Replication data for ""Left and Right" and the psychology of the collective action problem

Replication data for ""Left and Right" and the psychology of the collective action problem - 5 studies “Left and right” remains the dominant heuristic to describe political outlooks across Western democracies and beyond. However, attempts to conceptualise the distinction remain theoretically underdeveloped and empirically untested. We build on findings across political philosophy, evolutionary psychology, and economics to argue that the distinction of “left and right” is likely reflective of predispositions towards “collective action problems”. We do not theorise that right-wing individuals are opposed to collective action, rather they perceive a higher threshold for its feasibility. We devise and validate measures of these predispositions. In five studies across India, Montenegro, Spain, and the UK we show that one’s perceptions of collective action are robustly and consistently associated with left-right self-placement, policy preferences across economic and non-economic issues, and voting for “left and right”. Our findings complement identitarian understandings of “left and right” and have consequences for the common origins of public opinion.