Mass belief-system research assumed ideological meanings are one-dimensional and issue-oriented without evidence.

Evidence

It is our contention that in order to understand fully the nature of ideological selfidentifications, it is first necessary to uncover the meaning of the “liberal” and “conservative” labels. In this regard, implicit in much of the mass belief system’s literature are two questionable assumptions: (a) that the meaning of ideological labels is structured in dimensional terms; and (b) that the content of such meaning is largely issue oriented. Clearly, these assumptions are not unreasonable given the predominant direction of research on mass belief systems. Nonetheless, there is substantial reason to doubt their validity. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1987