Liberal–conservative self-identification in Korea: a cross-cultural explanation

Abstract

Two sets of explanations for the liberal-conservative political orientation developed and tested in the U.S. were compared and tested with Korean data. The two sets of explanations are (1) Moral Foundations Theory that states that liberals and conservatives have different moral intuitions (Haidt and Graham, Soc Justice Res 20:98-116, 2007) and(2) a theory that cognitive needs to manage uncertainty and threat are the main factors behind the political orientation (Jost et al., Psychol Bull 129:339-375, 2003). These two sets of explanation for political orientation were tested and supported empirically in the U.S. The Korean data showed clear support for the Moral Foundations Theory. Compared to conservatives, liberals in South Korea agreed more with individual oriented moral statements and less with community oriented moral statements. The data showed weak support for the uncertainty and threat explanation in that conservatives showed higher level of intolerance to ambiguity and higher level of death anxiety, but the correlations are weak. Implications of these findings were discussed.

Cross-Cultural Values: A Meta-Analysis of Major Quantitative Studies in the Last Decade (2010–2020)

“…Combining these criteria, Table 1 lists the highly cited studies that repeatedly meet the inclusion criteria, including the following list of surveys and their respective publication citations. Athota et al 2019;Bespalov et al 2017;Boer and Fischer 2013;Cantarero et al 2018;Curry et al 2019;Dogruyol et al 2019;Du 2019;Feldman 2019;Graham et al 2012Graham et al , 2011Haidt 2013aHaidt , 2013bHaidt and Graham 2007;Joseph 2004, 2011;Haidt et al 1993;Hu 2017;Hu et al 2020;Iurino and Saucier 2020;Kim et al 2012;Kim and Kang 2013;Koleva et al 2016;Matsuo et al 2019;Mooijman et al 2018;Moreira et al 2019;Nechtelberger et al 2017;Nejat et al 2015;Niazi et al 2020;Nilsson and Erlandsson 2015;Ochoa et al 2016;Peker et al 2018;Purzycki et al 2018;Rahman 2015;Shim et al 2018;Shweder 1990;Shweder and Haidt 1993;Shweder et al 1997 Since the focus is on contemporary publications in the last decade, studies that originated before 2010 were included if a number of current publications continued to analyze the study's data within the 2010-2020 focus (e.g., WVS, ESS, EVS). However, studies that were primarily investigated prior to 2010, without numerous contemporary analyses were excluded.…”

Nilai Moral sebagai Prediktor Orientasi Politik pada Anggota Organisasi Keagamaan

“…Perbedaan antara masyarakat Barat (Amerika Serikat) dengan masyarakat Timur (Korea Selatan) terkait dengan pola collectivism dan individualis. Korea Selatan lebih cenderung menganut pola collectivism sedangkan Amerika Serikat lebih cenderung individualis (Kim & Kang, 2013). Hal menarik lainnya adalah perbedaan pandangan mengenai nilai moral kemurnian pada masyarakat Amerika Serikat dan Korea Selatan.…”

“…Artinya pemahaman mengenai nilai moral kemurnian pada masyarakat dan negara tertentu akan menjadi sangat berbeda. Hal ini sangat dipengaruhi oleh konteks sejarah, budaya dan masyarakatnya (Kim & Kang, 2013).…”