Libertarianism, Culture, and Personal Predispositions

Abstract

The United States has exhibited two potentially connected trends – increasing individualism and increasing interest in libertarian ideology.  Previous research on libertarian ideology found higher levels of individualism among libertarians, and cross-cultural research has tied greater individualism to making dispositional attributions and lower altruistic tendencies.  Given this, we expected to observe positive correlations between the following variables in the present research: individualism and endorsement of libertarianism, individualism and dispositional attributions, and endorsement of libertarianism and dispositional attributions.  We also expected to observe negative correlations between libertarianism and altruism, dispositional attributions and altruism, and individualism and altruism. Survey results from 252 participants confirmed a positive correlation between individualism and libertarianism, a marginally significant positive correlation between libertarianism and dispositional attributions, and a negative correlation between individualism and altruism.  These results confirm the connection between libertarianism and individualism observed in previous research and present several intriguing questions for future research on libertarian ideology.