Right-wing Authoritarianism, Left-wing Authoritarianism, and pandemic-mitigation authoritarianism

• Published in: Personality and individual differences Vol. 167; p. 110251
• Main Author: Manson, Joseph H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2020; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Antisexism; Authoritarianism; COVID-19; Dogmatism; Juries; Left-wing Authoritarianism; Mitigation; Pandemics; Racism; Redistribution; Right wing politics; Right-wing Authoritarianism; Sexism; Wealth; COVID-19; Right-wing Authoritarianism; Left-wing Authoritarianism
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549; 0191-8869
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2020.110251

Recent research suggests the validity of the construct of Left-wing Authoritarianism (LWA). Like its well-studied parallel construct Right-wing Authoritarianism, LWA is characterized by dogmatism, punitive attitudes toward dissenters, and desire for strong authority figures. In contrast to RWA, LWA mobilizes these traits on behalf of left-wing values (e.g. anti-racism, anti-sexism, and wealth redistribution). I inductively examined the extent to which RWA and LWA predicted, in April 2020, Americans' endorsement of 19 authoritarian policies and practices intended to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. For 11 of these policies (e.g. abrogating the right to trial by jury for pandemic-related crimes), both RWA and LWA independently positively predicted endorsement. These findings are consistent with recent work showing psychological similarities between the two constructs. •Recent work supports the validity of the construct of Left-wing Authoritarianism.•LWA shares some features with Right-wing Authoritarianism (RWA).•The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted implementation of authoritarian policies.•Both RWA and LWA predicted support for authoritarian pandemic-mitigation policies.