Authoritarians

[caethan]

So I got linked to a very interesting and free online book, called The Authoritarians. It's written by Bob Altemeyer up at the University of Manitoba, and he's a psychologist. The book is basically a summary of ~20 years worth of social sciences research, with what looks like quite a lot of solid data. I have some reservations (particularly with

Comments

[jonandandrea]

Couple reactions:

I'm a big fan of his writing style, and the book sucked me right in. I was up until 5AM last night reading it.

I'm also, understandably, speaking as a non-religious liberal with a preference for the Democrats over the Republicans, a big fan of his conclusions. They're something I've instinctually known for a while, now. For that reason, I'm a little bit concerned about bias. Not that I disagree with his conclusions, but that I wish he had gone into the psychology of the left-wing authoritarians as well as the right-wing authoritarians.

Of course, I have an ulterior motive for wishing that. What fascinates me about the study is how it relates to politics today - I know Dr. Altemeyer did a postscript after the 2008 election, but what I want to know is how right- or left-wing authoritarianism plays a part in the protests against the Obama administration right now, and that wasn't going on at the time of the actual election.

Because while Glenn Beck and his tea-partiers are pretty right-wing, politically, they're protesting against the government, and sometimes advocating its overthrow - which would be left-wing authoritarianism. A lot of the protesters today say that it's not just about the latest policy debate, but that this sentiment has been brewing for years. Those people seem like clear cut left-wing authoritarians who have right wing political views - however, they felt that they could not speak out during a right wing administration, which implies a certain level of right-wing authoritarianism. What is their psychological makeup? Are they entirely high RWAs who just don't believe that this government is a legitimate authority, or is it more complex than that?

I'm curious what your thoughts are on this (i.e., the current protesters), as well as his specific conclusions. I'm also curious to know how you feel you fit into all this - I would say that just because all/most high RWAs tend to lean towards religious conservatism, that doesn't mean that all religious conservatives are high RWA (especially not religious conservatives who became disillusioned with the government/politics during a right-wing administration). But I wonder how it influences your views re: politics and political disillusionment in general.