How Does Ideological Disgust Lead to Cultural Authoritarianism?
We are living in times of increased and accelerated political polarization. Barely a day goes by without another news story breaking about a ridiculous move made by President Donald Trump that emboldens the far-right, or an [equally contemptible, and often violent] action being carried out by groups affiliated with the far-left.
The result of such polarization seems to be an impulse towards the authoritarian. That is, slight disagreements are met with scorn and condemnation, while those who clearly disagree are met with attempted censorship or personal attack. It is unclear why (or when) such authoritarianism became the default response to political or ideological disagreement. On one level, the ‘when’ is largely irrelevant (though the discussion later may shed some light on this). However, as a psychologist, the question of ‘why’ is intriguing. What’s more, the answer is not necessarily obvious — at least not when you consult the current psychological literature on authoritarianism.
Ideological disgust as a motivator of authoritarianism
It’s clear that authoritarianism doesn’t exists in the real world in the same way that it does in psychological journals. While “right-wing authoritarianism” may be a nice umbrella term for a construct tapping into…
