The Relationship Between Need for Closure and Conservative Beliefs in Western and Eastern Europe

  1. Malgorzata Kossowska1,
  2. Alain Van Hiel2

Article first published online: 15 JUL 2003

DOI: 10.1111/0162-895X.00338

Issue

Political Psychology

Political Psychology

Volume 24, Issue 3, pages 501–518, September 2003

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How to Cite

Kossowska, M. and Hiel, A. V. (2003), The Relationship Between Need for Closure and Conservative Beliefs in Western and Eastern Europe. Political Psychology, 24: 501–518. doi: 10.1111/0162-895X.00338

Author Information

  1. 1

    Institute of Psychology, Jagiellonian University, Poland

  2. 2

    Department of Developmental, Personality, and Social Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 15 JUL 2003
  2. Article first published online: 15 JUL 2003

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Keywords:

  • conservatism;
  • cross-cultural differences;
  • need for closure;
  • motivated social cognition;
  • political beliefs

This work explored the hypothesis that need for closure is associated with the adoption of conservative ideology. Two different studies on eastern and western European samples (Polish and Flemish) supported the hypothesis that need for closure—as measured by Webster and Kruglanski's (1994) Need for Closure Scale—is related to conservative beliefs. However, in the second study, a negative relationship between need for closure and economic conservatism in the Polish sample was noted, whereas a positive relationship occurred in the Flemish sample. These results may be accounted for by the Need for Simple Structure factor of Neuberg, Judice, and West (1997) and by specific rather than non-specific epistemic processes.

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