Right-wing authoritarianism is psychological submission, not economic conservatism

Evidence

When I modify authoritarianism with the phrase “right-wing,” I do not necessarily mean anything political (as in liberal versus conservative) or economic (as in socialist versus capitalist). Rather, I am using “right-wing” in a psychological sense of submitting to the perceived authorities in one’s life (Altemeyer, 1981, p. 152), usually “the Establishment.” The supporters of apartheid in pre-Mandela South Africa would be right-wing authoritarians, and so would those who praised the murderous military police in Brazil. And so would the Chinese who supported the massacre in Tiananmen Square, and the hardliners in Russia who want to reinstate the Communist Party. Although neither the Chinese nor Russian groups are economic right-wingers, they are psychological right-wingers in their support for those they were raised to believe were the legitimate authorities. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 140

A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL DEFINITION OF “‘LEFT-WING”’ When I began talking about “right-wing” authoritarianism (RWA, p. 152), I was not using the phrase in an economic or political sense. Instead I was (brazenly) inventing a new sense, a social psychological sense that denotes submission to the perceived established authorities in one’s life. In many instances the established authorities tend to be people who hold right-wing economic and political views-but not always. In Communist countries, the established authorities in society held a decidedly left-wing economic philosophy, but after so many years in power, the party leaders had become the Establishment. So I predicted persons who scored highly on the RWA Scale in the USSR would support the Communist leadership and oppose democratic reforms (EOF, p. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2828

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the technical sense of ‘right-wing’ used throughout — psychological submission to perceived authorities, independent of political or economic position.
• XREF: Parallels the Zamyatin We and Things Fall Apart readings in that submission to established order is a psychological posture rather than a coherent ideology. — connects to: Pseudoconservatives misdirect resentment at democratic form rather than economic inequality — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1797; Pseudo-conservatism masked destructive impulses beneath conventional values, unlike genuine conservatism — Rolf Wiggershaus, The Frankfurt School: Its History,…, 1800; Neoliberalism’s weakening of democratic values enables neoconservative moralism and authoritarianism — Jessica Whyte, The Morals of the Market: Human Rights…, 169 (+2 more)
• SEED: The Tiananmen and Communist-reinstatement examples show authoritarian submission crossing the left-right economic divide — usable in an essay on how ‘authoritarian’ mislabels ideology rather than a personality disposition.
• CANDY: Both supporters and opponents of apartheid in different eras could count as right-wing authoritarians — the label tracks deference to whatever authority trained you.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 140; Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 2828