Left-wing and Right-wing authoritarians - striking similarities

Study: Left-wing authoritarians share key psychological traits with far right

by Emory University

 By Carol Clark | eScienceCommons | Sept. 9, 2021

 https://phys.org/news/2021-09-left-wing-authoritarians-key-psychological-traits.html

In addition to the striking similarities between the two political extremes, the research also highlighted a key difference between the two: Left-wing authoritarians were more likely to perceive the world as a dangerous place and experience intense emotions and a sense of uncontrollability in response to stress. Right-wing authoritarians were more cognitively rigid, less open to new experiences, and less likely to believe in science. 

 

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The good news is that both extreme authoritarianism and a tendency toward political violence appear relatively rare, Costello adds. Out of a sample size of 1,000 respondents, drawn from the online research tool Prolific and matched to the demographics of the U.S. population for age, race and sex, only 12 reported having engaged in political violence, and they all scored high for authoritarianism.