Cooperations
Cooperation 5: Jurisprudence / Developmental Psychology
In collaboration between the projects on law and developmental psychology, the main question was to what extent the perceived legitimacy of governmental agencies’ actions is limited by culturally transmitted values. Values are understood as collective, generalized, action-leading beliefs that are shared by members of a cultural group (collective intentions) and that structure intention in actions. Here, it was of special interest to investigate whether individuals evaluated a strong regulation of government agencies by the government as important. Individuals who view values such as stability and security as important in their lives are more likely to trust governmental institutions in comparison to individuals who esteem values like openness and self-determination. In order to investigate this research question, Japanese and German law students were asked about their personal value preferences, trust in political institutions, and acceptance of governmental regulation. To assess acceptance of governmental regulation, vignettes were developed and successfully tested. Mean comparisons revealed no group differences between German and Japanese students regarding the level of trust in political institutions (e.g., trust in the parliament, legal system) and acceptance of independent governmental agencies. On the individual level, however, results revealed significant culture-specific correlations between individual values and rejection of independent government agencies. In Germany, but not in Japan, the more that participants’ rated the value dimension of security as important, the more they supported governmental regulation of government agencies. The present results suggest that individual values in terms of generalized action goals can influence the evaluation of collective actors and their intentions, such as the acceptance of specific forms of institutional regulation and legislative arrangements. Limits are set on the legislator’s intent to regulate the actions of government agencies through institutional frameworks insofar as cultural values (that are shared by members of a group) influence the individual acceptance and perceived legitimacy of an intentional governmental regulation of government agencies.