2005/09/01 by H. Michael Crowson, Stephen J. Thoma, Nita L. Hestevold · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Psychology · #Social and Intergroup Psychology #Electoral Systems and Political Participation #Cultural Differences and Values
paper · doi:10.3200/socp.145.5.571-592
openalex publication_date 2005/09/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The authors performed 2 studies that tested the distinction between conservative political ideology and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). Across these studies, moderate relationships emerged between RWA and our measures of cognitive rigidity, whereas the relationship between rigidity and mainstream conservative ideology was not as strong. The authors used partial-correlation and path analyses to assess the possibility that RWA mediates the relationship between (a) cognitive rigidity and (b) mainstream conservative attitudes and self-identified conservatism. The results indicated that conservatism is not synonymous with RWA. Additionally, RWA appeared to partially mediate the relationship between cognitive rigidity and mainstream conservatism.