Longitudinal associations for right-wing authoritarianism, social justice, and compassion among seminary students

Abstract

Religious/spiritual communities in the United States hold significant differences in the relative valuing of social order and progress toward social justice, and religious/spiritual leaders play an influential role in fostering those values. This recognition has prompted calls for theological education to revise the process of student formation, equipping them to address an increasingly diverse social world and the social disparities within their larger communities. Right-wing authoritarianism tends to be associated with a preference for social order and various forms of prejudice, and negatively associated with prosocial attitudes and behaviors. However, there is a limited amount of research examining associations between right-wing authoritarianism and the prosocial constructs of social justice commitment and compassion. The present study explored the longitudinal associations between right-wing authoritarianism, social justice commitment, and compassion in a sample of graduate students from 18 Christian seminaries across North America over two and a half years of their education ( N = 580; Mage = 31.50; 47.3% female; 62.9% White). Longitudinal data analysis indicated that right-wing authoritarianism exerted a negative influence on social justice commitment and compassion, during the initial time interval which then faded over time. Results also indicated a reciprocal process among right-wing authoritarianism and social justice commitment. Practical implications centered on the potential for interventions targeting the reduction of right-wing authoritarianism to increase social justice commitment and compassion, and interventions targeting greater social justice commitment to lower right-wing authoritarianism.

Longitudinal processes among humility, social justice activism, transcendence, and well-being

“…As part of a larger study on the personal and professional development of emerging R/S leaders (e.g., Jankowski et al, 2022cJankowski et al, ,e,f, 2023, that utilized an "open cohort" design (Mahmud, 2010, para. 7), survey data were collected from graduate students at 18 seminaries across North America.…”

“…They found evidence that the intervention promoted gains in direct contact intentions, perspectivetaking, place attachment, and civic engagement intentions. Jankowski et al (2022c) offered a summary of social justice interventions around themes of emotional engagement and regulation. They noted that for many individuals from dominant groups, changes to the social order can be perceived as threatening to their identity constructions with accompanying fear, anxiety, and/or anger.…”

“…Last, we examined these associations in a sample of emerging religious/spiritual (R/S) leaders for whom virtue development is part of their professional training and vocationally salient because of R/S leaders' susceptibility to lower well-being (Jankowski et al, 2019(Jankowski et al, , 2023. In addition, theological education reforms emphasize civic engagement competencies for emerging R/S leaders so they can better navigate the growing diversity and increased polarization in the congregations and the communities in which they are situated (Jankowski et al, 2022c).…”

Navigating the wilderness of faith and vocation: My journey as a Chinese-American psychologist and pastor.

“…It follows, then, that maturity or growth in one’s relationship with God involves not only the cultivation of certain relational virtue or character dispositions (e.g., humility), but also the development of relational postures or capacities with others who are different than oneself (e.g., cultural humility). Accordingly, some of our recent work investigated the longitudinal associations of compassion, social justice, and authoritarianism among future religious leaders (Jankowski, Sandage, et al, 2022) as well as the virtues (i.e., compassion and humility) predictive of social justice and diversity commitments among seminary faculty (Hydinger et al, 2023).…”