Real intergroup threats raise hostility mainly among low authoritarians

Evidence

I should note that in the many scenarios in which I found the role-players became more authoritarian, the High RWA subjects did not go up all that much. (They already believed the world teetered on the edge of chaos.) Instead, the Moderate and Low RWA students jumped up the most. Perhaps they would only become more authoritarian temporarily. But “temporarily” was all Hitler needed to seize power and eventually plunge the world into the most murderous war of all time. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1183 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

We now believe that, in general, low power groups are more likely than high power groups to experience threats, but that high power groups (to the extent that they actually perceive they are threatened) will react more strongly to threat. Low power groups are highly susceptible to perceiving threats because they are at the mercy of more powerful groups. Consistent with this idea, Stephan and colleagues have demonstrated that low power racial and ethnic groups (e.g., Black Americans, Native Canadians) perceive higher levels of threat from high power groups (e.g., European Americans, Anglo Canadians) than high power groups perceive from low power groups (Corenblum & Stephan, 2001; Stephan et al., 2002). High power groups react strongly to feeling threatened because they have a great deal to lose and, unlike low power groups, they possess the resources to respond to the threats. — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 6 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Low power groups feel more threat; high power groups react harder to it — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 6; Threat shifts moderate and low authoritarians most, not the already-high — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1183; Threat amplifies preexisting intergroup responses rather than creating them — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 23

Broader Connections

• Threat shifts moderate and low authoritarians most, not the already-high #corroborates (0.93) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1183
• Low power groups feel more threat; high power groups react harder to it #complicates (0.72) — Walter G. Stephan, Oscar Ybarra, Kimberly Rios Morrison, Intergroup Threat Theory, 6