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Societal Threat to Safety, Compensatory Control, and Right‐Wing Authoritarianism
Author(s) -
Mirisola Alberto,
Roccato Michele,
Russo Silvia,
Spagna Giulia,
Vieno Alessio
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/pops.12048
Subject(s) - authoritarianism , mediation , psychology , social psychology , moderated mediation , population , control (management) , political science , demography , sociology , politics , law , management , economics , democracy
We analyzed directly and indirectly the relationships between societal threat to safety, perceived control, and the increase in right‐wing authoritarianism ( RWA ) in two studies. In Study 1 (national sample of the Italian population, N = 1,169), we performed a longitudinal analysis structured into three waves ( J anuary 2003, S eptember 2004, and J anuary 2005). A moderated regression analysis showed that RWA increased from 2003 to 2005 as a function of perceived societal threat to safety more among low‐ than among high RWA scorers. In experimental Study 2 (Italian university students, N = 131) a moderated mediation model showed loss of perceived control to mediate the relation between societal threat to safety and the increase in RWA , but among low authoritarians only. Limitations, implications, and possible developments of this research are discussed.