The present study tests whether the magnitude of the relation between Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) is stable across and within cultures, whether their differential relations with value orientations and sociopolitical attitudes remain stable in spite of these possible differences, and whether their differential relations point to a different genesis. For these purposes, two student samples (total N = 684), three adult samples (total N = 553), and a political activist sample (N = 69) were gathered in Belgium, and one adult sample (N = 235) was collected in Poland. Both crossand intracultural differences in the strength of the RWA-SDO relation emerged. These can be attributed to specificities in sociopolitical context and differences in political socialization, interest, and involvement. In spite of these fluctuations, in the strength of the RWA-SDO relation, regression analyses revealed high stability of the relation between RWA-SDO and sociopolitical attitudes, and mediation analyses supported the hypothesis of their different genesis.

This work explored the hypothesis that need for closure is associated with the adoption of conservative ideology. Two different studies on eastern and western European samples (Polish and Flemish) supported the hypothesis that need for closure-as measured by Webster and Kruglanski's (1994) Need for Closure Scale-is related to conservative beliefs. However, in the second study, a negative relationship between need for closure and economic conservatism in the Polish sample was noted, whereas a positive relationship occurred in the Flemish sample. These results may be accounted for by the Need for Simple Structure factor of and by specific rather than nonspecific epistemic processes.

Conspiracy theories offer simple answers to complex problems by providing explanations for uncertain situations. Thus, they should be attractive to individuals who are intolerant of uncertainty and seek cognitive closure. We hypothesized that need for cognitive closure (NFCC) should foster conspiracy beliefs about events that lack clear official explanations, especially when conspiracy theories are temporarily salient. In Experiment 1, NFCC positively predicted the endorsement of a conspiracy theory behind the refugee crisis, especially when conspiratorial explanations were made salient. Experiment 2 showed that when conspiratorial explanations were made salient, NFCC positively predicted beliefs in conspiracies behind a mysterious plane crash. However, the link between NFCC and beliefs in conspiratorial explanations was reversed in the case of a plane crash with an official, non-conspiratorial, explanation for the accident. In conclusion, people high (vs. low) in NFCC seize on conspiratorial explanations for uncertain events when such explanations are situationally accessible.

The present study investigates the commonly found age-conservatism relationship by combining insights from studies on the development of personality and motivated social cognition with findings on the relationships between these factors and conservative beliefs. Based on data collected in Belgium (N=2,373) and Poland (N=939), we found the expected linear effect of age on indicators of social-cultural conservatism in Belgium and Poland and the absence of such effects for indicators of economic-hierarchical conservatism. We further demonstrated that these effects of age on indicators of cultural conservatism in both countries were (in part) mediated through the personality factor Openness to Experience and the motivated cognition variable Need for Closure. The consistency of these findings in two countries with a very dissimilar sociopolitical history attests to the importance of the developmental perspective for the study of the relationship between age and conservatism.

The presence of left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) as well as its relationship with right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and conservative ideology was tested in three Flemish samples. In the first study conducted on a sample of ordinary voters (N = 208), a newly developed LWA scale was found to be internally consistent and to show high construct validity. In the second study, another voter sample (N = 264) and a sample of political activists (N = 69) were tested. In the two samples of ordinary voters, only a few people obtained high LWA scores. Moreover, the aggression and submission items did not load on distinct components and LWA was positively related to RWA and cultural conservatism and negatively to economic conservatism. Conversely, in the political activist sample high LWA scores were common among left-wing extremists and evidence was found for a two-dimensional LWA aggression-submission structure. LWA was negatively related to RWA, cultural conservatism, and economic conservatism. The concept of LWA and its theoretical underpinnings are discussed. whether authoritarianism can also be detected among adherents of extreme left-wing ideology (e.g., Eysenck, 1954Eysenck, , 1980Ray, 1983). Traditional approaches tried to develop or identify measures on which left-wing and right-wing extremists would score higher than moderates (e.g., Eysenck, 1954;Rokeach, 1960;Tetlock, 1983;Sidanius, 1984). However, these attempts were not entirely successful.Recently, Altemeyer (1996) constructed a left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) scale that structurally resembles his right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) scale (Altemeyer, 1981). Both instruments measure the attitudinal clusters of authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, and conventionalism, but whereas the RWA items refer to established authorities, in the LWA scale these items are embedded in the context of a left-wing revolutionary cause. After investigating data of 2,544 Canadian participants, Altermeyer (1996) concluded that he could not identify one single left-wing authoritarian, calling LWA somewhat skeptically the "Loch Ness monster of political psychology."In the present study, we will try to show that LWA does exist, but that it is only present in very specific groups. That is, we expect that LWA can be found among activists of extremist parties (i.e., among members of extreme left-wing parties and, to some extent, among anarchists). However, we do not expect to find LWA in samples of ordinary citizens nor among activists of "established" political parties. The search for left-wing authoritarians constitutes our first aim, but the ideological correlates of LWA and RWA are investigated as well. In particular, it is investigated whether RWA and LWA are differentially related to cultural and economic conservatism. Classic Studies on Left-Wing AuthoritarianismVarious authors have criticised The Authoritarian Personality because it was restricted to the problem of right-wing extremism (e.g., Eysenck, 1954;Rokeach, 1960). These authors asserted that fascists and com...

No abstract

No abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased negative emotions and decreased positive emotions globally. Left unchecked, these emotional changes might have a wide array of adverse impacts. To reduce negative emotions and increase positive emotions, we tested the effectiveness of reappraisal, an emotion-regulation strategy that modifies how one thinks about a situation. Participants from 87 countries and regions (n = 21,644) were randomly assigned to one of two brief reappraisal interventions (reconstrual or repurposing) or one of two control conditions (active or passive). Results revealed that both reappraisal interventions (vesus both control conditions) consistently reduced negative emotions and increased positive emotions across different measures. Reconstrual and repurposing interventions had similar effects. Importantly, planned exploratory analyses indicated that reappraisal interventions did not reduce intentions to practice preventive health behaviours. The findings demonstrate the viability of creating scalable, low-cost interventions for use around the world.