Beyond Rokeach's Equality‐Freedom Model: Two‐Dimensional Values in a One‐Dimensional World

Abstract

This article supports a two‐value model of political ideology, similar to that proposed by Rokeach (1973), through the validation of two value orientation scales, international harmony and equality and national strength and order. Drawing on data from five samples, these value orientations are shown to be independent, robust, and predictably related to other value constructs, social attitudes, voting behavior, and political activism. The two‐dimensional model is reconciled with the ubiquitous left‐right attitudinal continuum through differentiating between the psychological world of ideas and the political world of action. Political institutions have traditionally imposed a trade‐off mentality on decision‐making behavior, and the left‐right dichotomy is a useful heuristic for making trade‐offs when other options are not apparent. This paper argues that individuals adopt a framework that is different from that imposed by political institutions. Their framework allows both security conscious and protective values to be held alongside humanitarian and sharing values, and their liberalism‐conservatism can be predicted by the degree to which one value orientation outweighs the other. The middle ground on liberalism‐conservatism, therefore, is not the sole domain of the politically naive or disinterested: It is also the domain of those with balanced yet strong social value commitments who may experience lack of engagement with left‐right political discourse.