Extremists of left and right share tough-minded personality traits

Evidence

Although the value pluralism model fits the data well, we should not overlook possible alternative explanations. One interesting alternative is Eysenck’s (1954) two-dimensional model of social attitudes. According to Eysenck, social attitudes are structured around two orthogonal dimensions: radicalism vs. conservatism and tough-mindedness vs. tender-mindedness. Radicalism-conservatism is similar to the familiar left-right continuum. The tough-minded vs. tender-minded dimension is based on William James’s analysis of these concepts. The tough-minded person is intolerant of opposition, suspicious, hard-headed, and egotistical; the tender-minded person is tolerant, idealistic, and altruistic. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2336

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to work on authoritarian personality and the old vs. new left debates; Eysenck’s orthogonal tough/tender dimension also resonates with modern research on dispositional rigidity and cognitive style. — connects to: Most left-wing party supporters lacked a matching radical personality type. — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 707; Left-wing progressives can score as authoritarian as right-wing extremists — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 446