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Socio-Demographic Effects on Cultural Biases

A Nordic Study of Grid-Group Theory

University of Bergen, gunnar.grendstad{at}isp.uib.no

Susan Sundback

Åbo Akademy University, ssundbac{at}abo.fi

Grid-group theory claims that patterns of social relations only, and not socio-demographic characteristics, can account for biases, of which the theory prescribes four: hierarchy, egalitarianism, individualism and fatalism. Survey analysts conventionally employ respondents’ socio-demographic correlates when accounting for values. We take the value survey strategy and apply it to grid-group theory’s four biases. Employing a 1999 survey administered in Iceland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland (n= 4,832), we combine two goals in this article. We test how sex, age, education and income can account for biases. By extension, we test grid-group theory’s claim of no such effect. The results show that biases are influenced by socio-demographics in ways unaccounted for by the theory. The four correlates explain on average 9 per cent of the variation in the biases. Education is the only correlate that has a negative and significant effect across all biases in all countries. Women adhere to egalitarianism, whereas men adhere to individualism. Age is a consistent positive correlate of hierarchy, whereas income is a consistent negative correlate of fatalism. Grid-group theory will not be impaired if it can be shown how robust socio-demographic correlates interact with patterns of social relations.

Key Words: age • cultural biases • education • grid-group theory • income • Nordic countries • Scandinavia

Acta Sociologica, Vol. 46, No. 4, 289-306 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0001699303464002


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