I know of William because he is a frequent commenter on this blog, but I've always wondered about his frequency. It hasn't made sense because I have only visited his blog a couple of times and--while I try to be civil when he visits/comments, we don't see eye to eye on much, and his comments are rarely good-natured.
But I think I've figured out his interest in my blog/me--he's studying me as part of an effort to suppress (or whatever) the influence we Religious Rightists/Religious Conservativists/Christianists have on the culture.
For example, I belatedly came across this post yesterday (somehow technorati linked me to it via this post at ACK's blog--William would think it not a coincidence).
I've long been bothered by most of the work of Michael Savage, and his book Liberalism is a Mental Disorder--though I haven't read it, even on its face demonstrates my problem with him. In the same way, I am unimpressed with William's amateur psychology and hyper-partisan rants about so-called "Authoritarianism."
I would probably file this under being a slavemaster to science, but William seems hell-bent on finding some scientific-sounding way to dismiss those with whom he disagrees (after all, the guy who wrote the definitive work on this subject published his book through HARVARD! press). It amazes me that (and you need to read William's entire post to appreciate this) William (et al) categorize as neurosis a belief that society should attempt to protect innocent human life at every stage. As ACK observes, people with Dr. Will(iam)'s identified disorder are present all over the political spectrum, and if I may say so William, equating being pro-life with being "neurotic" sounds pretty, well, neurotic to me.
Hello world!
7 years ago
6 comments:
I'm a realist. I deal with observations, social science and psychological research. There is a great deal written on the subject.
Right-wing authoritarianism is real and the characteristics among those who subscribe to this way of thinking are clearly identifiable.
You are right that RWA aren't necessarily 'Republican,' but in the context of the present political atmosphere in America, the prevalence of religion in politics and government, clearly in the here and now, most RWA authoritarians are Republican conservatives, the characteristics fit. This is verified by studies of the 'conservative mindset'. You alluded to the 'culture war' - an invention that characterizes the RWA:
From wikipedia:
"High scorers on the RWA scale (High RWAs) tend to have a rigid, often fundamentally religious, view of morality tending toward homophobic, racist and patriarchal beliefs. High RWA scorers tend to support authority figures, such as the government, taking action to censor certain social groups — often those they view as physically or morally threatening." [hence the perceived 'culture war,' denialist bloggers who delete posts when confronted with facts, etc...]
"It is not an ideological measure, but a social psychological one that, in spite of its name, is not necessarily associated with right-wing political views. The nature of the RWA scale leads to predictions that High RWAs will tend to support the current political authority, regardless of the ideology expounded by those in power. For example, it was predicted, and confirmed that in the old Soviet Union, high RWAs were supporters of the Communist Party because it represented the established authority even though it would be described as a left wing Party."
As stated, authoritarianism has a strong religious/cultural context in American society today and it is very clear that the steadfast 30%ers that support Bush are often very religious. Hence the added "R" - Religious RightWing Authoritarians. Such people in this dichotomy rely on faith instead of reason, dogmatism instead of critical thinking. That fits the profile of the 'science denier' - ie ... the Republican War on Science. True to form, such people uncritically accept insufficient evidence that supports their beliefs and uncritically trust people who tell them what they want to hear - both text book descriptions of the RWA.
Other prevalent characteristics of the RRWA's - common among the Bushie 30%ers:
* Be fearful of a dangerous world.
* Insist on traditional sex roles.
* Use religion to erase guilt over their acts [like supporting the war]and to maintain their self-righteousness.
* Be religious `fundamentalists'
* Accept illegal abuses of power by government authorities.
* Trust leaders who are untrustworthy
* Avoid learning about their personal failings.
* Be highly self-righteous.
* Make many incorrect inferences from evidence
* are ethnocentric
* are highly nationalistic
* oppose abortion
* support capital punishment
* oppose gun-control legislation
* say they value freedom but actually want to undermine the Bill of Rights
* do not value equality very highly and oppose measures to increase it
* exhibit hostility toward outgroups [liberals]
Sounds very Republican to me.
I didn't make this stuff up.
I don't have time to "fisk" your comment, but the last "bullet" (what would a clinical assessment be without bullets?) is a laugher:
"* exhibit hostility toward outgroups [liberals]"
And surely you see the irony of linking to Wikipedia and acting as if it is some big deal that a psychologist somewhere (or maybe not even that) wrote a book on this while asserting "uncritically accept insufficient evidence that supports their beliefs and uncritically trust people who tell them what they want to hear - both text book descriptions of the RWA."
Much of the other stuff you mentioned (especially in the beginning--sorry, my eyes started to glaze over) could be said of Clintonistas during that scandalous period.
Give it up, William. You and I disagree on public policy and philosophy. You probably (and merely) lean more toward relative or subjective perspectives than me. You probably get more satisfaction out of bucking a rule than following it. Maybe you have some positive Left-leaning role models in your life that I lacked. You're not necessarily evil or beset with a mental disorder because we disagree.
"Could be said of Clintonistas during that scandalous period"
??
Are you refering to the 68% of Americans that gave Clinton high approval ratings during the impeachment? Generally, I don't think so.
Although there are always exceptions, the left-wing in America doesn't fit the RRWA profile the way conservatives do - to a tee.
Oh yes, "the profile."
Soldier on, William!!
Will do. Further reading, research:
personality and emotional correlates of right-wing authoritarianism
Fear works -
Authoritarianism and sociopolitical attitudes in response to threats of terror.
Dangers of highly dominating, highly authoritarian personalities.
Right wing personalities have greater trouble remembering what they read
and making correct inferences - as the authoritarianism scores increased, cognitive performance decreased.
You'd think that we RWA's would've slavemastered some "science" to equate voting Democrat with being mentally deficient . . . maybe I need to read Savage's book after all.
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