Right-Wing Ideology: Positive (and Negative) Relations to Threat

Publisher: Guilford Publications Inc

E-ISSN: 1943-2798|35|4|415-432

ISSN: 0278-016X

Source: Social Cognition, Vol.35, Iss.4, 2017-08, pp. : 415-432

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Abstract

Threat has traditionally been conceptualized as a cause or consequence of right-wing ideologies. We argue that the relation is bidirectional and that conceptually pairing right-wing ideologies with threat might be too simplistic and potentially inaccurate. To illustrate a more nuanced perspective, we review recent findings and present data investigating the relations between threat and multiple dimensions of right-wing ideology. Using path analyses SEM, we found that greater right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) predicted perceiving greater latent risk, whereas greater social dominance orientation (SDO) predicted perceiving less latent risk (Study 1); RWA associated with experiencing greater distress, whereas SDO associated with experiencing less distress (when considering the self or others engaging in harmful behaviors; Study 2). Thus, consistent with existing literature, one aspect of right-wing ideology (RWA) relates to greater threat, but another (SDO) relates to experiencing less threat, inconsistent with the long-held assumption that right-wing ideology is tied to greater threat.