Societal Threat to Safety,Compensatory Control,and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism

We analyzed directly and indirectly the relationships between societal threat to safety, perceived control, and the increase in right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) in two studies. In Study 1 (national sample of the Italian population, N = 1,169), we performed a longitudinal analysis structured into three waves (January 2003, September 2004, and January 2005). A moderated regression analysis showed that RWA increased from 2003 to 2005 as a function of perceived societal threat to safety more among low‐ than among high RWA scorers. In experimental Study 2 (Italian university students, N = 131) a moderated mediation model showed loss of perceived control to mediate the relation between societal threat to safety and the increase in RWA, but among low authoritarians only. Limitations, implications, and possible developments of this research are discussed.     

Self-concept clarity buffers the impact of societal threat to safety on right-wing authoritarianism

Exposure to societal threat can elicit an increase in right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). In this study, using a quasi-experimental vignette design (Italian community sample, N = 86), we tested the moderating role of self-concept clarity (SCC). A moderated regression showed that manipulated societal threat to safety fostered RWA only among low SCC scorers. It is concluded that SCC is an important resource for individuals facing threat conditions.     

Right‐wing authoritarianism,societal threat to safety,and psychological distress

In two quasi‐experimental vignette studies, we have analyzed how societal threat to safety moderates the relation between right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA) and psychological distress. In Study 1 (Italian community sample, N = 343), we focused on depressive symptoms (measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale and the General Health Questionnaire). Two moderated regressions showed that the relation between RWA and both measures of depressive symptoms was positive and significant only among people exposed to a socially threatening scenario. In Study 2 (Italian student sample, N = 219), we focused on state anxiety and replicated Study 1's results. The findings indicated that, in conditions of societal threat to safety, RWA is a risk factor for psychological distress. Strengths, limitations, and possible developments of this research are discussed.     

Meaning buffers right-wing authoritarian responses to societal threat via the mediation of loss of perceived control

The literature shows that exposure to societal threat stemming from criminality can elicit an increase in right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) via the mediation of the loss of perceived control. In this study, we investigated whether the perception of meaning can act as a buffering factor for such process, performing an experiment with 316 Italian university students (67.8% women; mean age = 25.81, SD = 9.18). A moderated mediation model showed that the loss of perceived control mediated the relation between societal threat stemming from criminality and RWA, but that the second link was significant only among people low in meaning. Limitations, implications and possible developments of this research are discussed.     

When threat to society becomes a threat to oneself: Implications for right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice

The relationships between threat on one hand and right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice on the other were investigated in a heterogeneous sample (N = 588). Specifically, we considered the perception of economic and terroristic threats in terms of their consequences at the societal and personal levels. Previous studies revealed that societal consequences of threat, rather than personal consequences, are related to right‐wing attitudes. However, the present results challenge these findings. More specifically, three important results emerged. First, items probing the distinct threat levels loaded on separate dimensions for economic and terroristic threat, validating the distinction between societal and personal threat consequences. Second, consistent with previous research, this study revealed that perceived societal consequences of threat yield strong and robust relationships with all target variables. However, personal consequences of threat were also associated with higher levels of right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO), and ethnic prejudice in particular. Third, societal and personal consequences of threat interacted in explaining the target variables. More specifically, feeling personally threatened by terrorism was only related to higher levels of RWA in the presence of low levels of threat to society, whereas experiencing personal economic threat was only related to higher levels of SDO and ethnic prejudice when high societal economic threat was experienced. In sum, although the perception of societal consequences of threat plays a prominent role in explaining right‐wing attitudes and ethnic prejudice, the perception of being personally affected by threat is also associated with higher levels of RWA and SDO, and especially ethnic prejudice.     

The impact of the HEXACO personality model in predicting socio-political attitudes: The moderating role of interest in politics

In this paper, the relationships between the HEXACO personality model and socio-political attitudes were investigated. It was hypothesized that the relationship between Honesty-Humility and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and that between Openness and Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) were moderated by interest in politics. Three hundred and forty-four individuals participated in the study. Results showed that Honesty-Humility affected SDO and Openness affected RWA more strongly among individuals with a higher level of interest in politics. Facet-level analyses revealed that Humility and Experiential Openness were uniquely connected to ideology. These effects were also moderated by interest in politics.     

Personality,identity styles and authoritarianism: an integrative study among late adolescents

The relations between five personality factors, three identity styles, the prejudice dispositions of right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO) and racial prejudice were investigated in a Flemish‐Belgian late adolescent sample (N = 328). Results show that Openness to Experience and Agreeableness relate to racial prejudice but that these relations were fully mediated by RWA and SDO. In addition, results show that whereas RWA relates to Conscientiousness and lack of Openness to Experience, SDO relates to lack of Agreeableness and lack of Openness to Experience. The relation between Conscientiousness and RWA and between Openness to Experience and SDO was fully mediated by the identity styles. However, Openness to Experience had a direct influence on RWA and Agreeableness had a direct influence on SDO. The implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Not in My Backyard! Authoritarianism,Social Dominance Orientation,and Support for Strict Immigration Policies at Home and Abroad

Many controversial immigration policies have recently emerged across the United States and abroad. We explore the role of national context in shaping support for such policies. Specifically, we examine whether the extent to which ideological attitudes—Right‐Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO)—predict policy support is moderated by the national context of the policy. Across three studies, United States citizens read about a controversial immigration policy affecting either their own country (United States) or a foreign country (Israel or Singapore) and indicated their support for the policy. Results reveal that SDO predicts policy support, regardless of its national context; this effect is mediated by perceived competition. Conversely, RWA predicts policy support only if the policy affects domestic immigration; this effect is mediated by perceptions of cultural threat. Consistent with prior research, the present findings highlight the role of perceived cultural threat to one's ingroup and perceived competition in shaping attitudes toward immigration and shed light on some of the motivations underlying the recent rise in popularity of strict immigration policies.     

Right-Wing Ideology as a Predictor of Collective Action: A Test Across Four Political Issue Domains

Despite a vast literature documenting motivations for collective action, the role of sociopolitical ideologies, including right-wing ideologies, in predicting collective action is underresearched. Literature on right-wing ideological beliefs suggests that those higher in right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) or social dominance orientation (SDO) hold specific attitudes or endorse specific policies, in part, because of factors such as perceived fear-based threat or empathy. In the present research, structural equation modeling (SEM) was run on pooled data from a diverse Canadian university sample and two American adult samples (total N = 1,469). Participants completed measures of RWA, SDO, fear-based threat, empathy, and domain-specific collective action. Results showed that RWA and SDO both related positively to collective action targeting societal moral breakdown but negatively to collective action aimed at equalizing race relations or fighting climate change. Whereas the indirect effects of right-wing ideologies via fear-based threat or empathy were significant in all four domains for SDO, the indirect effect of RWA was only significant in the climate change domain. Implications are discussed.     

Personality and prejudice: a meta-analysis and theoretical review

Despite a substantial literature examining personality, prejudice, and related constructs such as Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), there have been no systematic reviews in this area. The authors reviewed and meta-analyzed 71 studies (N = 22,068 participants) investigating relationships between Big Five dimensions of personality, RWA, SDO, and prejudice. RWA was predicted by low Openness to Experience but also Conscientiousness, whereas SDO was predicted by low Agreeableness and also weakly by low Openness to Experience. Consistent with a dual-process motivational model of ideology and prejudice, the effects of Agreeableness on prejudice were fully mediated by SDO, and those of Openness to Experience were largely mediated by RWA. Finally, the effects of Agreeableness and Openness to Experience were robust and consistent across samples, although subtle moderating factors were identified, including differences in personality inventory (NEO Personality Inventory-Revised vs. Big Five Inventory), differences across prejudice domain, and cross-cultural differences in Conscientiousness and Neuroticism. Implications for the study of personality and prejudice are discussed.     

Predicting right-wing authoritarianism via personality and dangerous world beliefs: direct, indirect, and interactive effects

In an Italian sample (N = 483, 78.23% women, mean age = 27.61 years old), we used structural equation modeling with latent variables and interactions to analyze the direct, indirect, and interactive effects exerted on right-wing authoritarianism by the Big Five factors of personality and by dangerous world beliefs. Openness, Neuroticism, and Conscientiousness exerted direct effects on right-wing authoritarianism; the first two relationships were partially mediated by dangerous world beliefs. Most importantly, the relationship between dangerous world beliefs and right-wing authoritarianism was moderated by Openness: dangerous world beliefs significantly influenced right-wing authoritarianism solely for participants high in Openness. Limitations and possible developments of this research are discussed.     

The Correlation Between Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation: The Moderating Effects of Political and Religious Identity

In a secondary analysis performed on a representative sample of the Italian population (N = 887), we examined the correlation between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO), analyzing the moderating effect exerted on such correlation by political interest and religion importance. RWA and SDO showed a positive, significant correlation (r = .38), moderated by political interest (which heightened it) and religion importance (which lowered it). Limits, implications, and possible developments of the research are discussed.     

The intervening role of social worldviews in the relationship between the five‐factor model of personality and social attitudes

The present research investigates in a student (N = 183) and a voter sample (N = 276) whether the relationships between the Five‐Factor Model (FFM) personality dimensions and social attitudes (i.e. Right‐Wing Authoritarianism [RWA] and Social Dominance Orientation [SDO]) are mediated by social worldviews (i.e. dangerous and jungle worldviews). Two important results were obtained. First, the perception of the world as inherently dangerous and chaotic partially mediated the relationships of the personality dimensions Openness and Neuroticism and the social attitude RWA. Second, the jungle worldview completely mediated the relationships between Agreeableness and SDO, but considerable item overlap between the jungle worldview and SDO was also noted. It was further revealed that acquiescence response set and item overlap had an impact on social worldviews and attitudes, but that their relationships were hardly affected by these biases. The discussion focuses on the status of social worldviews to explain social attitudes. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Terrorist threat,dehumanization, and right‐wing authoritarianism as predictors of discrimination

This study analyzed the relationship between terrorist threat and discrimination, operationalized by support for retributive justice against Islamic groups suspect of terrorist crimes. Two experimental studies were performed. Study 1 (N = 215) showed that the terrorist threat against the ingroup raises the support for the retributive procedures through the dehumanization of the outgroup. Study 2 (N = 304) analyzed how the mediating role of dehumanization in the relationship between terrorist threat and support for retributive justice is moderated by right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA). In addition, the study aimed to verify if the dehumanization of outgroup and RWA could explain the relationship between terrorist threat and discrimination of Muslim immigrants. The results indicated that adherence to RWA favors dehumanization of the outgroup and, consecutively, the discrimination, operationalized as support for the use of retributive justice. The adherence to RWA has been identified as the mechanism that explains the discrimination against Muslim immigrants.     

Personality and political orientation: Meta-analysis and test of a Threat-Constraint Model

We synthesized and meta-analyzed 73 studies (N = 71,895) examining the associations between Big-Five personality and single-item self-placement measures of political orientation. Openness to Experience (r = −.18) and Conscientiousness (r = .10) were significantly but weakly correlated with political conservatism. The weak Openness-political orientation link was moderated by systemic threat and uncertainty (indexed by nation-wide homicide and unemployment). We propose a Threat-Constraint Model explaining this previously undetected Person × Situation interaction. The model shows that there was a moderately-sized negative correlation between Openness and political conservatism when systemic threat was low (r = −.422) but that this association was negligible at only moderate levels of threat (r = −.066). These findings highlight the economic and societal constraints of personality-political ideology associations.     

Big-Five Personality,Social Worldviews,and Ideological Attitudes: Further Tests of a Dual Process Cognitive-Motivational Model

Abstract

In this study, we extended the Dual Process Model of Ideology and Prejudice by incorporating the Five-Factor Model of Personality (N = 924). Disagreeable people tended to view the social world as competitive, which in turn predicted heightened motivations for group-based dominance and superiority (Social Dominance Orientation or SDO), whereas people low in Openness to Experience and high in Conscientiousness directly expressed heightened security-cohesion motivations (Right-Wing Authoritarianism or RWA). Other personality dimensions were weakly associated with RWA, and these effects were mediated by dangerous worldview. Multiple distinct aspects of personality predict SDO and RWA both directly and indirectly through worldviews, but we found little evidence for the possibility that personality alters the extent to which worldviews (once formed) predict SDO and RWA.     

Support for discriminatory behaviours against immigrants in Italy: Perceived threat and positive beliefs mediate the effect of contact with immigrants

The present study aimed at investigating whether the effects of intergroup contact on support for discriminatory behaviours against immigrants was mediated by perceived threat from immigrants and positive beliefs toward immigrants. Using data from the Italian national survey on “Discrimination by Gender, Sexual Orientation and Ethnic Origin,” which followed a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling procedure, a representative sample of 5509 Italian residents (53.4% women), aged 18 to 74 years, participated. Findings showed that contact with immigrants was negatively related to perceived threat, and positively related to positive beliefs toward immigrants. Mediational analysis conducted by structural equation modelling, indicated that support for discriminatory behaviours was positively associated with perceived threat, and negatively associated with positive beliefs toward immigrants. Both variables together mediated the relationship between contact with immigrants and support for discriminatory behaviours against immigrants; individually, indirect relationships were also significant. To promote interaction between natives and immigrants by reducing the perceived threat and strengthening positive beliefs toward immigrants might lessen support for discriminatory behaviours against immigrants.     

Mitigation system threat partially mediates the effects of right‐wing ideologies on climate change beliefs

Research consistently shows that right‐wing ideological adherents are more likely to deny climate change. However, less is known about how right‐wing ideological subtypes are uniquely related to climate change denial, as well as what explains these relationships. This study examines whether threat to the socioeconomic system in the form of climate change mitigation policies, referred to as Climate Change Mitigation Threat (CCMT), mediates the relationships between Right‐Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) subtypes and four forms of climate change denial (existence denial, human cause denial, impact denial and climate science denial). U.S. participants (N = 334; M_age = 34.70, SD = 5.98) were recruited via Amazon MTurk. When shared variance in the predictors was accounted for, we found that: (a) Conventionalism (RWA‐C) positively predicted all forms of climate change denial; (b) Dominance (SDO‐D) positively predicted existence denial; (c) Anti‐Egalitarianism (SDO‐E) positively predicted both human cause and impact denial; and (d) Aggression (RWA‐A) negatively predicted existence denial. All significant direct relationships were partially mediated by CCMT, except for the direct paths between SDO‐D and existence denial, and RWA‐A and existence denial. These findings suggest that right‐wing adherents who conform to societal norms and prefer unequal social systems may deny climate change partly due to a perception that mitigation strategies proposed to combat climate change threaten the existing socioeconomic system.     

The Personality Bases of Ideology: A One-Year Longitudinal Study

ABSTRACT

The cross-lagged effects of the Big-Five personality dimensions on Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) were examined over 1 year (N = 112). Consistent with the Dual Process Cognitive-Motivational Model, SDO and RWA exhibited markedly different personality bases. Low Agreeableness and unexpectedly high Extraversion predicted change in the motivational goal for group-based dominance and superiority (SDO), whereas Openness to Experience predicted change in the motivational goal for social cohesion and collective security (RWA). Neuroticism and Conscientiousness did not predict change in SDO or RWA over time. These findings extend previous cross-sectional (correlational) research and indicate that key dimensions of personality (primarily Agreeableness and Openness to Experience) are an important temporal antecedent of the group-based motivational goals underlying individual differences in prejudice.     

The role of ingroup threat and conservative ideologies on prejudice against immigrants in two samples of Italian adults

This research investigated the relationship among perception of ingroup threats (realistic and symbolic), conservative ideologies (social dominance orientation [SDO] and right-wing authoritarianism [RWA]), and prejudice against immigrants. Data were collected with a cross-sectional design in two samples: non-student Italian adults (n = 223) and healthcare professionals (n = 679). Results were similar in both samples and indicated that symbolic and realistic threats, as well as SDO and RWA, positively and significantly predicted anti-immigrant prejudice. Moreover, the model considering SDO and RWA as mediators of threats’ effects on prejudice showed a better fit than the model in which ingroup threats mediated the effects of SDO and RWA on prejudice against immigrants. Accordingly, SDO and RWA partially mediated the effect of both symbolic and realistic threats, which maintained a significant effect on prejudice against immigrants, however.