Political orientation and personal value system. Two studies with Argentine youth.

DELFINO, G.; POLITTI, M.

Atenas

Encuentro; 45th Annual Scientific Meeting; 2022

International Society of Political Psychology (ISPP)

The main objective of this work is to analyze the relationship between political orientation and value hierarchy in a sample of young adults from Argentina. Political orientation is closely related to personal value systems, beliefs, and modes of thought. Schwartz's multidimensional and culturally universal values theory distinguishes a series of motivational goals (MG), ten in the first theory and nineteen in the refinement of the initial idea. Values are shared but hierarchized differently by people. Individuals tend to identify with and prefer political parties that share their values ​​to make consistent political evaluations. Two descriptive-correlational quantitative studies were carried out to account for the relationship between these two variables (Study 1: n = 369; 18-30 years; 10 MG. Study 2: n = 255; 18-24 years; 19 MG). There is a relationship between political orientation and values, finding that those who value Conservation and Self-Promotion had a marked preference for right-wing parties and higher scores for right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), as stated in previous studies. At the same time, those who gave greater importance to Openness to Change and Self-transcendence presented a less tendency towards social dominance (SDO) and RWA. Right political orientation correlates with a high appreciation of freedom, SDO and RWA. Schwartz's refined theory (19 MG) provides fundamental elements for understanding the relationship between political orientation and individual values. We highlight the right-left dimension usefulness and the specificity of Schwartz's second theory in the Argentine context.