A Psychological Approach to Exploring Japanese Ideologies

―Based on the Concept of Morality and Political Orientation in Moral Foundations Theory―

Abstract

In various social situations, ideology, that is, a systematized conception of an idea, places restraints on individual action and judgment from a social perspective and constitutes the basis for appropriate behavior.

As a concept, this is explained as the ideal way a person should behave socially, politically, and morally. It is also described as an individual’s social orientation. In recent years, it has been suggested that such individual orientations can be explained by the moral foundations theory, which argues that humans are naturally endowed with moral foundations. Using this theory, this study aims to examine political ideological orientations toward either individualism or collectivism in order to understand Japanese value systems. The study shows that moral foundations can predict individual political orientations to some extent and can also capture the orientations or belief systems of Japanese people based on their moral judgments, their political orientations and preference for cooperation and collectivism. The study shows that ideologies can partly be explained through psychological perspectives.