The meaning of ideological self-description in Serbia

Abstract

Ideological orientations are typically measured in two manners: through specific statement-type items or through respondent's selfidentification with ideological labels (e.g., 'conservative'). Attitudinal structure obtained through factor analysis of individual attitude statements represents a model of implicit ideological dimensions (for a review see Todosijević, 2014). However, individuals are not necessarily conscious of their position in a particular multidimensional ideological space defined in this manner. Moreover, given the literature questioning political competency of the mass public (e.g., Converse, 1964, Luskin, 2003), it is likely that one's 76 political views do not necessarily follow the major political-ideological narratives that define the contemporary political world. As a result, one's specific substantive political attitudes may be inconsistent with one's self-image concerning the ideological orientation. For instance, someone identifying herself as a ‘socialist’ may hold certain socially conservative and/or in-egalitarian opinions. In order to investigate this problem, the paper analyzes the relationship between the basic attitudinal ideological dimensions and respondents' selfidentification with various ideological labels (e.g., identification with the label 'nationalist'). The analysis is based on survey data collected in Serbia on a random sample of Belgrade residents. The results show that most associations follow the pattern expected on the basis of the existing research literature. However, certain tendencies seem to be specific for the case in question, or to a broader post-communist context. For instance, in Serbia self-identification with the label ‘socialist’ is positively associated with traditionalist and militarist attitudes, while in the Western Europe, this association would typically be negative.