Abstract
Do superordinate in-group bias as well as temporal and social comparisons offer standalone explanations for system justification? We addressed this question using the latest World Value Survey (7th Wave), combining the responses of 55,721 participants from 40 different nations. Results from a random slope multilevel model showed that superordinate (national) identification, temporal comparison (i.e., the outcomes of an individual relative to those of his/her parents at different time points), and social comparison (based on income levels) were independent and positive predictors of system justification. Specifically, system justification increased when national identification was high, when income increased (i.e., the socioeconomic comparison was positive), and when the outcomes of citizens improved relative to the outcomes of their parents at relevant time points (i.e., the temporal comparison was positive). Incidentally, we also observed an interaction between national identification and temporal comparison (but not with social comparison), indicating that positive temporal comparison seemed to have a reduced effect (but still significant) for highly identified citizens. These results are supportive of the social identity approach to system justification and suggest that support for societal systems is a positive function of people’s personal and group interests.
Highlights
We focused on three key self/group-interested predictors of system justification, namely, superordinate identification, social comparison, with income as an indicator of relative social advantage, and temporal comparison
We considered the GINI index and GDP PPP (Gross Domestic Product based on Purchasing Power Parity) to account for the potential effect of objective wealth inequality in the nation and national wealth level
National identification interacted with temporal comparison to predict system justification, F(2, 43,0341) = 3.867. p = 0.021. When we decomposed this interaction by examining the association between temporal comparisons and system justification when superordinate identification was high (M + 1SD) vs. low (M-1SD), we found, consistent with our speculation, that positive temporal comparisons seem to work best, in terms of its boosting effect on system justification, when national identification was low
Summary
We used the 7th Wave of the World Value Survey (WVS) with 70,867 participants from 49 countries worldwide. We focused on the last operationalization (i.e., trust in government), which we assessed with four items asking participants to indicate the extent to which they were confident in the institutions of governance of their society, namely, parliament, government, political parties, and justice system/courts (1 = a great deal, 4 = not at all, reverse scored). We focused on trust in government (and its apparatuses) because it satisfies several auxiliary conditions that should enable the system motive to manifest. Because this system motive is theorized to be in conflict
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