Citation

Hastings BM, Shaffer BA. Psychol. Rep. 2005; 97(2): 623-630.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology and Social Sciences, Mount Aloysius College, 7373 Admiral Peary Highway, Cresson, PA 16630-1999, USA. bhastings@mtaloy.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

16342592

Abstract

The relationship between threat and authoritarianism in relation to support for democratic values and military aggression was examined. Participants completed Altemeyer's Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, read a scenario concerning 9/11/01 that was either threatening or nonthreatening, and completed the Democratic Values Scale and the Militarism Scale. Simple linear regressions indicate RWA scores contributed significant variation to Democratic Value Scale scores (43% of the variance) and Militarism Scale Scores (22% of the variance). There was a significant difference in the contribution of RWA scores between the threatening and nonthreatening conditions on the Democratic Values Scale (34% and 17%, respectively). These results suggest that in the presence of threat, there is increased activation of authoritarian responses.

Language: en