Measuring authoritarianism; 1950's Ireland was what Project 2025 wants the USA to be

bonus: growing up in a semi-authoritarian, very conformist society

In this series of pieces, I explore some of what we know about the psychology of authoritarianism – from those predisposed to authoritarianism to those who are authoritarian leaders. These pieces will include discussions of chaotic versus programmatic authoritarians, how authoritarians create a shared reality, and growing up in a conformist and semi-authoritarian society.

Authoritarians and authoritarianism (part 1)

Measuring authoritarian predispositions

Authoritarian predispositions are typically measured using surveys and questionnaires to assess attitudes towards authority, conformity, and social order.

Photo by Anton Etmanov on Unsplash

These instruments often include:

Authoritarianism Scales: Specific scales, such as the Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) scale developed by Altemeyer and colleagues, are commonly used. These scales include statements to which respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement. Statements might involve obedience to authority, the importance of traditional values, and the perception of societal threats.

Feeling left out? While the concept of ‘left-wing authoritarianism’ has been debated and studied less extensively than its right-wing counterpart, researchers have developed scales to measure it. Left-wing authoritarianism is often construed as involving a different set of values and beliefs, such as:

• Social equality: A strong belief in social justice and equality.

• Collectivism: A preference for group over individual interests.

• Revolutionary fervor: A willingness to use radical means to achieve social change.

One of the more prominent scales used to measure left-wing authoritarianism is the Left-Wing Authoritarianism Index (LWAI). This scale was developed by researchers at Emory University and measures a range of left-wing authoritarian traits, including dogmatic adherence to left-wing ideology, intolerance of dissent, and a tendency to support authoritarian leaders.

Other measures:

• Child-rearing preferences: Some measures assess preferences for childrearing practices, asking respondents to choose between pairs of traits they believe are more important for children to have (e.g., independence vs. respect for elders, self-reliance vs. obedience).

• Social and political attitudes: Broader surveys on social and political attitudes can include questions related to authoritarian predispositions, such as views on law and order, attitudes towards minority groups, and support for strong leadership.

• Threat perception: Surveys may also include items that gauge respondents' perceptions of societal threats, which can trigger authoritarian responses. Questions might explore fears about social change, immigration, and crime.

The usual caveats apply - these are self-report measurements, and imperfectly measure actual behaviour. They are not all—or-none measures - people will vary between each other on their scores. Scoring tends to remain reasonably stable over time - these scales tend to have a decent enough ‘test-retest’ reliability.

• Zealots, extremists, ideologues, and fanatics (ZEIFs): ‘He's a fanatic, so we can stop him, because a fanatic is always concealing a secret doubt.’

Growing up in a semi-authoritarian, very conformist society

As I mentioned previously, I grew up in a country which has over the past four decades shrugged off a mid-20c intense, socially, and economically destructive conformist and semi-authoritarian culture.¹ (An early encounter with George Orwell amplified this fascination as well).

I don’t want to pretend Ireland was a uniformly semi-authoritarian, very conformist society - for some colour, have a listen to Three Castles Burning: Dead as Doornails. Dublin’s bohemian literary scene in the 1950’s and 1960’s was amazing, especially as chronicled by Anthony (Tony) Cronin, a quite wonderful writer in his memoir of 1950’s Dublin, Dead As Doornails (1976).

But looking back on it, growing up in the 1970s and the early 1980s in Ireland was a curious affair.