Construction of a short version of the Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scale

Zakrisson, Ingrid

doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.02.026

Cited by 282 publications

(239 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Political psychologists suggest that ideology can be broadly categorized along two dimensions (22,23), one of which is conceptualized as relating more to intragroup attitudes and the other of which is conceptualized as relating more to intergroup attitudes (24). The first (intragroup) dimension is characterized by favoring adherence to versus departures from social traditions [frequently operationalized as right wing authoritarianism and, specifically, the traditionalism facet of right wing authoritarianism (25)].…”

Section: Dimension-specific Relationships Between Pathogens and Ideologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations

Tybur

Inbar

Aarøe

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

216

249

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People who are more avoidant of pathogens are more politically conservative, as are nations with greater parasite stress. In the current research, we test two prominent hypotheses that have been proposed as explanations for these relationships. The first, which is an intragroup account, holds that these relationships between pathogens and politics are based on motivations to adhere to local norms, which are sometimes shaped by cultural evolution to have pathogenneutralizing properties. The second, which is an intergroup account, holds that these same relationships are based on motivations to avoid contact with outgroups, who might pose greater infectious disease threats than ingroup members. Results from a study surveying 11,501 participants across 30 nations are more consistent with the intragroup account than with the intergroup account. National parasite stress relates to traditionalism (an aspect of conservatism especially related to adherence to group norms) but not to social dominance orientation (SDO; an aspect of conservatism especially related to endorsements of intergroup barriers and negativity toward ethnic and racial outgroups). Further, individual differences in pathogen-avoidance motives (i.e., disgust sensitivity) relate more strongly to traditionalism than to SDO within the 30 nations.political ideology | pathogens | disgust | culture | evolutionary psychology T he costs imposed by pathogens on their hosts have spurred the evolution of complex antipathogen defenses, many of which are behavioral (1, 2). In humans, such defenses range from the proximate avoidance of pathogen cues to the execution of complex rituals, often with far-reaching consequences (3). At the individual level, functionally specialized psychological mechanisms detect pathogen cues and motivate avoidance of physical contact with pathogens [e.g., via the emotion of disgust (4)]. These mechanisms, which have been collectively referred to as the behavioral immune system, influence, among other things, mate preferences (5, 6), dietary preferences (7), and person perception (8) (summarized in Significance Pathogens, and antipathogen behavioral strategies, affect myriad aspects of human behavior. Recent findings suggest that antipathogen strategies relate to political attitudes, with more ideologically conservative individuals reporting more disgust toward pathogen cues, and with higher parasite stress nations being, on average, more conservative. However, no research has yet adjudicated between two theoretical accounts proposed to explain these relationships between pathogens and politics. We find that national parasite stress and individual disgust sensitivity relate more strongly to adherence to traditional norms than they relate to support for barriers between social groups. These results suggest that the relationship between pathogens and politics reflects intragroup motivations more than intergroup motivations.

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Section: Dimension-specific Relationships Between Pathogens and Ideologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations

Tybur

Inbar

Aarøe

et al. 2016

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

216

249

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Participants also completed a 15-item measure of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA; Zakrisson, 2005), measuring respect for and strict deference to tradition and authority (e.g., "God's laws about abortion, pornography and marriage must be strictly followed before it is too late; violations must be punished"; α = .90; M = 3.52, SD = 1.20 …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Belief in divine moral authority: Validation of a shortened scale with implications for social attitudes and moral cognition

Simpson

Piazza

Rios

2016

Personality and Individual Differences

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Highlights: A shortened, 5-item scale measuring belief in divine moral command is established  The scale shows good construct, convergent, and incremental validity  Divine Command beliefs best explain religious believers' attitudes toward atheists  Also best explain believers' propensity toward deontological/prohibitive morality  This scale should be important in ongoing research into religious/moral psychology BELIEF IN DIVINE MORAL AUTHORITY 3 ABSTRACT Religion and morality have been deeply interwoven throughout human history. Although much research has investigated the role of religiosity (e.g., belief in God, prayer, religious attendance) in shaping moral concerns, only recently has research in psychology begun to delve deeper into the meta-ethical beliefs theists hold about the spiritual foundations of morality. The present research builds on moral-philosophical discourse on Divine Command Theory and recent work by Piazza and Landy (2013), who developed the 20-item Morality Founded on Divine Authority (MFDA) scale to measure Divine Command beliefs. We sought primarily to reduce the MFDA scale to increase its pragmatic utility; Confirmatory Factor Analysis revealed an optimal 5-item scale. Across four studies, this scale yielded levels of construct, convergent, and incremental validity equivalent to those of the 20-item scale. Compared with several other measures of religiosity and conservative thinking, the short MFDA was the strongest predictor of anti-atheist prejudice among U.S. Christians and Indian Hindus (Studies 1a-1b) and largely explained religiosity's relationship with attitudes toward science (Study 1a) and moral cognitive outcomes including deontological reasoning (Study 2a) and prohibitive morality (Study 2b). We conclude with discussion about the practical utility of this scale in ongoing research into religion and moral cognition.Key words: Religiosity, morality, moral cognition, meta-ethical beliefs, Atheism, prejudice, Divine Command Theory, Morality Founded on Divine Authority. BELIEF IN DIVINE MORAL AUTHORITY 4"I couldn't go on living if I did not feel it with all my heart a moral structure with real meaning and forgiveness and some kind of higher power. Otherwise there is no basis to know how to live." From Woody Allen's Crimes and MisdemeanorsReligion and morality have long been interlinked. Indeed, religion may have facilitated the rise of modern civilizations by serving to unite individuals around a set of shared beliefs, practices, and moral principles (e.g., Graham & Haidt, 2010; Norenzayan et al., in press).Historically, religious institutions typically served as the chief sources of moral guidance and legal practice for millennia prior to the establishment of secular moral institutions such as government, police, and courts of law (Norenzayan, 2013).This strong cultural nexus between religion and morality persists in the current era, and may serve as a source of anxiety about cultural shifts toward secular governance (Gervais, 2013).Even today amidst increasingly secular and ...

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“…Xenophobia was assessed using the 9-item xenophobia scale created by van der Veer et al [59]. Using a 9-point scale, participants indicated their level of agreement with statements such as "Interacting with immigrants makes me uneasy" and "With increased immigration I fear that our way of life will change for the worse."…”

Section: Procedures and Measuresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Loneliness Corresponds with Politically Conservative Thought

Floyd¹

2017

RPBS

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A formidable empirical literature describes loneliness as a perceived deficiency in social connection and inclusion associated with a range of mental and physical health problems and multiple maladaptive coping strategies. Many of these negative consequences can be accounted for by Cacioppo, Cacioppo, and Boomsma's evolutionary theory of loneliness, which reasons that a lack of adequate interpersonal connection is aversive because, evolutionarily, such a detriment posed threats to the ability of individuals to survive and reproduce. The theory proposes that loneliness therefore produces feelings of heightened anxiety and perceptions of vulnerability to threat that motivate individuals to attend to their relational needs. In modernity, heightened anxiety and perceptions of threat also correspond to politically conservative ideologies, such as a fear of foreigners (xenophobia), a preference for authoritarianism, and a lack of tolerance for distress. Working from the premise of Cacioppo's theory, the present study therefore reasoned that loneliness is associated with endorsement of such politically conservative values. A nationwide survey of 848 American adults confirmed that loneliness is positively correlated with xenophobia and endorsement of right-wing authoritarianism and negatively associated with distress tolerance.

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Construction of a short version of the Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) scale

Cited by 282 publications

References 26 publications

Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations

Parasite stress and pathogen avoidance relate to distinct dimensions of political ideology across 30 nations

Belief in divine moral authority: Validation of a shortened scale with implications for social attitudes and moral cognition

Loneliness Corresponds with Politically Conservative Thought

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