How Accurate are Political Ideology Tests?
PurpleAmerica Tests Some Out
I have to admit, I like taking political ideology tests. I have a pretty solid concept of what I do and don’t believe in and which issues are more important to me than others. Generally, these ideology tests are pointless and just a way to categorize and put people into a rigid taxonomy. Nonetheless, I’m always curious about the analysis and what bucket they put me in.
The results above are from a site called the “8 Values” after I took that test. You can find it here:
https://8values.github.io/index.html
Now you know why I chose “Purple America” for a name.
Like most ideology tests, it works by making a statement and then you basically respond with whether you agree or disagree with that statement. Overall there were 70 questions asked. You can also indicate whether you strongly agree or disagree or if you are unsure/neutral on the issue.
Over the course of the test I found myself gravitating within the “Agree/Neutral/Disagree” range, with very few on the strongly one way or the other. The issue to me was that I could always find exceptions to the question that would make me hedge on my responses. Some of the questions were poorly worded as well (asking a negative) which made me kind of cringe on any particular answer.
And here is where we come to the detriment; their definitions of what each grouping actually means:
They would have you believe that each of the above lines exist on a single axis. I don’t know if I buy that.
Sure, Liberty v. Authority I get; in any society there is a trade-off. The extremes on that line would be Anarchy (for the uber-liberty crowd) and Totalitarianism (for the strong state true believers). In most cases, people are going to be in the middle somewhere between those extremes. Thowing out a dozen or so questions can help sort out where you might land on that spectrum. My only problem with these were in the wording on some of the questions here; I often found a reason to mark “disagree” based on the wording of the question rather than the sentiment.
But what about Equality and Markets? This is clearly meant to be an economic paradigm. But one can support equality under the law and in social contexts and still believe in free markets. Does answering a question about liking low taxes as “agree” automatically work against a belief in Equality? I’m not sure I believe this linear distinction as correct.
Likewise, the balance between Tradition and Progress . The “tradition” label stereotypes the idea of a moral code while the Progress label weighs too much on science and rationality. If you believe and advocate for science are you automatically not a traditionalist? If you believe in caution and taking small steps are you opposed to science?1 If you have morals can you not also believe in rationality, science and logic? The paradigm here actually seems to be whether you are for more radical change vrs no change or even “going back” in time, but that’s not the distinction they make.
Lastly, we come to the “global v. national” line. If anything, this kind of distinction is usually done on a “regional” v. “macro” level. For instance, in the US there would be questions about whether something should be a state issue or a national one. Broadening that to the globe makes some sense but its still “Regional v. Globe.” They seem to mix military and security issues with this as well, which only clouds the topic further. Some of the questions dealt with whether countries should work together for global warming; does saying “no” make you a nationalist? I don’t think so, perhaps you just don’t believe in taking action against climate change. If you believe in funding for military, does that make you anti-globalist? No. Just ask Ukraine and NATO.
So overall, I’m not too rocked about each of these linear spectrums and the manner in which the questions are meant to place you on them. What I always fear about is when people take these tests and it spits out something like “You’re a Fascist Libertarian”2 that people take that as a legitimate description and assume it’s who they are and what they believe. Kind of like ideological wagging the dog. In reality, people should think carefully about the questions and their stands on each of these issues. They should think hard about reasons they may agree or disagree with each of them. They should go out of their way to try and find legitimate exceptions to their own logic that would negate their usual opinions. They should not automatically go Strongly Agree or Disagree without a moments thought breezing through the thing.
That’s how I ended up as a Centrist on the test and also why I really like taking them.
PurpleAmerica’s Recommended Stories
For those of you looking for other Political Ideology Tests, here are a few I found.
Pew Research has one here:
https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/quiz/political-typology/
I’m not sure how much I buy into it’s analysis given the questions it asked. It also groups results according to political party, which to me is a no-no as the party is an arbitrary distinction. Still, it’s always interesting to see what bucket they put you in.
The first political ideology test I ever took was in college when the internet was just starting to become a thing (I know, I’m ancient). It was “The World’s Smallest Political Ideology Test.” I was surprised to see you can still find it online. You can find it here:
https://www.theadvocates.org/quiz/?gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3ou69u_h_wIVqiuzAB2h2wvCEAMYASAAEgLk1vD_BwE
Now, this demonstrates why you have to be careful accepting the results of these tests. When I was in college I was less aware of the nuances but 1) the questions are clearly biased; intended to get you to a particular result and 2) the test was put out there by the Libertarian Party, though they hid that distinction at the time. Looking at this site now, it seems like they are no longer hiding the fact.
Lastly, here is another one. I seemed to sense the same level of bias as I did with the libertarian one. It took a little longer to complete than the others but overall it was worthwhile.
https://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz
If you go out of your way to take any of these tests, please post your results in the comments. I would be interested in hearing what you thought about them. Don’t worry, I won’t take them seriously as to putting you a particular bucket— I know how these are not always accurately describing or depicting one’s belief system.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
Anarchists by their nature don’t like institutions, particularly those that can exert any kind of political authority or power over people, or aspire to such power.
You’d be surprised to learn there is actually an Anarchist Party in America, which to me seems like an oxymoron.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
Going to give it to Ferris Bueller today.
Yup, he is the Walrus.
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
If you think that is a loaded question, that’s because it is. Dr. Anthony Fauci during COVID was and continues to be hailed as a strong advocate for science, but was notoriously slow to act on many items out of caution. “We don’t yet have the data” was a mantra.
Yes, I’m aware there really is no such thing. I mean, the idea that the Government be all encompassing and yet allows you to do pretty much whatever you want is kind of utopian in a way, but in practice its kind of difficult to pull off.