PC-Egalitarians tended to have greater exposure to a seminar or experience that altered their sensitivity to individual differences and inequality, had a greater vocabulary, were more open to new experiences, and had greater identification with historically disadvantaged groups. In contrast, PC-Authoritarians tended to be more religious, have higher sensitivity to disgust and contamination, score higher in the need for order, have lower vocabulary, and have the presence of an anxiety or a mood disorder in the individual or immediate family.
While this study wasn’t specifically examining general political beliefs, they shed some light on overlapping policy issues. For one, the findings on PC-Authoritarianism highlight some similarities with right-wing authoritarianism. A common finding in the psychological literature is a positive association between conservative belief and sensitivity to disgust. In the current study, contamination disgust and the order and traditionalism dimension were all related, suggesting a greater similarity between PC-Authoritarians and Right-Wing authoritarians than either side would probably like to admit!
Also, another interesting similarity is the higher levels of a diagnosed anxiety or mood disorder found among PC-Authoritarians. Both PC-Authoritarians and Right-Wing Authoritarians tend to show a heightened fear response to both social and personal threats, with the strongest fear response being towards instances of social difference.
As the researchers point out, a core feature of authoritarianism in general (regardless of the means by which it is used politically, and who is seen as the transgressor), is a worldview in which a large portion of the social world is seen as threatening.
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