The Effect of Human Values on Party Identification and Ideology for Black and White Partisans

Objective Recent research on core political values and moral foundations suggests our understanding of underlying values by race is underdeveloped. We know that Democrats prefer equality and Republicans prefer social order, but we know little as to whether these differences remain constant between blacks and whites. I utilize social psychological measures, not confounding core political values, to examine these differences. Methods Conducting an original survey, I utilize the Schwartz Portrait Values to examine the effect of values on party identification and ideology by race. Results I find that black Americans, relatively speaking, prioritize self‐transcendence values more so than whites; white Americans give more priority to values of conservation; and black Americans give more priority to values of self‐enhancement as compared to conservation. Further, the contribution of self‐transcendence values to Democratic Party identification is similar for both races, but conservation values lead to a Republican identification for white Americans, while self‐enhancement does so for black Americans. Conclusion This research contributes to the scarce literature on the human value structures of black Americans. The well‐established premise that Republicans prefer social order holds for white Americans, but for black Republicans, values of self‐enhancement undergird their party identification.