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Series:   Elements in Political Psychology

Stronger Issues, Weaker Predispositions

Abortion, Gay Rights, and Authoritarianism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2024

Paul Goren
Paul Goren
Affiliation:
University of Minnesota

Summary

Political psychologists have long theorized that authoritarianism structures the positions people take on cultural issues and their party ties. Authoritarianism is durable; it resists the influence of other political judgments; and it is very impactful-in a word, it is strong. By contrast, researchers characterize the attitudes most people hold on most issues as unstable and ineffectual-in a word, weak. But what is true of most issues is not true of the issues that have driven America's long running culture war-abortion and gay rights. This Element demonstrates that moral issue attitudes are stronger than authoritarianism. With data from multiple sources over the period 1992-2020, it shows that (1) moral issue attitudes endure longer than authoritarianism; (2) moral issues predict change in authoritarianism; (3) authoritarianism does not systematically predict change in moral issues; and (4) moral issues have always played a much greater role structuring party ties than authoritarianism.
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Keywords

political psychologypolitical sciencesocial psychologymass communicationssociology
Type
Element
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Series: Elements in Political Psychology
Online ISBN: 9781009529303
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 16 January 2025

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Stronger Issues, Weaker Predispositions
  • Paul Goren, University of Minnesota
  • Online ISBN: 9781009529303
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Stronger Issues, Weaker Predispositions
  • Paul Goren, University of Minnesota
  • Online ISBN: 9781009529303
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Stronger Issues, Weaker Predispositions
  • Paul Goren, University of Minnesota
  • Online ISBN: 9781009529303
Available formats
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