Helping the Less Fortunate: The Interaction Between Cultural and Economic Conservatism

Do conservatives take less action for the unfortunate than liberals? We tested this claim by assessing two types of conservatism, economic and cultural, and their relations to just world beliefs, social justice motives, empathy, and taking action for the unfortunate. Students, faculty, and staff (n = 317) from several universities took a survey online. Economic conservatism scores related to higher just world beliefs and lower social justice motives, empathy, and ultimately, taking less action for the unfortunate. Cultural conservatism was positively related to social justice and taking action for the unfortunate. The interaction between economic and cultural conservatism was negatively related to just world beliefs and positively related to empathy and helping the unfortunate. Analyses suggest that cultural conservatism moderates the impact that economic conservatism has on these variables. Religious beliefs and commandments to help the unfortunate that characterize cultural conservatism worldview may temper economic conservatism's focus on self-interest.