THE EFFECTS OF CONTEXTUAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL VARIABLES ON EXTREME RIGHT-WING SENTIMENTS

In: Social behavior and personality: an international journal, Band 30, Heft 4, S. 317-334

Abstract

This article assesses how socioeconomic and psychological factors explain right-wing extremist (RWE) sentiments. A correlation was expected between two psychological factors: authoritarianism and supernaturalist beliefs, and RWE, and a weaker correlation between socioeconomic variables and RWE, compared to psychological variables. Questionnaires were given to 1,247 Israeli university students. Results confirmed the expectation that psychological variables were better predictors of RWE. These conclusions contradict attributing RWE to socioeconomic factors.