This study deals with the question: do capitalist values increase or decrease xenophobia?
There has been much scholarly debate about the impact of capitalism on xenophobia. While it is widely accepted that capitalist economies create values which then in turn influence xenophobic attitudes, this debate is in large part not settled yet. As previous studies on the subject have failed at providing comprehensive conceptualizations of and quantitative evidence on capitalist culture and values.
To address this gap in the literature, the latest wave of the World Value Survey will be used to inductively develop a set of capitalist values from individuals’ responses to questions on economic issues. Through this inductive approach, four distinct values associated with capitalism will be identified: materialism, economic individualism, a belief in small government, and a capitalist work ethic.
Then, OLS will be used to assess the relationship between these four values and individuals’ attitudes toward immigrants as well as people of different race and religion. It is found that materialism and capitalist work ethic increase hostility toward people different from oneself, whereas economic individualism decreases it.
Belief in small government does not have a statistically significant impact on xenophobia. These findings have important implications for both the scholarly debate on the effects of capitalist culture and the public discussion about economic reform.
Table of Contents
Aim and Scope
Capitalism and Xenophobia: The Literature
Which Capitalist Values?
Identifying Capitalist Values: An Inductive Approach
Research Design and Data
Findings and Discussion
Concluding Remarks
References
Appendix: Codebook
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary aim of this study is to empirically investigate the relationship between capitalism and xenophobia by analyzing individual-level survey data. The author seeks to move beyond theoretical debate by inductively identifying specific capitalist values and assessing their individual impact on xenophobic attitudes.
- Inductive identification of four distinct capitalist values: materialism, economic individualism, belief in small government, and a capitalist work ethic.
- Quantitative assessment of how these capitalist values correlate with attitudes toward immigrants and ethnic/religious outgroups.
- Evaluation of the conflicting theoretical arguments regarding whether capitalism fosters xenophobia or promotes progressive, tolerant values.
- Analysis of the complexity of capitalist culture, challenging the assumption of a uniform effect on societal xenophobia.
- Examination of the policy implications regarding the relationship between economic structures and social intolerance.
Excerpt from the Book
Capitalism and Xenophobia: The Literature
The debate about the merits and evils of capitalism is as old as the capitalist economy itself. Throughout history, critics of capitalism have associated numerous adverse effects with this type of economic system, including phenomena such as wage slavery (Persky 1998; Marx 2006a; Marx 2006b), imperialism (Brass 1999; Lenin 2006), environmental deterioration (Hugh 1976; Newell 2012; McMurty 2013), and poverty/inequality both nationally (Nelson 1995; Richard 2011) and globally (Rapley 2004; Mills 2009). Conversely, proponents of capitalism have argued that this type of economic system fosters several positive developments, most importantly economic growth (Barro 1997; Wolf 2005; Meltzer 2012) and political freedom (Friedman 1962; Hayek 1994; Parsons 2003).
Another potential consequence of capitalism is xenophobia, which is broadly defined as a deep-rooted, irrational hatred toward people different from oneself (Olowu 2008). Xenophobia is based on perceptions of an ingroup toward an outgroup; such group distinctions can manifest themselves along several possible fault lines, including gender, race, religion, class, sexual orientation, and so forth (Heitmeyer 2007b). Therefore, xenophobia is generally used as an umbrella term for different kinds of discrimination. Critics of capitalism have long argued that this type of economic system both intensifies various existing xenophobic attitudes and itself breeds different types of hostility toward people different from oneself.
Summary of Chapters
Aim and Scope: This chapter introduces the research context, highlighting the tension between capitalism and xenophobia, and outlines the study's objective to provide empirical evidence where previous research was primarily theoretical.
Capitalism and Xenophobia: The Literature: The author reviews existing academic debates on the consequences of capitalism, specifically focusing on the competing theories that capitalism either fuels xenophobia or mitigates it by promoting universalist market values.
Which Capitalist Values?: This section critiques previous studies for lacking comprehensive measures of capitalist values and explores existing literature on capitalist culture to identify areas for improvement in measurement.
Identifying Capitalist Values: An Inductive Approach: The author utilizes factor analysis on World Value Survey data to derive four key capitalist values: materialism, economic individualism, a belief in small government, and a capitalist work ethic.
Research Design and Data: This chapter details the methodology, explaining the use of OLS models to test the impact of the identified capitalist values on xenophobic attitudes, while controlling for socio-demographic and national variables.
Findings and Discussion: The results demonstrate that capitalist culture does not have a uniform effect, showing that while materialism and work ethic increase xenophobia, economic individualism tends to decrease it.
Concluding Remarks: The author summarizes the key findings, suggesting that the complexity of capitalist culture must be acknowledged and proposing directions for future research to better understand these causal relationships.
References: This section provides a comprehensive bibliography of the cited works.
Appendix: Codebook: The appendix lists the variables and coding schemes used for the survey data analysis.
Keywords
Xenophobia, capitalism, culture, materialism, economic individualism, small government, work ethic, World Value Survey, immigration, ethnic diversity, social intolerance, factor analysis, OLS regression, economic reform, political ideology.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this research?
The research focuses on the impact of capitalist values on xenophobic attitudes, testing whether these values increase or decrease hostility toward those perceived as "different."
What are the central themes discussed in the work?
The themes include the relationship between economic systems and social attitudes, the measurement of capitalist culture, the influence of competitive mindsets, and the social outcomes of different economic value systems.
What is the primary research question or objective?
The primary objective is to move beyond aggregate, theoretical literature by quantitatively identifying specific values inherent in capitalist culture and analyzing their distinct, individual-level impacts on xenophobia.
Which scientific method is employed?
The author employs factor analysis to identify latent capitalist values from survey items and subsequently uses an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model to analyze the relationships between these values and xenophobia.
What topics are covered in the main body?
The main body covers a literature review of capitalist critiques, the inductive derivation of capitalist values, a rigorous research design using World Value Survey data, and a statistical discussion of the findings.
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include xenophobia, capitalism, materialism, economic individualism, the work ethic, and empirical social science metrics.
How does this study improve upon previous research?
Unlike previous studies that relied on broad, aggregate data or purely theoretical frameworks, this work uses individual-level survey responses to disentangle the multifaceted nature of capitalist values.
Why did the author find that capitalism has a non-uniform effect on xenophobia?
The findings show that while materialism and a specific work ethic correlate with higher xenophobia, economic individualism correlates with lower levels, proving that "capitalism" is not a monolithic influence.
What role does the World Value Survey play in this study?
It provides the empirical foundation, offering a globally representative dataset that allows the author to operationalize economic values through individual responses from 57 different countries.
What do the concluding remarks suggest for policy debate?
The author suggests that if capitalist culture increases xenophobia, proponents of economic reform can use these empirical findings to build a stronger case for structural changes in capitalist society.
- Citar trabajo
- Michael Neureiter (Autor), 2014, The relationship between capitalism and xenophobia. The values of the capitalist, Múnich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/962221
