Left-Wing Authoritarianism Is Real And Needs To Be Taken ...

The very idea of left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) has received not only little academic attention, but a lot of scepticism from psychologists. “ ... Skiptocontent ☰Menu By EmmaYoung Authoritarianismhasbeenwell-studiedbypsychologists.Well,right-wingauthoritarianismhas.Infact,asthat’stypicallytheonlytypethat’sstudied,youmightbeforgivenforthinkingthat’swhatauthoritarianismis.Theveryideaofleft-wingauthoritarianism(LWA)hasreceivednotonlylittleacademicattention,butalotofscepticismfrompsychologists.“IthinkIhavenotfoundanyauthoritariansontheleftbecauseifthereeverwereany,mostofthemhavedriedupandblownaway….”wroteBobAltemeyer,pioneerofworkonright-wingauthoritarianism,in1996. ButasThomasCostelloatEmoryUniversityandcolleagueswriteintheirnewpaperintheJournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology:PersonalityProcessesandIndividualDifferences,“FromMaoistChinatotheKhmerRouge(andperhapseventheFrenchReignofTerror),historyaboundswithexamplesofLWAatthebroadersocietallevel,renderingpsychology’sinabilitytoidentifyleft-wingauthoritarianspuzzling.” Puzzlingisright.Perhapspredominantlyleft-leaningresearchershavebeenunwillingtoevengothere….Butintheirnewpaper,Costelloandhiscolleaguesabsolutelygothere.TheyconcludethatLWAdoesindeedexist,andtheydefinenotonlyitscharacteristicsbutthecharacteristicsofthepeoplewhosubscribetoit.Theyalsorevealsubstantialsimilaritiesbetweenauthoritariansonthepoliticalrightandtheleft. First,theteamusedabottom-upapproachtodeviseascaletogetatLWA.Aswellasscouringresearchpapersforitemsthatmightrelatetoauthoritarianism,theysolicitedideasforitemsfrompsychologists,politicalscientistsandphilosophers.Usingmultiplebatchesofonlineparticipants,theteamgraduallywhittleddownandrevisedtheseitems.Theyendedupwith39itemsthatreflectedthreeconceptuallydistinctdimensionsofLWA.I’lltakethedefinitionsdirectlyfromthepaper:  AntihierarchicalAggression–thebeliefthatthosecurrentlyinpowershouldbepunished,theestablishedordershouldbeoverthrown,andthatextremeactions,suchaspoliticalviolence,arejustifiabletoachievetheseaims.Anticonventionalism–therejectionoftraditionalvalues,amoralabsolutismconcerningprogressivevaluesandconcomitantdismissalofconservativesasinherentlyimmoral,andaneedforpoliticalhomogeneityinone’ssocialenvironment.Top-DownCensorship–preferencesfortheuseofgovernmentalandinstitutionalauthoritytoquashoppositionandbaroffensiveandintolerantspeech. Lookingoverthatlist,IcertainlyknowsomepeoplewhoI’msurethinkofthemselvesasbeingextremelyliberalbutwhowouldscoreprettyhighlyontheanti-conventionalismdimension,atleast. Theresearchersthenranstudiesusingfreshbatchesofparticipantsandanimpressivearrayofself-reportscalestolookateverythingfrompersonality,tomood,tocognition.Theyfoundafewdifferencesbetweenleft-wingandright-wingauthoritarians.PeoplewhoscoredhighlyontheLWAscalereportedmorenegativeemotionsandweremoreneuroticthanaverage(unlikeRWAs).Theywerealsomorelikelytoreportschadenfreude.TheRWAs,meanwhile,scoredhigherforunjustifiedcertaintyintheirbeliefsandconfirmatorythinking(atendencytofavourinformationthatsupportsyourbeliefs).RWAwasalsomorestronglylinkedtocognitiverigidityandlowopenness,aswellasalowerthantypicalbeliefinscience. However,therewerealotmoresimilaritiesbetweenthetwogroupsthandifferences.Somuchso,thatitseemsthereisasharedconstellationoftraits“thatmightbeconsideredthe‘heart’ofauthoritarianism”,theteamwrites.Thesesharedtraitsinclude(andagain,I’llquotedirectlyfromthepaper):a“preferenceforsocialuniformity,prejudicetowardsdifferentothers,willingnesstowieldgroupauthoritytocoercebehaviour,cognitiverigidity,aggressionandpunitivenesstowardsperceivedenemies,outsizedconcernforhierarchyandmoralabsolutism.” Intermsofpotentiallydangerousimplicationsforothers,bothleft-andring-wingauthoritarianismwaslinkedtotheendorsementofpoliticalviolence;butfortheLWAs,thatwasviolencedirectedatthestate(violentprotests,forexample),whereasfortheRWAs,itwasinsupportofthestate(supportingpolicecrackdowns,say). Aswellasanalysingthisself-reportdata,theteamranastudydesignedtolookatLWAandactualbehaviour.Onlineparticipantsselectedthedifficultylevelofasetofpuzzlesthattheybelievedtheyweregivingtoanotherparticipanttocomplete.Beforetheychosethepuzzles,though,theywereshownwhattheyweretoldwastheFacebookprofileofthis‘partner’.Thosewho’dscoredhighlyforLWA‘punished’partnerswithright-wingprofileswithharderpuzzlesand‘helped’thosewithleft-wingprofileswitheasierpuzzles.Thiswasthecaseevenwhenparticipants’politicalideologywastakenintoaccount,showingthatLWAcanbelinkedtoactualaggressivebehaviourtowardsthepoliticaloutgroupaboveandbeyondanyeffectsofpoliticalideology,theteamconcluded. Noneofthesestudieswereongroupsofparticipantswhowererepresentativeofageneralpopulation,however.Sotheresearchersranafreshstudyon834whowereselectedtoberepresentativeofthepopulationoftheUS.Again,theyfoundlargecorrelationsbetweenLWAscoresanddogmatism,aswellasschadenfreude,moraldisengagementandviolencetowardsout-groups.Thisincludedactualparticipationintheuseofforceforapoliticalcauseovertheprecedingfiveyears.ItalsoincludedsupportofviolentgroupactionduringprotestsagainstpolicebrutalitytowardsBlackAmericansoverthesummerof2020,inthewakeofthemurderofGeorgeFloyd.  Allinall,then,theteampresentalotofstudies—andalotofanalyses.Therearesomelimitationstothework,however.Becauseofthenatureofthescales,it’snotpossibletotellwhetherright-wingauthoritariansaremoreauthoritarianthantheleft-wingtype,orviceversa,say.Also,theroutetoLWAmaybemorewell-meaningthantheroutetoRWA,theresearcherswrite;forexample,someonewhowantspassionatelytochallengeinequalityinsocietymayendupthinkingviolentprotestistheonlyoption.“AnysimilaritiesacrossLWAandRWAnotwithstanding,weendorsenoclaimsofmotivationalormoralequivalence(orlackthereof)acrossthetwoconstructsatpresent,”theywrite. Theirbodyofresultssurelysuggests,though,thatargumentsthatthesearchforLWAshouldbeabandonedshouldthemselvesbeabandoned.Infact,excludingleft-wingfeaturesfromstudiesofauthoritarianism“haslimitedthekindsofknowledgewecanproduceaspsychologicalscientists,”theteamargues.Andgiventherelevanceofauthoritarianismtopolitics,globally,andtohowsocietiesrespondtoandfightforchange,surelyit’shightimeforthattoshift. –Clarifyingthestructureandnatureofleft-wingauthoritarianism. EmmaYoung (@EmmaELYoung)isastaffwriterat BPSResearchDigest Sharethis:TwitterFacebookLinkedInRedditPinterestPocketEmailLikethis:LikeLoading... Postnavigation ←PreviousPostBlindAndSightedPeopleUnderstandColourSimilarlyBy EmmaL.Barratt.Blindpeopledevelopsimilarintuitivetheoriesaboutcolourtosightedpeople.NextPost→RageOverRepetitiveMovements?ItCouldBeMisokinesiaBy EmmaL.Barratt.Studydescribes"misokinesia",ahatredofsmall,repetitivemovementslikelegshakingorfingertapping. 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