VALUES AND VALUE HIERARCHIES

Competing values is the stuff of politics. Psychologists see values as central to the cognitive organization of the individual and as a basis for the formation of attitudes, beliefs, and opinions (see Rokeach 1970; Rokeach and Ball-Rokeach 1989). In recent years, the overarching concept of right and left, sometimes referred to as the conservative-liberal continuum, which was at the heart of political mass belief systems research (Converse 1964) has been largely replaced by the notion of diverse values. Regarding values as “conceptions of the desirable means and ends of action” (Kluckhohn 1951, 395), the crux of the shift from the point of view adopted here is that there may be various sources for structuring political attitudes. This variety allows for much individual level variance in the structure, constraint, and content of mass belief systems, which has been the focus of most current research in this field. This line of research suggests that mass policy preferences are significantly structured by basic or central values (see Hurwitz and Peffley 1987; Feldman 1988).

The notion of diverse values compels attention to value conflict, as cherished values compete in real-life situations. Concentrating on various values instead of one overall ideology represents simultaneously a more simplistic and a more complex view of belief systems. It is simpler in the sense that it does not expect or require people to develop one compound, sophisticated, and integrated system of beliefs.