Perceived status marginality drives authoritarian parenting more than objective class

Evidence

While the core of the authoritarian personality was threat, insecurity, and ego weakness, the core of the tolerant personality was the exact opposite: a sense of inner security, freedom from threat, ego maturity, and therefore the inner confidence and strength to cope adequately with threat. In contrast to the typically harsh, punitive early life experience of the authoritarian, the tolerant person was the product of a permissive home characterized by security and unconditional acceptance from parents, leading to an empathic and accepting orientation toward others, a liberal ideological outlook, tolerance of ambiguity, psychological sophistication, and the capacity to think in shades of gray rather than simplistic, rigid categories. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2431 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Altemeyer (1981, 1998) found that his own and others’ research disconfirmed Adorno et al.’s psychoanalytic theory of the childhood origins of authoritarianism. He found no associations between authoritarianism and harsh, punitive parental socialization; rather, he suggested that authoritarianism results from social learning (i.e., from having been socialized to see the social world as a dangerous and threatening place). This finding has been well replicated (Duckitt, 2001; McFarland, 1998; McFarland & Adelson, 1996) and is consistent with earlier research that found significant associations between authoritarianism and perceived social threat (e.g., Feldman & Stenner, 1997; Sales, 1973). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2451 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Permissive upbringing and affluence sensitized young activists to achievement ideology’s costs — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 2652; Authoritarianism is operationalized through childrearing values rather than politics; Restrictive versus egalitarian childrearing predicts later authoritarian attitudes — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1050 (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• Early parenting style shapes lifelong tolerance versus authoritarianism #complicates (0.75) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2431
• Authoritarianism arises from social learning about threat, not harsh parenting #complicates (0.72) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2451