Large study indicates left-wing authoritarianism exists and is a ...

The study, which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, found that left-wing ... PsyPostNoResultViewAllResultPsyPostNoResultViewAllResultHomeExclusiveSocialPsychologyPoliticalPsychologyAuthoritarianismLargestudyindicatesleft-wingauthoritarianismexistsandisakeypredictorofpsychologicalandbehavioraloutcomesbyEricW.DolanJune30,2021inAuthoritarianism,PoliticalPsychologyShareonFacebookShareonTwitterRight-wingauthoritarianismisawell-studiedpersonalityconstructcharacterizedbyadherencetoconventionalvalues,submissiontoauthority,andaggressiontowardsthosewhodeviatefromsocialnorms.Newresearchprovidesevidencethatasimilarconstructcouldhelptoexplainauthoritarianattitudesandbehaviorsamongthoseontheleftsideofthepoliticalspectrum.Thestudy,whichhasbeenacceptedforpublicationintheJournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,foundthatleft-wingauthoritarianismnotonlyexists,itisalsoastrongpredictorofparticipationinpoliticalviolence.“Authoritarianismhasreallyonlybeenstudiedinonegroupofpeople:conservatives,”saidstudyauthorThomasH.Costello,aPh.D.candidateinpsychologyatEmoryUniversity.“Thereasonsforthisarealittlecircular—namely,lotsofscholarshavetheorizedandarguedthatonlyconservativescanbeauthoritarian.Butifthisisn’tthecase,andauthoritarianindividualsalsoexistontheleft—asIthinkweshowinthestudy—thenthelackofresearchconcerningleft-wingauthoritarianismbecomesabigdeal.”“We’veonlybeenstudyingasubsetofauthoritarians,whichcanprovidealimitedorincorrectviewofthephenomenonasawhole,”Costelloexplained.“I’darguethatwestilldon’tentirelyknowwhatauthoritarianismreallyis,psychologicallyspeaking.Imaginetryingtostudyacertaindiseaseusingonlysamplesofmen.Thiswouldleadtolotsofproblems.”“Now,withthisnewwork,wecanstudybothleft-andright-wingauthoritarianismand,hopefully,isolatethepsychologicalcoreofauthoritarianismbycomparingandcontrastingtheminfutureresearch.”Insixstudies,whichincluded7,258individualsintotal,theresearchersvalidatedtheirmeasureofleft-wingauthoritarianism,whichtheycalledtheLeft-WingAuthoritarianismIndex.Theresultsindicatedthatleft-wingauthoritarianismwascomprisedofthreeprimarydimensions.Thefirstisanti-hierarchicalaggression.Peoplewhoscorehighonthisdimensionagreewithstatementssuchas“Therichshouldbestrippedoftheirbelongingsandstatus”and“Weneedtoreplacetheestablishedorderbyanymeansnecessary.”Thesecondistop-downcensorship.Peoplewhoscorehighonthisdimensionagreewithstatementssuchas“Ishouldhavetherightnottobeexposedtooffensiveviews”and“Gettingridofinequalityismoreimportantthanprotectingtheso-called‘right’tofreespeech.”Thethirdisanti-conventionalism.Peoplewhoscorehighonthisdimensionagreewithstatementssuchas“Allpoliticalconservativesarefools”and“The‘old-fashionedways’and‘old-fashionedvalues’needtobeabolished.”Costelloandhiscolleaguesalsofoundalargeoverlapinpersonalitytraits,cognitivestyles,andbeliefsamongthosewhoscoredhighonleft-wingauthoritarianismandthosewhoscoredhighonright-wingauthoritarianism.Bothgroupshadheightenedlevelsofpsychopathicmeannessandboldness,dogmatism,disinhibition,conscientiousness,needforclosure,fatalisticdeterminismbeliefs,beliefinconspiracytheories,andbeliefinadangerousworld.Moreover,bothformsofauthoritarianismwerepredictorsofheightenedscoresonalaboratory-basedmeasureofbehavioralaggressionagainstpoliticalopponents.“Peoplewithauthoritarianattitudes—whethertheyareonthefarleftorfarright—havecharacteristicallysimilarpsychologicalprofiles.Specifically,theyseemtoshareaconstellationofpersonalitytraits,cognitivefeatures,andmotivationsthatmightbeconsideredthe‘heart’ofauthoritarianism,”CostellotoldPsyPost.“There’salotmoreworktobedonescientifically.We’rehopingthatresearchersareabletousetheworkwepresentinthearticleasafoundationforallsortsofnewandinterestingquestions.”Thefindingsareinlinewithapreviousstudythatattemptedtomeasureleft-wingauthoritarianism.Thatstudyfoundthatauthoritariansonbothsidesofthepoliticaldividetendedtoscorehigheronmeasuresofdogmatismandprejudiceagainstpoliticalrivals.Butthenewresearchpointstoseveralimportantdifferencesbetweenleft-wingandright-wingauthoritarians.Forinstance,left-wingauthoritariansconsistentlyscoredhigherthantheirright-wingcounterpartsonmeasuresofneuroticism,beliefinscience,andwillingnesstobanopposingviews.Thosewhoscoredhigheronthemeasureofleft-wingauthoritarianismwerealsomorelikelytohaveusedforceonbehalfofapoliticalcausewithinthelastfiveyearsandtohaveparticipatedinviolentprotestsduringthesummerof2020.“Ourstudydoesn’tmeanthatleft-wingauthoritarianismandright-wingauthoritarianismareequallyprevalentorequallydangerous(intheU.S.orelsewhere),”Costellosaid.“Itdoesn’tmeanthatthereisamoralequivalenceacrossthefar-leftandfar-right.Wesimplyshowthat(1)left-wingauthoritarianismexistsand(2)left-wingauthoritarianismandright-wingauthoritarianismseemtooverlapquiteabit.Readersshouldnotuseourpapertoscorepoliticalpoints(though,sadly,theyalmostcertainlywill).”Thestudy,“ClarifyingtheStructureandNatureofLeft-wingAuthoritarianism“,wasauthoredbyThomasH.Costello,ShaunaM.Bowes,SeanT.Stevens,IrwinD.Waldman,ArberTasimi,andScottO.Lilienfeld.ShareTweetSendScanShareSharePin6SendGetallthelatestupdatesonnewpsychologyresearchwi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