The Authoritarian Dynamic During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Nationalism and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment. Issue 7 (September 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hartman, Todd K.; Stocks, Thomas V. A.; McKay, Ryan; Gibson-Miller, Jilly; Levita, Liat; Martinez, Anton P.; Mason, Liam; McBride, Orla; Murphy, Jamie; Shevlin, Mark; Bennett, Kate M.; Hyland, Philip; Karatzias, Thanos; Vallières, Frédérique; Bentall, Richard P.
• Is Part Of: Social psychological & personality science. Volume 12:Issue 7(2021)
• Page Start: 1274
• Page End: 1285
• Publication Date: 2021-09
• Subjects: COVID-19 -- authoritarianism -- threat -- nationalism -- immigration -- pandemic -- social dominance orientation; Personality -- Periodicals; Social psychology -- Periodicals; Electronic journals; 155.2
• DOI: 10.1177/1948550620978023
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1948-5506

Abstract

Research has demonstrated that situational factors such as perceived threats to the social order activate latent authoritarianism. The deadly COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to test whether existential threat stemming from an indiscriminate virus moderates the relationship between authoritarianism and political attitudes toward the nation and out-groups. Using data from two large nationally representative samples of adults in the United Kingdom ( N = 2, 025) and Republic of Ireland ( N = 1, 041) collected during the initial phases of strict lockdown measures in both countries, we find that the associations between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and (1) nationalism and (2) anti-immigrant attitudes are conditional on levels of perceived threat. As anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic increases, so too does the effect of RWA on those political outcomes. Thus, it appears that existential threats to humanity from the COVID-19 pandemic moderate expressions of authoritarianism in society.