Authoritarianism stems from a conformist personality reading the world as dangerous.

Evidence

This dual-process cognitive motivational model proposes that RWA and SDO are two basic dimensions of social or ideological attitudes with each expressing motivational goals or values made chronically salient for individuals by their social worldviews and their personalities (Duckitt, 2001). High RWA expresses the motivational goal of establishing or maintaining social cohesion, stability, and security, which is made salient by seeing the social world as dangerous and threatening. The predisposing personality dimension is social conformity, which leads individuals to identify with the existing social order, be more sensitive to threats to it, and so to see the social world as dangerous and threatening. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 2474

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the dual-process model’s causal architecture: personality shapes worldview, worldview activates motivational goals, goals produce ideological attitudes.
• XREF: connects to: Harsh child-rearing produces an authoritarian personality supporting discriminatory politics. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 450