From fascism scale to RWA
In 1950, Adorno and colleagues published The Authoritarian Personality, which traced prejudice to early family dynamics. Their F-scale was criticized for flawed items and acquiescence bias. Altemeyer's 1981 work retained three of the original clusters and built a more carefully balanced instrument.
- Authoritarian submission
- Authoritarian aggression
- Conventionalism
What it predicts
Scores on the scale are associated with prejudice toward a range of outgroups and with conservative political attitudes. John Duckitt's dual-process model treats RWA as an ideological attitude arising from viewing the world as dangerous, in contrast with social dominance orientation, which is tied to viewing the world as a competitive jungle.
Debates
Whether RWA is a personality trait or a social attitude remains debated. Because items mention contemporary political and moral issues, critics have noted overlap between what the scale measures and what it is used to predict. Scholars also disagree about left-wing authoritarianism: some have considered it rare, while newer measures suggest it can be identified and may share features with its right-wing counterpart. The term itself is tied to one political direction, and the scale's meaning may not transfer well between countries with different traditions and authorities.
Further reading
- Adorno, T. W., Frenkel-Brunswik, E., Levinson, D. J., & Sanford, R. N. (1950). The Authoritarian Personality. Harper.
- Altemeyer, B. (1981). Right-Wing Authoritarianism. University of Manitoba Press.
- Duckitt, J. (2001). A dual-process cognitive-motivational theory of ideology and prejudice. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 33.