Humanism and Normativism: Two fundamental aspects of the personal worldview

Broad systems of meaning permeating a person’s worldview are crucial to personality, because they organize beliefs,
values, and attitudes and imbue lives with meaning and direction. Yet they have attracted little research. Humanism
and Normativism are arguably the broadest worldview constructs to date, encompassing attitudes about human
nature, society, morality, affect, and epistemology. According to Polarity Theory, they are antithetical: Humanism
glorifies humanity, portraying human beings as intrinsically valuable, whereas Normativism portrays human worth as
contingent upon norm conformity and achievement of ideals. But previous research has shown that they are distinct.
The current studies further investigated their differences. Study 1 demonstrated correlations with other worldview
constructs: mechanism, positivism (Normativism), organicism, constructivism, and transcendentalism (Humanism). In
Study 2, Normativism correlated with absolutist thinking, including belief in certain knowledge, essentialist beliefs,
political conservatism, and both religious fundamentalism and opposition to religion, whereas Humanism correlated with
spirituality and opposition to inequality. Study 3 demonstrated correlations with Big Five Aspects, including
compassion, enthusiasm, and openness (Humanism) and low compassion, openness, and intellect, but high orderliness
(Normativism). The differential underpinnings and explanatory powers of Humanism and Normativism are discussed.