Authoritarians aggress mainly when authority sanctions their attacks.

Evidence

Summary. With a few exceptions, the literature on authoritarian aggression says rather forcefully that High RWAs tend to be hostile when they feel their attacks are sanctioned by authority. They are highly punitive toward criminals (but show double standards when the criminals are authorities, or when the victims of crime represent groups the authoritarian wants to see suffer). High RWAs tried to shock peers more in a fake learning experiment. They also tend to be the most ethnically and racially prejudiced people in samples. They are quite hostile toward homosexuals. High RWA men may be more likely than most to assault women. Right-wing authoritarians would likely be the first to help if the government decided to wipe out some group. They tend to be mean-spirited. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 425

Summary. With a few exceptions, the literature on authoritarian aggression says rather forcefully that High RWAs tend to be hostile when they feel their attacks are sanctioned by authority. They are highly punitive toward criminals (but show double standards when the criminals are authorities, or when the victims of crime represent groups the authoritarian wants to see suffer). High RWAs tried to shock peers more in a fake learning experiment. They also tend to be the most ethnically and racially prejudiced people in samples. They are quite hostile toward homosexuals. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 425

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Milgram’s obedience experiments and the general ‘authority-sanctioned cruelty’ literature; also to Altemeyer’s own ‘The Authoritarian Specter.’ — connects to: High authoritarians readily support persecution of groups including their own. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 917
• SEED: Angle for an essay: ‘authority-sanctioned cruelty’ as the mechanism that flips ordinary restraint into atrocity — from Milgram shocks to ethnic cleansing.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 425