Conservatives Without Conscience

“Typologies” are a controversial methodology, yet some types are simply too obvious not to recognize, particularly when decades of scientific research have established and confirmed them. Princeton political scientist Fred I. Greenstein has cautioned about the uses of personality in analyzing political activity, and employment of “typologies”; in fact, he directly addressed “the tangled history of studies of authoritarianism.” He noted, however, that what once seemed to be at a “dead end” in studying authoritarian personalities has proven not to be the case. Rather, “in the 1980s an ingenious and rigorous program of inquiry by Altemeyer (1981, 1988) furnished persuasive empirical evidence that the original authoritarian construct was an approximation of an important political-psychological regularity—the existence in some individuals of an inner makeup that disposes them to defer to authority figures.”[43] Since Greenstein made these observations the science has, as noted, significantly progressed. Not only has Altemeyer added to his empirical data, but a significant number of social scientists have confirmed his findings.

In closing, what follows is a summary of types of traits typically found in social dominators and right-wing authoritarians, based on extensive testing. Although these collations of characteristics of authoritarians are not attractive portraits, they are nonetheless traits that authoritarians themselves acknowledge. An asterisk indicates the traits that are essential for a person to fall within the definition, but not every person who meets the definition will have all the traits, even though many do. If you add these key definitional traits, you will have a portrait of Double High authoritarians; people who display all the traits of both types are likely to be the particularly alarming Double Highs:

Social Dominators—Leaders:

typically men

dominating^*

opposes equality^*

desirous of personal power^*

amoral^*

intimidating and bullying

faintly hedonistic

vengeful

pitiless

exploitive

manipulative

dishonest

cheats to win

highly prejudiced (racist, sexist, homophobic)

mean-spirited

militant

nationalistic

tells others what they want to hear

takes advantage of “suckers”

specializes in creating false images to sell self

may or may not be religious

usually politically and economically conservative/Republican

Right-Wing Authoritarian—Followers:

men and women

submissive to authority^*

aggressive on behalf of authority^*

conventional^*

highly religious

moderate to little education

trust untrustworthy authorities

prejudiced (particularly against homosexuals, women, and followers of religions other than their own)

mean-spirited

narrow-minded

intolerant

bullying

zealous

dogmatic

uncritical toward chosen authority

hypocritical

inconsistent and contradictory

prone to panic easily

highly self-righteous

moralistic

strict disciplinarian

severely punitive

demands loyalty and returns it

little self-awareness

usually politically and economically conservative/Republican