Navigating the Cultural Maze: Validating the Douglasian Cultural Theory Measures

This study examines the cross-national validity of Cultural Theory (CT) by comparing CT measures developed by Jenkins-Smith et al. in Arkansas, USA, and Seoul, South Korea. CT explores how cultural biases shape decision making, particularly regarding risk perception, environmental attitudes, and political behavior. While CT’s main constructs – hierarchism, egalitarianism, individualism, and fatalism – are generally reliable, our findings indicate limitations in cross-cultural consistency. In the Seoul sample, hierarchism lacks consistency, suggesting that some CT constructs may not translate fully outside Western contexts. Our regression analysis shows that CT measures predict political ideology, perceptions of nature’s fragility, and environmental concerns more strongly in Arkansas than in Seoul, highlighting cultural variations in CT’s applicability. This study underscores the need to refine CT measures to enhance relevance across diverse cultural settings and informs future research on how cultural contexts influence attitudes toward public policy.