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Grid‐Group Theory and Political Orientations: Effects of Cultural Biases in Norway in the 1990s
Author(s) -
Grendstad Gunnar
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
scandinavian political studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-9477
pISSN - 0080-6757
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9477.00037
Subject(s) - egalitarianism , fatalism , culture theory , social psychology , individualism , politics , discriminant validity , hofstede's cultural dimensions theory , sociocultural evolution , sociology , psychology , positive economics , epistemology , political science , economics , anthropology , developmental psychology , psychometrics , law , philosophy , internal consistency
A number of cultural theories identify, or call for the elaboration of, deeper cultural patterns that both disallow cultural invariance and constrain cultural variation. Grid‐group theory identifies four cultures: hierarchy, egalitarianism, individualism and fatalism. This article, which measures grid‐group theory’s four cultures by means of cultural biases, (1) explores the neglected relationship between sociodemographic correlates and cultural biases, and (2) tests the theory’s hypothesized effects of cultural biases, controlled for sociodemographics, on attitudes toward nature, technology and human nature, and on geographical belonging and trust in institutions. The test draws on three independent surveys of the general public in Norway in the 1990s. The empirical results show that cultural biases are significantly explained by sociodemographics, and whereas convergent validity of cultural biases on selected attitudes and beliefs was acceptable, discriminant validity was weaker and more inconsistent.