

Study 1 (Mediational model 1)

• Participants: N = 1,548 (14 -75 yrs, M = 30.53 yrs. 50/50 men & women)
• Measures:
  • German translations of the Schwartz PVQ, RWA, SDO.
  • Dependent variables:
    • Generalized militaristic attitudes (10 items; e.g., “War is an indispensable means to solve international conflicts”)
    • Attitude towards the Kosovo War (2 items; e.g., “In my opinion it was wrong of NATO to intervene militarily in Kosovo in 1999”)
    • Attitude towards the Afghanistan War (3 items; e.g., “There should be military actions against those immediately responsible.”)