Authoritarianism and Threat in 59 Nations

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Political Science
• Cross-Cultural Psychology

Background:

• Authoritarianism theories commonly link the phenomenon to threat perception.
• Limited large-scale, cross-cultural research exists to validate this connection.
• Debates persist regarding the influence of realistic versus symbolic threats and ideological scope.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct the largest multinational investigation into the threat-authoritarianism link.
• To differentiate the predictive power of realistic threats on authoritarianism.
• To examine the prevalence of this link across the political spectrum.

Main Methods:

• Surveyed 84,677 individuals across 59 nations.
• Measured various types of realistic threat.
• Utilized autocracy support as an ideologically unbiased measure of authoritarianism, controlling for political ideology.

Main Results:

• Realistic threat positively predicted autocracy support globally, with stronger effects in Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) countries.
• The threat-autocracy link was evident for both left-wing and right-wing individuals.
• Effects were more pronounced among right-wing individuals.

Conclusions:

• Provides substantial cross-cultural evidence supporting the threat-authoritarianism hypothesis.
• Advances understanding by demonstrating the role of realistic threat across diverse global contexts and political leanings.
• Offers significant contributions to authoritarianism theories, especially in light of ongoing reevaluations.