http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/guest-post-linda-calhoun-reviews-the-authoritarians/Bob Altemeyer believes, based on his research, that the political right wing in its current incarnation poses a danger to our democracy. He describes himself as a moderate (much to the consternation of his more liberal associates), but states that the makeup of that group as it stands right now does not provide a balance to more liberal views; rather, the right wing is a dogmatic threat which potentially limits our basic freedoms. He wrote this book as a warning.
The inventories focus on what he terms “Right Wing Authoritarianism” and “Social Dominance”. He uses “right” initially as “correct”, rather than “politically right wing”, but it becomes obvious during his studies that the politically right-wing subjects see themselves, to a highly dogmatic level, as correct in their beliefs, even when evidence stands in contradiction.
Altemeyer describes the personality traits of high RWAs as submissiveness, fear, self-righteousness, hostility, lack of critical thinking, compartmentalized thinking, double standards, and feeling most empowered when in groups. He describes the lack of logic in their thinking; when they like the conclusion, how that conclusion was arrived at is irrelevant. When they like the behaver, the behavior is acceptable; when they dislike the behaver, the behavior is not.
He then goes on to describe high Social Dominators. These people want power, and they don’t much care how they get it. “The end justifies the means” is their guiding principle.
And then, the double whammy: these two groups fit together beautifully, which, in Altemeyer’s opinion, is how we have arrived at our current political state of affairs. High SDs have co-opted high RWAs, and the vast majority of moderates have gone about our lives until these groups are threatening to take over, even though they don’t represent anywhere close to a majority.
The types he describes sure seem to fit a lot of the right wing/tea partiers these days.
The book is available at the link for download; I don't know if he has any tactics to fight back against these traits as I haven't read it yet, but I'll be reading it soon!
