Motivated Social Cognition and Authoritarianism

Abstract

Abstract. The domain of motivated social cognition includes a variety of concepts dealing with a need to seek structure and avoid ambiguity, and several of these concepts are also powerful predictors of social attitudes, such as authoritarianism. It is possible though that these relations are due to certain facets reoccurring in the different scales. In this paper, we tested the notion that authoritarianism is predicted specifically by rigidity in beliefs (closed-mindedness), rather than broader cognitive styles. Thus, we initially identified items in the motivated social cognition scales that are specifically measuring closed-mindedness. These items included the closed-mindedness facet of the need for closure scale and items from intolerance of ambiguity and need for cognition. We used these items to predict right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and their common factor authoritarianism (generalized). In line with our prediction, two studies showed that the motivated social cognition scales did not provide a significant prediction of authoritarianism beyond the closed-mindedness items. We conclude that the relation between motivated social cognition and authoritarianism is captured entirely by the former’s closed-mindedness component.