1. Basic personal values and vote choice in 20 European countries.
- Author
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Lönnqvist, Jan-Erik and Ilmarinen, Ville
- Subjects
- *
POLITICAL psychology , *VALUES (Ethics) , *POPULIST parties (Politics) , *PERSONALLY identifiable information ,WESTERN countries - Abstract
Employing European Social Survey data (ESS Round 7) from 20 countries (N = 20,464), we tested several pre-registered hypotheses regarding the associations between basic personal values—as conceptualized by Schwartz' Values Theory—and vote choice in national elections. To operationalize vote choice, we relied on the Chapel Hill Experts Survey for expert ratings of party positioning on ideology, policy, and populism. Personal values, and particularly universalism, were associated with the cultural gal-tan (green-alternative-liberal vs. traditional-authoritarian-nationalist) dimension (8% shared variance) and the economic left-right dimension (4% shared variance). The associations with gal-tan were even stronger when the dimension was salient in the party agenda. Associations between specific policy positions (e.g., multiculturalism, redistribution) and values were very similar to those between values and ideology. Voting populist was weakly associated with lower universalism and higher security (1% shared variance). The associations were generally stronger among the more educated and in western European countries. Our results suggest that Universalism values could help explain why the "left" and the "gal" poles tend to go together and are also more generally consistent with accounts of political conflict and cleavage centered around cultural issues and rooted in values. Plain language summary: Basic personal values are broad desirable goals that motivate people's action and serve as guiding principles in their lives. To date, there has not been much research on how values relate to voting behavior. Employing data on personal values and expert ratings of the ideologies and policies of the parties for which one has voted, we show in 20 European countries (20,464 participants) that personal values, and particularly universalism; that is, caring for the welfare of all people, were associated with the cultural gal-tan (green-alternative-liberal vs. traditional-authoritarian-nationalist) dimension of ideology (8% shared variance) and the economic left-right dimension (4% shared variance). The associations with gal-tan were even stronger when the dimension was emphasized in the party agenda. Associations between specific policy positions (e.g., multiculturalism, redistribution) and values were very similar to those between values and ideology. Voting populist was weakly associated with lower Universalism values and higher Security values (1% shared variance). The associations were generally stronger among the more educated and in western European, as compared to post-communist, countries. Our results suggest that Universalism values could help explain why the left and the gal poles tend to go together and are also more generally consistent with accounts of political conflict and cleavage centered around cultural issues and rooted in values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2025
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