The Impact of Need for Closure on Conservative Beliefs and Racism: Differential Mediation by Authoritarian Submission and Authoritarian Dominance

Abstract

The present study explores the influence of need for closure as well as authoritarian submission (Right-Wing Authoritarianism [RWA]) and authoritarian dominance (Social Dominance Orientation [SDO]) on the genesis of conservative beliefs and racism. For this purpose, two structural equation models were compared. In Model 1, RWA and SDO were entered as independent variables and the need for closure facets Decisiveness and Need for Simple Structure acted as mediator variables. In Model 2, the need for closure facets served as independent variables and RWA and SDO acted as mediators. In two student samples (Sample 1, N = 399, Sample 2, N = 330) and one adult sample (Sample 3, N = 379), Model 2 showed superior fit to the data. These results corroborate the hypothesis that authoritarianism should be interpreted in terms of generalized beliefs rather than in terms of personality characteristics. In addition, analyses show that the effects of Need for Simple Structure on conservative beliefs and racism are fully mediated by RWA but only partly by SDO. These results suggest a differential genesis of RWA and SDO.

Seeking structure in social organization: Compensatory control and the psychological advantages of hierarchy.

“…Past work has shown correlationally that PNS produces prejudice and discrimination via mediation through SDO and RWA (e.g., Altemeyer, 1998;Heaven & Bucci, 2001;Van Hiel, Pandelaere, & Duriez, 2004). The current work bolsters these findings by providing experimental evidence that motivational needs for structure may contribute, in part, to the attractiveness of hierarchy.…”

“…Someone whose sense of personal control has been threatened thus might find hierarchy appealing as a means of reestablishing a more general sense of structure. Indeed, past theoretical work has proposed the possibility that hierarchies fulfill psychological needs for structure (Magee & Galinsky, 2008), and correlational evidence suggests that needs for structure and hierarchy-enhancing ideology are related (Jost, Glaser, Kruglanski, & Sulloway, 2003;Van Hiel, Pandelaere, & Duriez, 2004).…”

The intergenerational transmission of need for closure underlies the transmission of authoritarianism and anti-immigrant prejudice

“…However, studies in the domain of social cognition have provided empirical evidence for the basic role of individual differences in motivated cognition, and particularly NFC, in the development and perseverance of personal values, beliefs, and social attitudes (e.g., Calogero, Bardi, & Sutton, 2009;Van Hiel et al, 2004). Socialization theories did not consider the possibility that parents and children may also resemble each other in their general cognitive style giving rise to ideological and intergroup attitudes.…”

“…Furthermore, NFC shows a remarkable conceptual fit with the motivated cognitive style characteristics which Allport (1954) described as "the prejudiced personality" and several studies have indeed demonstrated that NFC is strongly related to various forms of prejudice, including gender-based, racial, and anti-immigrant prejudice (e.g., Cunningham, Nezlek, & Banaji, 2004;Roets, Van Hiel, & Dhont, 2012;Van Hiel, Pandelaere, & Duriez, 2004). In addition, scholars have also demonstrated that the effects of NFC on anti-immigrant prejudice are mediated by the endorsement of authoritarian views (e.g., Van Hiel et al, 2004).…”

“…In addition, scholars have also demonstrated that the effects of NFC on anti-immigrant prejudice are mediated by the endorsement of authoritarian views (e.g., Van Hiel et al, 2004).…”