When ideology and self interest team up….

When ideology and self-interest team up, they can create powerful alignments or conflicts in shaping individual and collective behavior, particularly in political and economic contexts. This dynamic often influences attitudes toward policies like redistribution, personal decision-making, and even self-control, as evidenced by various studies and theoretical perspectives.

• Alignment in Political Preferences: For certain groups, ideology and self-interest reinforce each other, leading to clear policy preferences. For instance, among individuals with below-median income who identify as politically left-leaning ("poor left"), both their economic self-interest (favoring redistribution as net beneficiaries) and their ideology (supporting equality and social solidarity) align, resulting in strong support for redistribution policies2. Similarly, for those with above-median income who identify as right-leaning ("rich right"), self-interest (opposing redistribution as net contributors) and ideology (favoring market-driven outcomes) converge, leading to strong opposition to redistribution2.

• Conflict and Resolution: When ideology and self-interest clash, individuals often prioritize one over the other based on their political leanings. Among "poor right" individuals, there is a conflict between self-interest (favoring redistribution due to lower income) and ideology (opposing redistribution due to pro-market beliefs), with ideology typically taking precedence, resulting in lower support for redistribution2. Conversely, "rich left" individuals face a tension between self-interest (opposing redistribution due to higher income) and ideology (supporting equality), often resolving this by prioritizing ideology and supporting redistribution despite personal economic costs, influenced by altruistic or other-regarding preferences2.

• Self-Control and Ideological Beliefs: The interplay of ideology and self-interest also extends to personal traits like self-control. Research shows that political conservatism is associated with greater self-control, manifested in better attention regulation and task persistence, mediated by a stronger belief in freewill3. Conservatives’ ideological endorsement of personal responsibility aligns with self-interest in maintaining discipline, enhancing their self-control performance compared to liberals3.

• Theoretical Frameworks: Positive political theory suggests that ideology and self-interest can be integrated by assuming a form of broad egoism, where ideological beliefs serve as a framework for pursuing personal or group interests1. Additionally, ideology often acts as a filter for economically derived preferences, shaping how self-interest is expressed or prioritized2. However, when ideology leads individuals to act against their own interests—particularly among dominated or oppressed groups—it can be seen as a form of false consciousness, raising questions about rationality and the mechanisms that sustain such beliefs5.

This interplay between ideology and self-interest thus varies across contexts, sometimes reinforcing decisions and behaviors, while at other times creating tensions that individuals resolve by prioritizing one over the other, often influenced by their broader social and political identities.

1. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569317.2022.2135254
2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0032321721993652
3. https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1503530112
4. https://soaoer.centennialcollege.ca/gned500/chapter/how-ideologies-shape-the-world/
5. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ideology/
6. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8710981/
7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Individualism
8. https://www.jstor.org/stable/657565