Authoritarianism remains changeable throughout life rather than fixed in youth

Evidence

But we also have evidence that authoritarianism can shift back and forth during adulthood. Higher education usually lowers it, especially among High RWAs. It appears that getting older, per se, does not cause RWA scores to climb. But becoming parents likely will. We know that levels of right-wing authoritarianism in university students change periodically over time, perhaps even cyclically, arguably in reaction to the events of the preceding era. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1186

The social learning model underlying our explanation does not hold that personality is cast in iron at some particular age, and thereafter only chipped away at the edges. As long as new learning can occur, new role models can emerge, new circumstances can pop up out of the blue, and new experiences can give us thrills or a poke in the eye, our social attitudes can change. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1107

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1186; Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1107