AUTHORITARIANISM: PERSONALITY AND IDEOLOGY

In: European journal of political research: official journal of the European Consortium for Political Research, Band 24, Heft 2, S. 211-228

Abstract

THE CONCEPT OF AUTHORITARIANISM HAS GENERALLY BEEN CONSIDERED A PERSONALITY CONSTRUCT, ALTHOUGH ADORNO'S APPROACH WAS INSPIRED BY PREVIOUS WORK WITH AN IDEOLOGICAL FASCIST ANGLE. THESE TWO APPROACHES HAVE BEEN, TO AN APPRECIABLE EXTENT, MIXED IN LATER THINKING. THIS PAPER ENDEAVORS TO DISENTANGLE THEM BY CONSIDERING THE CLASSICAL ADORNO F-SCALE AS A PERSONALITY VARIABLE AND CONSTRUCTING AN IDEOLOGICAL LIBERTARIANISM-AUTHORITARIANISM DIMENSION, PARTLY VALIDATED BY ITS RELATIONSHIP TO A SHORTENED UNIDIMENSIONAL VERSION OF THE F-SCALE. THE PERSONALITY VARIABLE OF AUTHORITARIANISM IS SHOWN TO HAVE NO SUBSTANTIAL EMPIRICAL RELATIONSHIP TO VOTING INTENTIONS IN THE NETHERLANDS. HOWEVER, THE IDEOLOGICAL MEASURE OF AUTHORITARIANISM IS RELATIVELY STRONGLY AND CONSISTENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH INTENDED VOTING BEHAVIOR. THIS STUDY ALSO CLARIFIES THE ONGOING DEBATE OVER THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AUTHORITARIANISM AND LEFT-RIGHT IDEOLOGY. THE WEAK RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MEASURES OF AUTHORITARIANISM AND LEFT-RIGHT IDEOLOGY SIGNIFY THE EXISTENCE OF LEFT-WING AUTHORITARIANISM IN THE DUTCH POPULATION.