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The Authoritarian Dynamic During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Nationalism and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

Hartman, Todd K., Stocks, Thomas Victor Arthur, McKay, Ryan, Gibson Miller, Jilly, Levita, Liat, Martinez, Anton Philipp, Mason, Liam, McBride, Orla +7 more·2020
DOI 10.31234/osf.io/4tcv5
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Abstract

Research has demonstrated that situational factors such as perceived threats to the social order activate latent authoritarianism. The deadly COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to test whether existential threat stemming from an indiscriminate virus moderates the relationship between authoritarianism and political attitudes toward the nation and outgroups. Using data from two large nationally representative samples of adults in the United Kingdom (N = 2,025) and Republic of Ireland (N = 1,041) collected during the initial phases of strict lockdown measures in both countries, we find that the associations between right-wing authoritarianism and 1) nationalism and 2) anti- immigrant attitudes are conditional on levels of perceived threat. As anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic increases, so too does the effect of right-wing authoritarianism on those political outcomes. Thus, it appears that existential threats to humanity from the COVID-19 pandemic moderate expressions of authoritarianism in society.

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  • Overall anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic predicts anti-immigrant attitudes, particularly for individuals higher in right-wing authoritarianism.

    “early research on the effects of this existential threat suggests that overall anxiety about the pandemic predicts antiimmigrant attitudes, particularly for individuals higher in right-wing authoritarianism (Hartman et al. 2020).”

    From Prejudice and Discrimination Toward Immigrants (2021) · cites this paper as Hartman et al. 2020

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Authors
Hartman, T. K., Stocks, T. V. A., McKay, R., Gibson Miller, J., Levita, L., Martinez, A. P., Mason, L., McBride, O., Murphy, J., Shevlin, M., Bennett, K. M., Hyland, P., Karatzias, T., Vallières, F., & Bentall, R.
ORCID
Publisher
Center for Open Science
Published
2020-05-09
DOI
10.31234/osf.io/4tcv5
Cited by
5
References
2
Type
Preprint
Licence
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode (unspecified)

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