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Review
. 2021 Jun 24:12:676093.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.676093. eCollection 2021.

Authoritarianism Beyond Disposition: A Literature Review of Research on Contextual Antecedents

Caroline Schnelle  1 , Dirk Baier  2 , Andreas Hadjar  3   4 , Klaus Boehnke  1   5
Affiliations
Review

Authoritarianism Beyond Disposition: A Literature Review of Research on Contextual Antecedents

Caroline Schnelle et al. Front Psychol. .

Abstract

A core debate in authoritarianism research relates to the stability of authoritarianism, i.e., whether it is a dispositional phenomenon socialized in early childhood or even genetically predisposed, or whether it is impacted by time-sensitive, exterior conditions. Whereas certain individual authoritarian tendencies emerge as a rather stable personality trait, there is also empirical evidence for a dynamic influence of external factors. This review article provides a conceptual multilevel framework for the study of authoritarianism and offers an insight into the state-of-research on socialization and situational influences, with a particular focus on threat. Findings are discussed with regard to key theories of authoritarianism.

Keywords: authoritarianism; contextual; personality; socialization; threat.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Multilevel model of the “Authoritarian Reaction” in high-scoring and low-scoring authoritarians.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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