Grid-group theory and political orientations: Effects of cultural biases in Norway in the 1990s

A number of cultural theories identify, or call for the elaboration of, dee per 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 gr id-group theory's four cultures by means of cultural biases, (1) explores t he 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 a nd human nature, and on geographical belonging and trust in institutions. T he test draws on three independent surveys of the general public in Norway in the 1990s. The empirical results show that cultural biases are significa ntly explained by sociodemographics, and whereas convergent validity of cul tural biases on selected attitudes and beliefs was acceptable, discriminant validity was weaker and more inconsistent.