The Political Compass: An Economic Behaviour as One's Political Identity?

Before proceeding to read this article, google "the political compass test" and click the first link you see. Take the test and see the results. Congratulations, you just earned yourself a membership ticket to a niche political community.

Young political enthusiasts might be familiar with "the political compass": a political ideological tool that locates one's views on a political spectrum with two axes, each representing an economic and social scale. 

At first, this tool was lauded for its method of clarifying one's social and economic views. However, an unexpected byproduct of this tool is the "personalization" of the four quadrants of the political compass. Suddenly, one can "identify" as an "Authoritarian Left" and thus their main rival is a "Libertarian Right". Knowing your position at the political compass doesn't only give clarity to your views, it also associates you with a certain political community.

While this might seem harmless at first glance, the sense of "membership" perpetuated by the political compass can greatly impact how an individual's views and economic behaviour evolve. To be assigned a certain quadrant at the political compass means that one can be led to a political community and identity that affects their economic decisions.

The Political Compass: Its Origins 

The political compass has been on the internet since 2001 and was created by political journalist Wayne Brittenden. It was a response to improve the binary "Left to Right" standard political spectrum used in measuring economic views but failed to include social views. Generally, the "left side" advocates for a cooperative, centrally planned economy, while the "right side" desires for an individualistic, free market economy.

Figure 1, Source: The Political Compass

Despite being a primary staple in the U.S. political landscape, the single-axis model has long been criticized for being too simplistic. With this axis, the political landscape is primarily divided between "liberals" and "conservatives", with the former and latter being equated with the economic "left wing" and "right wing", respectively. This binary single-axis pressures people to follow the dominant perspectives from one of either side of the spectrum, even if one has considerably deviating views. For this reason, it is harder for individuals to completely identify with one of either side.

Therefore, inspired by the ideas of German psychologist Hans Eysenck, Brittenden believed that it's better to measure political ideologies on two separate axes: a left-to-right economic axis and an authoritarian/libertarian social axis, which the latter measures one's opinions on the personal freedom an individual is allowed to have. This political compass ultimately adds nuance to a person's political views. In the test itself, one has to answer to what specific extent they agree with certain economic and social propositions, which at the end will pinpoint their location on the chart.

Figure 2, Source: The Political Compass

The political compass demonstrates how a certain economic stance is not mutually exclusive with a certain social stance. This can hypothetically cause less polarization compared to the binary political spectrum as more nuanced views can be normalized. But in reality, does the emergence of the political compass really cause less division in political discourse?

Social Phenomena of the Political Compass

While the political compass can be credited to untangle a person's nuanced political opinions, it actually takes part in pigeonholing more groups or identities. This shouldn't come off as a surprise. When one finishes the political compass test, it presents test-takers a gift: a concrete association with one of the four quadrants based on one's economic and social views.

The quadrant one associates with can serve to become the foundation of one's newly formed political identity, especially to impressionable young people. Joshua Citarella (2020), a researcher in online political subcultures, points out that the political compass contributes to the "emergence of radical politics as a form of niche personal branding" and a mode of "identity play". Thus, the quadrant that one attains serves as a first map in their path of politicization. For example, if the test concludes that a person belongs to the Libertarian Right quadrant, they will likely follow and identify with the quadrant's "communities" and their ideals due to their shared beliefs.

We can encounter various internet circles that embrace their political-compass-derived identities. On Reddit, a subreddit titled "Political Compass Memes" has amassed 516,000 members as of November 2021. Even in its lighthearted threads that poke fun at economic issues, users have to include a "flair" that tells their quadrant. There, it is encouraged to identify, for example, as a "Lib-left" first before commenting on its threads. In Instagram, the account "the_political_compass" has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, and is filled with memes and political "wojaks" that personify each quadrant. On Youtube, there are videos of political commentators such as Ben Shapiro taking the test, popularizing these political identities to its audience.

While these political-compass-derived communities can be dismissed as lighthearted political expressions, their strong social media presence cannot be ignored. The strength of these communities are heightened by how Gen Z users are now embracing social media sites rather than traditional media organizations to find about current events (Common Sense Media, 2019). As these niche political communities are rife in social media, it could potentially be the main source of unfiltered or intense political opinions to young individuals.

This emphasizes how the political compass and these communities are not an end, but are means of politicization. As people rely more on their social group for guidance instead of their own logic in forming opinions (Converse, 1964), and since each quadrant has their own "group", young individuals who took the test are more likely to mold their own political identity and views to be similar to their quadrants, ignoring their own quirks or deviating views that existed beforehand.

The social phenomena of the political compass effectively raises one question: to what extent do these political-compass-derived identities affect an individual's economic behaviour?

Economic Implications of Political Identities

For one thing, these political identities might change young individuals from being homo economicus to becoming homo politicus.

The impact of identities to one's economic behaviour can't be understood without grasping the concept of identity economics. Formulated by Nobel Prize-winning economists George Akerlof and Rachel Kranton in their 2000 paper "Economics and Identity", it states that one's economic decisions aren't only based on financial incentives, but also on their identity. It highlights how people avoid decisions that contradict their concept of self.

Akerlof and Kranton (2000) believed that "choice of identity may be the most important 'economic' decision people make". This challenges traditional theories such as utility maximization and the rational choice theory, where individuals as rational agents are expected to seek maximal utility or satisfaction from their economic decisions. Essentially, one's concept of identity can influence the rationality of an individual's decisions to the extent that they don't always seek maximal satisfaction.

How does this relate to the political compass and their groups? In identity economics, it states that the group a person identifies with could influence them to make decisions that don't attain maximal satisfaction, so they could fit in with the group's identity (Akerlof & Kranton, 2000).  Therefore, the case of the political compass and each quadrant's communities are special: As each political quadrant is more specialized in their views, so too are the economic behaviour of its followers. Individuals that strongly identify with the distinctive ideals of their political communities can make the most specialized yet "irrational" decisions not based on maximal utility.

For example, one who strongly identifies as a "Libertarian Right", in their attempt to be consistent with the quadrant's ideals, could abstain from using state-run services, despite how beneficial and cost-effective the services are. An individual who's "Libertarian or Authoritarian Left" might only buy services from small businesses or marginalized communities, despite having higher costs and substandard service. One who is 'Authoritarian Right', from their strong sense of patriotism might join the military despite its poor work conditions. These cases don't display mere preferences of individuals, but are economic behaviours based on their political identity.

All in all, these political identities are a case of identity economics, where the concept undermines the theory of humans as 'rational actors' as we often sacrifice maximal utility in exchange for our devotion to our identities.

To Identify Or Not To Identify

The political compass test might be regarded as a trivial online pastime, but the impact that this internet test gives is undeniable. Its social and economic double axis clarifies one's nuanced political opinions and gives a path of political identity and community to impressionable young people. But perhaps the most striking effect is how it can specialize and irrationalize one's economic behaviour to be based on a certain political identity, no matter how absurd it is.

If you still remember what quadrant that you got from the political compass test, it might be best to take caution from identifying too much from it. If you want to, who knows? Maybe your economic behaviour could change once and for all.

By Gopas Teofilus Silalahi | Ilmu Ekonomi 2021 | Trainee Staff Divisi Kajian Kanopi 2021

References:

Akerlof, G. A., & Kranton, R. E. (2000). Economics and Identity. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 715--753. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2586894

Citarella, J. (2020, September 12). Marxist memes for TikTok teens: can the internet radicalize teenagers for the left? The Guardian. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/sep/12/marxist-memes-tiktok-teens-radical-left.

Common Sense Media. (2019, August 12). New Survey Reveals Teens Get Their News from Social Media and YouTube. Common Sense Media. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/about-us/news/press-releases/new-survey-reveals-teens-get-their-news-from-social-media-and-youtube.

Fogg, A. (2010, April 12). Political Compass points to alienation. The Guardian. Retrieved November 9, 2021, from https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/apr/12/political-compass-voter-alienation. 

Harman, J. C. (2018). The psychological spectrum: Political orientation and its origins in perception and culture. Undergraduate Journal of Politics and International Relations, 1(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.22599/ujpir.25

Matsangou, E. (2019, May 28). Identity economics: how financial decisions are driven by our sense of self. World Finance. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://www.worldfinance.com/wealth-management/identity-economics-how-financial-decisions-are-driven-by-our-sense-of-self.

Pace News Ltd. (2021, November 9). About the Political Compass. The Political Compass. Retrieved November 7, 2021, from https://www.politicalcompass.org/analysis2.

The Decision Lab. (2021). Identity Economics. The Decision Lab. Retrieved November 18, 2021, from https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/economics/identity-economics/.

The Decision Lab. (2020). Political Compass. The Decision Lab. Retrieved November 6, 2021, from https://thedecisionlab.com/reference-guide/political-science/political-compass/#section-9.