Longitudinal Change in Authoritarian Factors as Explained by Political Beliefs and a Distrust of Science

Date

2022

Authors

Winter, Taylor
Riordan, Benjamin C.
Bizumic, Boris
Hunter, John A
Jose, Paul E.
Duckitt, John
Scarf, Damian

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Frontiers

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic there have been marked changes in individuals' belief systems (e.g., support for lockdowns) as a result of the threat of COVID-19. In the current study, we investigated whether these belief systems change as a function of changes in the threat of COVID-19. Specifically, we conducted a longitudinal study, with authoritarianism measured at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand and when the threat of COVID-19 was low (i.e., no known COVID-19 cases in the community). A total of 888 participants responded at both timepoints, completing measures of political orientation and distrust of science, in addition to the measure of authoritarianism. We had two hypotheses. First, that liberals would display a more marked reduction in authoritarian submission between Alert Level 4 and Alert Level 1 relative to conservatives. Second, that changes would be mediated by trust in science. Both hypotheses were supported, demonstrating that authoritarianism is sensitive to threat, even for those on the political left, and that trust in science helps to explain these changes. We suggest that fluctuations in authoritarianism may be different across the political spectrum due to underlying belief systems such as a distrust of science.

Description

Keywords

RWA,, authoritarianism, political orientation, distrust of science, authoritarian submission, LWA

Citation

Source

Frontiers in Political Science

Type

Journal article

Book Title

Entity type

Access Statement

Open Access

License Rights

Creative Commons Attribution licence

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