Universals in the content and structure of values: theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries (Schwartz, 1992:
Values are abstract concepts about ideal ways of living and end-states that act as guiding principles in people's lives.
From values to behavior and from behavior to values." In Values and behavior: Taking a cross cultural perspective (Ronald Fisher, 2017):
Personal values are cognitive representations of abstract, desirable motivational goals that guide the way individuals select actions, evaluate people and events, and explain their actions and evaluations.
Values as Heuristics: Core Beliefs and Voter Sophistication in the 2000 Republican Nomination Contest. (Marietta & Barker, 2007):.
Values refer to what is good and worthy…[It’s out position that] individual voters employ values as a heuristic to choose the candidate whose predispositions are closest to their own regardless of their level of political sophistication. M. Marietta 7 D.C. Barker
Values, framing, and citizens’ thoughts about policy issues: Effects on content and quantity. ( Brewer & Gross, 2005)
Politicians and political activists often attempt to define—or frame—issues in terms of values (e.g., equality, compassion) that are widely cherished among the public. In some cases, two opposing sides in a political controversy may even invoke the same value. Within the American political context, for example, both supporters and opponents of affirmative action have framed their favored course of act ion as promoting equality.
AI Response to Query: Can the same policy reflect different values?
The exact same policy can easily reflect—or be interpreted to have—different values depending on the context, the stakeholders involved, and how it is applied. Ultimately, this means that the same intent—such as the desire to improve public safety, education, or the economy—requires robust, transparent debate to determine the most effective route forward.
AI Response to Query: How are political leanings and values related?
Political leanings are frameworks of moral, social, and economic values that shape how individuals believe society should be governed. These ideologies generally fall along a multi-axis spectrum—often defined by the balance between social equality versus hierarchy, and individual liberty versus state control.
Behind the Science: When Left and Right Agree about Who Deserves Government Benefits (Exploring the Problem Space, 2019)
Imagine you’re a study participant, in which the researchers present you with descriptions of various government benefit recipients, each description followed by the question, “Should this person be required to do more to continue receiving benefits, such as look for work or get job training?” You will also be asked how you feel about each recipient, especially if you feel anger or compassion.
If you’re assigned to the control condition, the descriptions will be vague:
A young man
A woman in her fifties
An old man
A man who receives social welfare benefits.
If you’re assigned to a “treatment” condition, the descriptions will include additional details:
A young man who could get a job if he wanted to
A woman in her fifties with a work-related injury
An old man who has been in the labour market all his life
A man who receives social welfare benefits. He has never had a regular job, but he is fit and healthy. He is not motivated to get a job.
A man who receives social welfare benefits. He has always had a regular job, but has now been the victim of a work-related injury. He is very motivated to get back to work again.
Similar studies were done in Denmark and the US. Despite differences in political culture, Danish and American participants weren’t all that different in their responses. Here are some findings:
Participants’ political leanings influenced their responses only when descriptions of welfare recipients were vague, in which case:
Leftward-leaning participants reported more compassion towards welfare recipients and were less likely to require they do more in order to continue receiving their benefits
Rightward-leaning participants reported more anger towards recipients and were more likely to require they do more to continue receiving benefits.
When provided with detailed descriptions of welfare recipients and regardless of political leanings, participants reported:
Anger at individuals depicted as physically fit but unmotivated to work.
Compassion towards those perceived as unlucky, e.g., if they suffered a work injury..
Compassion for individuals who had already worked for a good portion of their adult lives or were motivated to work.
Regardless of political leaning, participants who reported anger at individual recipients were more likely to endorse stricter requirements for continuation of their benefits.
We default to political bias in the absence of detailed information. But when adequately informed, we react in very similar ways. Perhaps that’s why “fake news” and “fact-checking” are so important these days: control the details people are exposed to and you control their emotions and opinions.
From me, right now:
Core values are default values that people rely on to make decisions and to guide behavior in the absence of detailed information. But default values aren’t enough to govern wisely, nor are they enough to know what a good policy or politician looks like.
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References:
Aarøe, L. and M. B. Petersen (2014). Cues Crowding Out Culture: Scandinavians and Americans Agree on Social Welfare in the Face of Deservingness The Journal of Politics 76(3): 684-697.
Brewer, Paul R., and Kimberly Gross. "Values, framing, and citizens’ thoughts about policy issues: Effects on content and quantity." Political Psychology 26, no. 6 (2005): 929-948. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2005.00451.x
Fischer, Ronald. "From values to behavior and from behavior to values." In Values and behavior: Taking a cross cultural perspective” pp. 219-235. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-56352-7
Marietta, M., & Barker, D. C. (2007). Values as Heuristics: Core Beliefs and Voter Sophistication in the 2000 Republican Nomination Contest. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties, 17(1), 49–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/13689880601132554
Petersen et al (2011) Deservingness versus values in public opinion on welfare: The automaticity of the deservingness heuristic. European Journal of Political Research, 50: 24-52.
Schwartz S. H. (1992). Universals in the content and structure of values: theoretical advances and empirical tests in 20 countries. Adv. Exp. Soc. Psychol. 25, 1–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6