Attitudes to the Iraq war and mandatory detention of asylum seekers: Associations with authoritarianism, social dominance, and mortality salience

Abstract

Attitudes to the Iraq war and mandatory detention of asylum seekers were investigated for relationships with right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO), and for mortality salience effects predicted by terror management theory. Participants were 238 men and women, 18 – 65 years old, mainly Australian public servants who completed an attitudes survey. The survey allowed for a random allocation to one of four mortality salience manipulations: thoughts about death, thoughts about a terrorist attack, thoughts about voting, and no intervention. Support for Australia's involvement in the Iraq war and mandatory detention of asylum seekers was related to higher RWA and SDO, and lower levels of education but there was no statistically significant effect of mortality salience. The results have implications for understanding the value bases of social and political attitudes and for future investigations in this area.