Value and Social Priorities as Factors predicting Political Spectrums of Conservatism (OSulgaraei) and Reformism (Eslahtalabi): Case Study of Citizens of Isfahan City)

A lot of scholars such as Schwartz, Barney and Feldman argue that political spectrum of voters in elections is mainly founded on value priorities which enjoy higher significance in their lives. Accordingly, the present study is aimed at studying and investigating the relationship between value priorities and political orientations of citizens of the City of Isfahan. The research method in terms of data collection and data analysis is survey research. The present study was carried out on 345 participants selected from different areas of the city. To collect data, a questionnaire was used. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using factor analysis and formal analysis, and its reliability was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The data were analyzed using the SPSS. To evaluate variables, the Schwartz Value Priorities Inventory and Inglehart’s 10-point Political Spectrum Scale were used. The results indicated that firstly, the component of transcendental values have the highest degree andsynergistic values have the lowest degree among the participants. In addition, the results of multiple regression analysis indicated that while value patterns explain 0.09 of the variance of citizens’ political orientations, the total of 6 variables of social gaps (gaps of age, education, ethnicity, gender, religion, and the income level) explain 0.10 of the variance of their political orientations. This issue indicates the high significance of value priorities in predicting citizens’ political orientations. Furthermore, the results of the research indicated that two value variables of protection and synergy are significantly effective on participants’ poetical orientations. This is while that the value priority of protection causes the increase in the possibility of citizens’ tendency to Conservatism, but value priority of synergy causes their tendency towards Reformism. The results also indicted that there is no significant correlation between values of Readiness for change and transcendence and citizens’ political orientation.