Wartości podstawowe a preferencje ideologiczne i decyzje wyborcze w wyborach do Sejmu 2011

Abstract

Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in examining the impact of in- dividual characteristics of voters (personality traits, attitudes and personal values) on a political choice. The aim of this paper is to examine the relationships between voters> basic values, their political orientation and voting behavior in Polish national election in 2011. Personal values were treated as a cognitive representations of desirable, abstract goals. According to Schwartz>s theory, there are 10 basic, universal values (power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self- direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity, and security), organized into four higher-level types (conservation, openness to change, self-transcendence and self-enhance- ment). To assess the participants> basic values, the Schwartz>s Portrait Value Questionnaire was used. Comparisons between the groups of voters were made using the ANOVA method and the Tukey>s post-hoc tests. The results of the study indicate that right-wing voters scored higher in tradition, conformity and benevolence and lower in self-direction, achievement, stimulation and hedonism than left-wing and centre voters. Voters> political party preferences were as- sociated with distinct value profiles. According to the results of the research, voters> personal values can be important for understanding and predicting voting behavior.