scholarly journals Need for Closure and Perceived Threat as Bases of Right-Wing Authoritarianism: A Longitudinal Moderation Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 433-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas De keersmaecker ◽  
Arne Roets ◽  
Kristof Dhont ◽  
Jasper Van Assche ◽  
Emma Onraet ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Need For Closure ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism

scholarly journals Actual Threat, Perceived Threat, and Authoritarianism: An Experimental Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Russo ◽  
Michele Roccato ◽  
Ugo Merlone
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Community Sample ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Threat Perception ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Cognitive Studies ◽  
The Social

Abstract Archival, correlational, and experimental studies converge showing strong links between societal threat and authoritarianism. However, inconsistent with the social cognitive studies showing that our perception of the reality is systematically biased, the literature on the threat-authoritarianism relations has largely ignored the connection between the actual societal threat and its perception. In this study, we analyzed the relation between objective societal threat and authoritarians’ perception of it, hypothesizing that authoritarians would tend to overestimate societal threat and that such overestimation would increase the endorsement of authoritarian attitudes and the preference for authoritarian political systems. Using an experimental approach, we studied the relations between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), actual societal threat (manipulated as low vs. moderate), and perceived societal threat working with an Italian community sample (N = 209, Mage = 29.70, SD = 9.53, 64.1% women). Actual threat and RWA equally predicted participants’ threat perception, while their interaction did not. In turn, threat perception further increased RWA and support to authoritarian political system. We discussed the results in terms of a vicious circle whereby authoritarians overestimate societal threat and such overestimation reinforces authoritarian attitudes.

scholarly journals Predisposed to prejudice but responsive to intergroup contact? Testing the unique benefits of intergroup contact across different types of individual differences

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nour S. Kteily ◽  
Gordon Hodson ◽  
Kristof Dhont ◽  
Arnold K. Ho
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Cognitive Style ◽  
Racial Profiling ◽  
Intergroup Contact ◽  
Group Identification ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Need For Closure ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
White Americans ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism

Recent research demonstrates that intergroup contact effectively reduces prejudice even among prejudice-prone persons. But some assert that evidence regarding the benefits of contact among prejudice-prone individuals is “mixed,” particularly for those higher in social dominance orientation (SDO), one of the field’s most important individual differences. Problematically, person variables are typically considered in isolation despite being intercorrelated, leaving the question of which unique psychological aspects of prejudice proneness (e.g., authoritarianism, antiegalitarianism, cognitive style) are responsive to intergroup contact unresolved. To address this shortcoming, in a large sample of White Americans ( N = 465) we simultaneously examined the contact–attitude association at varying levels of ideological (SDO, right-wing authoritarianism), cognitive style (need for closure), and identity-based (group identification) indicators of prejudice proneness. Examining a broad range of intergroup criterion measures (e.g., racism, support for racial profiling) we reveal that greater contact quality is associated with lower levels of intergroup hostility for those both lower and higher on a variety of indicators of prejudice proneness, simultaneously considered.

Side Effects of Multiculturalism

2013 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 305-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Kauff ◽  
Frank Asbrock ◽  
Stefan Thörner ◽  
Ulrich Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Representative Survey ◽  
Attitudes Toward Immigrants ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
The Relationship

We studied the influence of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) on the relationship between a multicultural ideology and attitudes about ethnic diversity and immigrants. We hypothesized that a multicultural ideology poses a threat to authoritarian individuals, which leads to a decrease in positive diversity beliefs and an increase in prejudice toward immigrants. On the basis of representative survey-data from 23 European countries, we showed that the negative relationship between RWA and positive diversity beliefs was stronger the more a country engages in multiculturalism (Study 1). In addition, in two experiments we demonstrated that RWA moderated the relationship between a video promoting multiculturalism (Study 2) or a picture showing a multicultural group (Study 3) and attitudes toward immigrants and diversity. As expected, for high-RWAs, both stimuli led to an increase in prejudice. In Study 3, perceived threat mediated the relationship between a multicultural norm and prejudice for people high in RWA.

Epistemic Motivation and the Structure of Moral Intuition: Dispositional Need for Closure as a Predictor of Individualizing and Binding Morality

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Federico ◽  
Pierce Ekstrom ◽  
Michal Reifen Tagar ◽  
Allison L. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Moral Intuition ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Need For Closure ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Epistemic Motivation ◽  
Group Loyalty ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
The Relationship

Moral foundations theory argues that morality encompasses both group–preserving binding concerns about in–group loyalty, authority and purity and individualizing concerns about harm avoidance and fairness. Although studies have examined the relationship between sociopolitical attitudes and the moral foundations, the relationship between individual differences in epistemic motivation—as indexed by need for cognitive closure—and moral intuition remains unexplored. Given the role of groups in providing epistemic security, we hypothesized that the need for closure would be most strongly related to support for the foundations most central to the regulation of group ties, that is, the binding foundations as opposed to the individualizing ones. Data from three samples provided evidence for this. Unpacking this pattern, we also found that those high in need for closure endorsed all foundations, whereas those low in need for closure emphasized only the individualizing ones. Finally, we found that the relationship between need for closure and the binding foundations was mediated by right–wing authoritarianism, an orientation closely linked to a desire for the preservation of conventional in–group morality. Copyright © 2016 European Association of Personality Psychology

Motivated Social Cognition and Authoritarianism

2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 204-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathias Berggren ◽  
Nazar Akrami ◽  
Robin Bergh ◽  
Bo Ekehammar
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Social Dominance ◽  
Common Factor ◽  
Cognitive Styles ◽  
Social Dominance Orientation ◽  
Social Attitudes ◽  
Need For Closure ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Motivated Social Cognition

Abstract. The domain of motivated social cognition includes a variety of concepts dealing with a need to seek structure and avoid ambiguity, and several of these concepts are also powerful predictors of social attitudes, such as authoritarianism. It is possible though that these relations are due to certain facets reoccurring in the different scales. In this paper, we tested the notion that authoritarianism is predicted specifically by rigidity in beliefs (closed-mindedness), rather than broader cognitive styles. Thus, we initially identified items in the motivated social cognition scales that are specifically measuring closed-mindedness. These items included the closed-mindedness facet of the need for closure scale and items from intolerance of ambiguity and need for cognition. We used these items to predict right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and their common factor authoritarianism (generalized). In line with our prediction, two studies showed that the motivated social cognition scales did not provide a significant prediction of authoritarianism beyond the closed-mindedness items. We conclude that the relation between motivated social cognition and authoritarianism is captured entirely by the former’s closed-mindedness component.

scholarly journals Brief Exposure to Infants Activates Social and Intergroup Vigilance

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 72
Author(s):  
Bobby Cheon ◽  
Gianluca Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Bias ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
External Threats ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Social Vigilance

Among humans, simply looking at infants can activate affiliative and nurturant behaviors. However, it remains unknown whether mere exposure to infants also activates other aspects of the caregiving motivational system, such as generalized defensiveness in the absence of immediate threats. Here, we demonstrate that simply viewing faces of infants (especially from the ingroup) may heighten vigilance against social threats and support for institutions that purportedly maintain security. Across two studies, participants viewed and rated one among several image types (between-subjects design): Infants, adult males, adult females, and puppies in Study 1, and infants of varying racial/ethnic groups (including one’s ingroup) and puppies in Study 2. Following exposure to one of these image types, participants completed measures of intergroup bias from a range of outgroups that differed in perceived threat, belief in a dangerous world, right-wing authoritarianism and social-political conservatism (relative to liberalism). In Study 1 (United States), stronger affiliative reactions to images of infants (but not adults or puppies) predicted stronger perceptions of a dangerous world, endorsement of right-wing authoritarianism, and support for social-political conservatism (relative to liberalism). Study 2 (Italy) revealed that exposure to images of ingroup infants (compared to outgroup infants) increased intergroup bias against outgroups that are characterized as threatening (immigrants and Arabs) and increased conservatism. These findings suggest a predisposed preparedness for social vigilance in the mere suggested presence of infants (e.g., viewing images) even in the absence of salient external threats.

scholarly journals Brief Exposure to Infants Activates Social and Intergroup Vigilance

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bobby Cheon ◽  
Gianluca Esposito
Keyword(s):  
Intergroup Bias ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Adult Males ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
External Threats ◽  
Adult Females ◽  
Political Conservatism ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Social Vigilance

Among humans, simply looking at infants can activate affiliative and nurturant behaviors. However, it remains unknown whether mere exposure to infants also activates other aspects of the caregiving motivational system, such as generalized defensiveness in the absence of immediate threats. Here, we demonstrate that simply viewing faces of infants (especially from the ingroup) may heighten vigilance against social threats and support for institutions that purportedly maintain security. Across two studies, participants viewed and rated one among several image types (between-subjects design): infants, adult males, adult females, and puppies in Study 1, and infants of varying racial/ethnic groups (including one's ingroup) and puppies in Study 2. Following exposure to one of these image types, participants completed measures of intergroup bias from a range of outgroups that differed in perceived threat, belief in a dangerous world, right-wing authoritarianism and social-political conservatism (relative to liberalism). In Study 1 (United States), stronger affiliative reactions to images of infants (but not adults or puppies) predicted stronger perceptions of a dangerous world, endorsement of right-wing authoritarianism, and support for social-political conservatism (relative to liberalism). Study 2 (Italy) revealed that exposure to images of ingroup infants (compared to outgroup infants) increased intergroup bias against outgroups that are characterized as threatening (immigrants and Arabs) and increased conservatism. These findings suggest a predisposed preparedness for social vigilance in the mere suggested presence of infants e.g., viewing images, even in the absence of salient external threats.

Predicting Self-Construal from Authoritarianism: A Pilot Study of Perceived Threat

2007 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 896-898
Author(s):  
Barbara A. Shaffer ◽  
Ryan D. Hollen ◽  
Brad M. Hastings
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
The Self ◽  
News Article ◽  
Perceived Threat ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
Self Construal ◽  
Threatening Condition ◽  
The Right

This pilot study investigated the association of perceived threat and scores on a measure of Authoritarianism. Undergraduate students (29 women, 8 men; ages 18–32, M = 21, SD = 3.1), completed the Right-wing Authoritarianism scale and then the Self-construal scale after reading a nonthreatening or threatening news article. In the threatening condition, Authoritarian scores accounted for a significant amount of variance ( R2 = .26) in Interdependent Self-construal scores, but not for Independent Self-construal scores. No significant associations were found in the nonthreatening condition.

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