In this paper I critically review evidence on the structure and psychological determinants of political ideology. I present empirical evidence that supports a multidimensional structure of ideology and discuss correlates of the major dimensions. I then review recent research on the origins of ideology: Social and moral values, personality, biology, and genetics. The paper summarizes major conclusions from these studies and evaluates the quality of the evidence for each of the potential explanations. The paper concludes with suggestions for better integrating political science and psychological approaches to ideology and developing stronger connections across the varied explanations.
