Group Ideologies

Group ideologies are shared belief systems that provide an interpretation of the social environment and a prescription as to how the society should be structured. They can be general, common to many cultures (e.g., political ideologies that span across cultures), or more specific, related to a given culture. Group ideologies attempt to understand, interpret, and organize information about different aspects of a society: for example, economy, justice, health care, education, and intercultural relations. These representations of the social order reflect conscious or unconscious tendencies to rationalize the way things are or, alternatively, the desire for them to be changed. Advocating versus resisting social change and rejecting versus accepting inequality are two interrelated dimensions that underlie the distinction between left-wing and right-wing political ideologies in Europe, ...