Exploring the state space of ideological possibility Matto Mildenberger Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies
29 March 2012 Waterloo Institute for Complexity and Innovation
1. Approaching the study of ideology II. Mapping the ideological state space III. The determinants of ideological attachment IV. Towards a theory of ideological change
Approaches to the study of ideology
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The rise and fall and rise of ideology Persistent divides:
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Causal vs. descriptive IV vs. DV Individual vs. Group
Conceptualizing an ideological “state space”
System of ideas, beliefs and values used in a community to understand, justify, or challenge its social, political, and economic arrangements.
One-dimensional state space
right
left
conservative
liberal
One-dimensional state space advocating for change
accepting social inequality
rejecting social inequality
resisting change
Jost 2009
Two-dimensional state space high harmony high grid high SDO high freedom tough-mindedness
low group conservatism low equality high RWA high security
fatalists dualists
hierarchs harmony-oriented
individualists security-oriented
egalitarians moral relativists
high group radicalism high equality low RWA low security
Rokeach 1973
low SDO low freedom tender-mindedness low harmony low grid
Eysenck 1954 Sibley & Duckitt 2008 Braithwaite 1997 Douglas 1970
Two-dimensional state space
Inglehart 2010
Multi-dimensional state space
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Moral foundations theory (Haidt 2012)
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harm/care fairness/reciprocity
low binding high freedom
ingroup/loyalty libertarianism
secular liberals
authority/respect
high individuating high equality
purity/sanctity liberty/oppression
social conservatism
religious left
Multi-dimensional state space
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Cultural dimensions theory (Hofstede 2001)
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power distance (degree of social inequality) uncertainty avoidance individualism vs. collectivism masculinity vs. femininity long-term vs. short-term orientation + indulgence vs. restraint
On the nature of dimensions
• bivariate vs. bipolar • “criterial referents” (Kerlinger 1967) • cognitive predispositions • symmetry vs. asymmetry • do ideologies have dimensional structure?
Determinants of ideological attachment
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Genetic Physiological Psychological
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Cognition & Affect
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Positive predictors of conservatism: death anxiety, system instability, intolerance of ambiguity, fear of threat (Jost 2003)
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Negative predictors: openness to experience, uncertainty tolerance, needs for order structure and closure, integrative complexity
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Morality
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Personality
Determinants of ideological attachment
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Genetic Physiological Psychological Material Social Political
Towards a theory of ideological change
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Cross-scale theories of ideological attachment
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Elective affinities (top down vs. bottom up) Three level account of personality
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Level 1: dispositional traits (decontextualized biological and psychological factors, from genetics to personality)
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Level 2: characteristic adaptations (including goals, values and context-sensitive traits)
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Level 3: narrative identities (ideologies)
Migration through the ideological state space • • •
Induced changes by threat, mortality, uncertainty Ideological persistence The effects of “new” dimensions
For a draft copy of the report, contact: matto.mildenberger@yale.edu