Orthogonal worldviews in a cultural landscape of a power plant technology : multicultural communities of Chinese and Malay

In this study, we explore whether people’s worldviews are orthogonal. An orthogonal structure of worldviews was found from two independent studies in multi-cultural communities to be affected by a coal power plant technology. The two-dimensional worldview orientations were in rectangular(orthogonal) directions of traditions and economy. Traditional (e.g., assigning greater importance to religion and customs) and economic growth (e.g., stressing financial gains and economic development) worldviews were found to directly affect attitudes towards coal power plant technology.