Left-wing authoritarians share key psychological traits with far ...

Right-wing authoritarians tend to aggressively back the established hierarchy, while left-wing authoritarians tend to aggressively oppose it. Maincontent"Havingclarityabouttheappealofauthoritarianismmayberelevanttohelpbetterunderstandwhat'sgoingoninthepoliticallandscapetoday,"saysThomasCostello,anEmorygraduatestudentofpsychologyandfirstauthorofthestudy.Peoplewithextremepoliticalviewsthatfavorauthoritarianism—whethertheyareonthefarleftorthefarright—havesurprisinglysimilarbehaviorsandpsychologicalcharacteristics,anewstudyfinds. The JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology publishedtheresearchbypsychologistsatEmoryUniversity—thefirstcomprehensivelookatleft-wingauthoritarianism. “Wetookthelonghistoryofresearchintoright-wingauthoritarianismandusedinsightsfromthattodevelopaconceptionalframeworkandmeasurestotestforauthoritarianisminthepoliticalleft,”saysThomasCostello,anEmoryPhDstudentofpsychologyandfirstauthorofthestudy.“Wefoundthatintermsoftheirpsychologicalcharacteristicsandtheiractualbehaviors,left-wingauthoritariansareextremelysimilartoauthoritariansontheright.” Right-wingauthoritarianstendtoaggressivelybacktheestablishedhierarchy,whileleft-wingauthoritarianstendtoaggressivelyopposeit.Theyarealmostlikemirrorimagesofoneanotherthatbothshareacommonpsychologicalcore,theresearchersconclude. “Authoritarianshaveapredispositionforlikingsamenessandopposingdifferencesamongpeopleintheirenvironment,”Costellosays.“Theyaresubmissivetopeopletheyperceiveasauthorityfigures,theyaredominantandaggressivetowardspeopletheydisagreewith,andtheyarecarefultoobeywhattheyconsiderthenormsfortheirrespectivegroups.” Atitscore,authoritarianismislikelyaboutpower,Costelloadds. “It’samistaketothinkofauthoritarianismasaright-wingconcept,assomeresearchershaveinthepast,”hesays.“Wefoundthatideologybecomessecondary.Psychologicallyspeaking,you’reanauthoritarianfirst,andanideologueonlyasitservesthepowerstructurethatyousupport.” Predictingpoliticalviolence Anotherkeyfindingisthatauthoritarianismfrombothendsofthespectrumispredictiveofpersonalinvolvementinpoliticalviolence.Whileleft-wingauthoritarianismpredictsforpoliticalviolenceagainstthesysteminpower,right-wingauthoritarianismpredictsforpoliticalviolenceinsupportofthesysteminpower. Respondentstoanonlinequestionnairewhoscoredatthehighestendofaone-to-sevenscaleforauthoritarianismweretwotothreetimesmorelikelytoreporthavingengagedinpoliticalviolenceduringthepastfiveyears. Thegoodnewsisthatbothextremeauthoritarianismandatendencytowardpoliticalviolenceappearrelativelyrare,Costelloadds.Outofasamplesizeof1,000respondents,drawnfromtheonlineresearchtoolProlificandmatchedtothedemographicsoftheU.S.populationforage,raceandsex,only12reportedhavingengagedinpoliticalviolence,andtheyallscoredhighforauthoritarianism. “It’sclearthattheloudestandmostpoliticallyengagedsegmentsofsocietyhaveabigeffectonournationaldiscourse,”Costellosays.“Butthere’sabigdifferencebetweencriticizingthosewithopposingviewsandbeingwillingtouseviolentforceagainstpeoplewhodisagreewithyouasameansofchangingthestatusquo.” Whileanindividualreportingthattheyhadperformedanactofviolencewasrare,nearlyathirdofrespondentsagreedwiththestatementthattheywouldn’tmindifapoliticianthatdiametricallyopposedtheirownpoliticalviewswasassassinated.“Thehigherarespondentrankedonthescaleforeitherleft-wingorright-wingauthoritarianism,themorelikelytheyweretoagreewiththisstatement,”Costellosays. Understandingleft-wingauthoritarianism Thepsychologicalstudyofauthoritarianismgoesbacktothe1930s,associalscientiststriedtounderstandthepsychologicalprocessesthatmadepeoplemoreinclinedtosupporttheriseoffascisminEurope.TheresultingFascismScale,developedtomeasurethestrengthofindividuals’supportforfar-rightideology,helpedspawnthefieldofpoliticalpsychology. ThetopicespeciallyintriguedCostello,whoplansacareerinpoliticalpsychology.HejoinedEmorytoworkwithEmorypsychologist ScottLilienfeld —aleaderinresearchattheinterfaceofpsychology,politicsandthepolarizationofsociety—whopassedawaylastyear.Lilienfeldisseniorauthorofthecurrentpaper. “AsIbeganinvestigatingthetopicofauthoritarianism,Ifounditpuzzlingthatpsychologyresearchershadalmostexclusivelylookedattheconceptfromtheperspectiveofthefarright,”Costellosays.“Thatmakesit’sdifficulttotrulyunderstandthepsychologyofauthoritarianismandtheconditionsthatcanleadtoitsspreadinasociety.” Forthecurrentpaper,theresearchersdevelopedaconceptualframeworkforleft-wingauthoritarianism,createdmeasuresforit,andthenrefinedthesemeasuresaftertestingtheirvaliditythroughaseriesofstudiesacrossfivecommunitysamples. Inadditiontothestrikingsimilaritiesbetweenthetwopoliticalextremes,theresearchalsohighlightedakeydifferencebetweenthetwo:Left-wingauthoritariansweremorelikelytoperceivetheworldasadangerousplaceandexperienceintenseemotionsandasenseofuncontrollabilityinresponsetostress.Right-wingauthoritariansweremorecognitivelyrigid,lessopentonewexperiences,andlesslikelytobelieveinscience. Theresearchdoesnotdelineatetheprevalenceofauthoritarianisminsociety.Likeanyotherpersonalitytrait,authoritarianismliesonaspectrumwithonlyafewattheextremetop-endofthescale,Costellosays. “Ourworkshouldnotbeusedasapoliticalcudgel,”hestresses.“Insteaditshouldbeusedasapieceofinformationtohelpusunderstandthepullofextremismandintolerance.Havingclarityabouttheappealofauthoritarianismmayberelevanttohelpbetterunderstandwhat’sgoingoninthepoliticallandscapetoday.” Co-authorsofthepaperincludeShaunaBowes,anEmorygraduatestudentofpsychology; IrwinWaldman,Emoryprofessorofpsychology; ArberTasimi,Emoryassistantprofessorofpsychology;andSeanStevens,fromNewYorkUniversity’sDepartmentofBusinessandSocietyandtheFoundationforIndividualRightsinEducation.TheworkwasfundedinpartbytheInstituteforHumaneStudiesatGeorgeMasonUniversity.SkipsidebarcontentPrintResourceseScienceCommons:NaturalandsocialsciencesnewsfromEmoryRelatedStoriesScottLilienfeldrememberedforadvancingpsychologywhileembodyingkindnessOct.1,2020Emorypsychologistexamineswhether'intellectualhumility'cantemperpolitical,religiouspolarizationOct.17,2019TagsScienceResearchEmoryCollegePsychologyFacultyRecentNews