scholarly journals Social and competitive threat as situational factors moderating relationships between moral judgments and different components of authoritarian ideology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Piotr Radkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Moral Intuitions ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Moral Basis

Abstract This paper presents research on the complexity of moral judgments underlying two components of authoritarian ideology: right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO). Based on previous research, it was expected that people who were high on moral intuitions of Ingroup/loyalty and Authority/respect (Ethics of Community) should be high on RWA, whereas people who were high on moral intuitions of Care/harm and Fairness/reciprocity (Ethics of Autonomy) should be low on SDO. In more detailed hypotheses it was assumed that such general relationships would be moderated by situational factors - threat to social order and competitive threat, respectively. Two experimental studies were conducted: the first with manipulation of the threat to social order, and the second with manipulation of the competitive threat (N = 180 and 150, respectively). Both studies showed that Ethics of Community predicted clear increase in RWA, while the Ethics of Autonomy predicted considerable decrease in SDO. However positive relationships between Ingroup/loyalty and RWA as well as between Authority/respect and RWA were strongly reinforced by threat to social order, whereas the negative relationships between Care/harm and SDO as well as between Fairness/reciprocity and SDO diminished under situationally induced aggressive ‘Darwinian’ competition. The Ethics of Community appears as a moral basis for development of right-wing authoritarianism, and this relationship is especially strong when the social order is perceived as threatened. On the other hand, the Ethics of Autonomy can be seen as a moral basis for inhibition of social dominance orientation, but it loses the moral relevance in strongly competitive social environment.

scholarly journals The Authoritarian Dynamic During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Nationalism and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

2021 ◽  
pp. 194855062097802
Author(s):  
Todd K. Hartman ◽  
Thomas V. A. Stocks ◽  
Ryan McKay ◽  
Jilly Gibson-Miller ◽  
Liat Levita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

Research has demonstrated that situational factors such as perceived threats to the social order activate latent authoritarianism. The deadly COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to test whether existential threat stemming from an indiscriminate virus moderates the relationship between authoritarianism and political attitudes toward the nation and out-groups. Using data from two large nationally representative samples of adults in the United Kingdom ( N = 2,025) and Republic of Ireland ( N = 1,041) collected during the initial phases of strict lockdown measures in both countries, we find that the associations between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and (1) nationalism and (2) anti-immigrant attitudes are conditional on levels of perceived threat. As anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic increases, so too does the effect of RWA on those political outcomes. Thus, it appears that existential threats to humanity from the COVID-19 pandemic moderate expressions of authoritarianism in society.

Interpersonal Disgust, Ideological Orientations, and Dehumanization as Predictors of Intergroup Attitudes

2007 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 691-698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Hodson ◽  
Kimberly Costello
Keyword(s):  
Social Dominance ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Path Model ◽  
Intergroup Attitudes ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Disgust Sensitivity ◽  
Group Representations ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism

Disgust is a basic emotion characterized by revulsion and rejection, yet it is relatively unexamined in the literature on prejudice. In the present investigation, interpersonal-disgust sensitivity (e.g., not wanting to wear clean used clothes or to sit on a warm seat vacated by a stranger) in particular predicted negative attitudes toward immigrants, foreigners, and socially deviant groups, even after controlling for concerns with contracting disease. The mechanisms underlying the link between interpersonal disgust and attitudes toward immigrants were explored using a path model. As predicted, the effect of interpersonal-disgust sensitivity on group attitudes was indirect, mediated by ideological orientations (social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism) and dehumanizing perceptions of the out-group. The effects of social dominance orientation on group attitudes were both direct and indirect, via dehumanization. These results establish a link between disgust sensitivity and prejudice that is not accounted for by fear of infection, but rather is mediated by ideological orientations and dehumanizing group representations. Implications for understanding and reducing prejudice are discussed.

Prejudice and personality: A role for positive-approach processes?

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 446-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Seger ◽  
Philip J. Corr
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Approach Motivation ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Positive Approach ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism

AbstractIndividuals differ in their support for social change. We argue that examinations of inequality and change would benefit from consideration of underlying personality processes. New data suggest that Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation, indicators of support for inequality, may be motivated by biologically driven personality processes, particularly those related to positive-approach motivation.

scholarly journals Experiments in political psychology

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Fischer ◽  
Quentin Atkinson ◽  
Ananish Chaudhuri
Keyword(s):  
Social Dominance ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Ultimatum Game ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Orientation Scale ◽  
The Right ◽  
Social Conservatism

This chapter provides an overview of studies that use incentivised experiments to study political ideology. We look first at studies that conceptualise political ideology along a unidimensional liberal-conservative spectrum and explore whether there are behavioural differences between liberals and conservatives. While recent studies find that liberals display more pro-sociality, many other studies find that liberals and conservatives display similar levels of pro-social, ingroup-biased, normative, and punitive behaviour. We then turn to experiments that study two-dimensional political ideology as embodied in the concepts of economic conservatism/progressivism (often measured with the Social Dominance Orientation scale) and social conservatism/progressivism (usually measured with the Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale). In such experiments, economic conservatives display lower levels of pro-sociality and universalism and greater tolerance of inequality and tendencies to harm outgroups. Social conservatives tend to display “groupishness”, including distrusting anonymous strangers, cooperating with ingroup members, following rules, punishing in the ultimatum game, and sometimes harming outgroups.

scholarly journals Leadership Preferences of Conservatives: A Desire for Cold/Cruel Dominance with (Conflicting) Links to Sadism

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeff Scott Sinn
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary Psychology ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Interpersonal Circumplex ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Regression Analyses ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Leadership Study ◽  
Negative Predictor ◽  
Leader Preference

Recent findings suggest political conservatives prefer dominant leaders (Laustsen & Petersen, 2015, 2016). However, the exact sociofunctional nature of the desired dominance is unclear. Evolutionary psychology suggests two possibilities: coordinating action and imposing costs. Study 1 operationalizes these functions using the agency and nurturance axes of the interpersonal circumplex, with respondents characterizing either themselves or their ideal leaders, thereby creating “dominance profiles” for various measures of conservatism. Results show Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), self-reported conservatism, strong-leader authoritarianism, and (to a lesser degree) Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) predict a preference for low-nurturance (i.e., cold/cruel) leaders. Unexpectedly, conservatives show no preference for agentic leadership. SDO and strong-leader authoritarianism show a preference for passive leadership. Study 2 examined whether the cold/cruel preference shown in Study 1 entails a conservative preference for sadistic leaders or leaders with other dark tendencies (e.g., Machiavellianism, psychopathy, ruthless self-advancement, rejection of ethics). Multiple regression analyses reveal SDO, strong-leader authoritarianism, and RWA as the best predictors of sadistic-leader preference. Interestingly, RWA is a negative predictor. Additional analyses find multiple dark-leader preferences for several conservatism measures (but not RWA). Among other implications, the results suggest SDO may reflect a strategy seeking exploitation rather than intergroup hierarchies.

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