Beyond Left-Right Ideology in the Study of Justice Perception

Abstract

This article outlines an alternative to traditional left-right ideological spectrum approaches to studying political opinion formation and distributive justice perception within cultures, highlighting instead the tension that exists between an interdependence distributive worldview focused on intimacy and social connectedness, and an independence distributive worldview focused on personal control and mastery over one’s life space. Employing data from the Cross-Cultural Variations in Distributive Justice Perception project, (a) quantitative measures of individual differences in personality orientations and (b) qualitative-interpretive measures of word-use patterns (in discussing distributive fairness issues) are applied within two exemplary cultural contexts (Jamaica, New Zealand) to examine the potential utility of the interdependence-independence model as a viable explanatory alternative to left-right theories of justice orientation. Profiles are constructed of salient features differentiating the distributive worldviews of interdependents and independents in Jamaica and New Zealand, and implications of this model are drawn for the study of distributive justice perception processes across cultures