Authoritarians perceive the world as far more dangerous than others do

Evidence

Well so what? What is so bad about Highs being a little sloppy in their use of terms? Well, it is more serious than that; the “biggest problem” data speak to more than just imprecision in the authoritarian mind. High RWAs stand about ten steps closer to the panic button than the rest of the population. They see the world as a more dangerous place than most others do, with civilization on the verge of collapse and the world of Mad Max looming just beyond. As we saw earlier, their parents taught them the world was dangerous, and the resulting fear drives a lot of their aggression. Ask the militias training in the woods. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1290

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the learned-danger worldview noted in earlier chapters and to the reading goal about fear driving aggression.