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The RWA Scale (Altemeyer, 1981, 1988, 1996) is commonly regarded as the best measure of right‐wing authoritarianism. The one‐dimensional instrument assesses the covariation of three attitudinal clusters: authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, and conventionalism. The incongruence between the implicit conceptual dimensionality on the one hand and methodological operationalization on the other makes room for discussion about whether it would be advantageous to measure the 3 facets of RWA separately. I rely on three arguments: (1) confirmatory factor analyses showing that three‐dimensional scales fit the data better than the conventional one‐dimensional practice; (2) the dimensions showing a considerable interdimension discrepancy in their capability to explain validation criteria; and (3) the dimensions showing an intradimensional discrepancy which is dependent upon the research question. The argumentation is illustrated by empirical evidence from several Web‐based studies among German Internet users.

Altemeyer's (1981) Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale is the most popular authoritarianism measure today. However, the use of a unidimensional scale to measure a three factor construct and an apparent tautology between items and predictive criteria have garnered criticism. Revisions take one of two main approaches: either they simplify the construct to be unidimensional and create new items or they retain Altemeyer's three factor theory and alter Altemeyer's original items to produce a three factor scale. We combine these two approaches by retaining Altemeyer's three factor theory while creating new items. Our new measure, the Aggression-Submission-Conventionalism (ASC) scale, allows for a test of Altemeyer's theory divorced of the original items. The ASC scale was designed to maximize discriminant validity while creating less tautological and more politically and religiously neutral items. A total of 649 participants in three convenience samples from the United States completed surveys showing the ASC scale to have good reliability and validity. The ASC scale was found to have similar predictive validity to other three factor scales but superior discriminant validity. Most importantly, we found a clear contribution of all three factors in predicting ethnocentrism, political intolerance, and anti-democratic attitudes. Authoritarian aggression emerged as the most important and consistent predictor with submission and conventionalism effects dependent upon the criterion. The ASC subscales all added unique variance above current unidimensional measures, with aggression consistently adding the most variance. Our findings support Altemeyer's three factor theory and show that unidimensional measures fail to capture the nuances of our ASC scale. ; peerReviewed ; publishedVersion

Altemeyer's (1981) Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale is the most popular authoritarianism measure today. However, the use of a unidimensional scale to measure a three factor construct and an apparent tautology between items and predictive criteria have garnered criticism. Revisions take one of two main approaches: either they simplify the construct to be unidimensional and create new items or they retain Altemeyer's three factor theory and alter Altemeyer's original items to produce a three factor scale. We combine these two approaches by retaining Altemeyer's three factor theory while creating new items. Our new measure, the Aggression-Submission-Conventionalism (ASC) scale, allows for a test of Altemeyer's theory divorced of the original items. The ASC scale was designed to maximize discriminant validity while creating less tautological and more politically and religiously neutral items. A total of 649 participants in three convenience samples from the United States completed surveys showing the ASC scale to have good reliability and validity. The ASC scale was found to have similar predictive validity to other three factor scales but superior discriminant validity. Most importantly, we found a clear contribution of all three factors in predicting ethnocentrism, political intolerance, and anti-democratic attitudes. Authoritarian aggression emerged as the most important and consistent predictor with submission and conventionalism effects dependent upon the criterion. The ASC subscales all added unique variance above current unidimensional measures, with aggression consistently adding the most variance. Our findings support Altemeyer's three factor theory and show that unidimensional measures fail to capture the nuances of our ASC scale.

Previous research has demonstrated the relevance of voters' and candidates' group memberships on voting behavior. We examined the impact of voters' race (Black vs. White) and gender (male vs. female) on voting preferences for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and caucuses of 2008. Study 1 investigated national exit poll data, representative for voters from various U.S. states. Analyses revealed a same‐race and same‐gender voting preference. Confirming the threat hypothesis (Blalock, 1967), same‐race preference among White voters (but not among Black voters) increased with the proportion of Blacks per state. In Study 2, we assessed voting preferences, racial identification, and perceived realistic threat by Blacks among White voters. High racial identification was associated with a stronger same‐race preference. This effect was mediated by perceived realistic threat. We discuss the results with regard to the intergroup threat versus contact hypothesis, and psychological differences between racial majority and minority members.

Previous research has demonstrated the relevance of voters' and candidates' group memberships on voting behavior. We examined the impact of voters' race (Black vs. White) and gender (male vs. female) on voting preferences for either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primaries and caucuses of 2008. Study 1 investigated national exit poll data, representative for voters from various U.S. states. Analyses revealed a same-race and same-gender voting preference. Confirming the threat hypothesis (Blalock, 1967), same-race preference among White voters (but not among Black voters) increased with the proportion of Blacks per state. In Study 2, we assessed voting preferences, racial identification, and perceived realistic threat by Blacks among White voters. High racial identification was associated with a stronger same-race preference. This effect was mediated by perceived realistic threat. We discuss the results with regard to the intergroup threat versus contact hypothesis, and psychological differences between racial majority and minority members. Adapted from the source document.

'The present study examines associations between adolescents' attitudes towards foreigners and their perceptions of the same attitudes among their parents, friends, and teachers. Questionnaire data from a sample of 518 students attending 6th, 8th, 10th, and 12th grade of German high-track schools addressed students' own attitudes and their reports on the reference persons m their proximal contexts. Analyses of individual profile correlations suggest strong correspondences between adolescents and their perceived contexts which slightly decrease depending on age. Processes of projection are discussed as a possible explanation of the strong associations observed as well as to the age-graded pattern of correlations.' (author's abstract)|

"Im Zentrum der Studie stehen Zusammenhänge zwischen den Einstellungen jugendlicher Schüler zu Ausland und Ausländern einerseits und den parallelen Einstellungen, die die Schüler bei ihren Eltern, Freunden und Lehrern wahrnehmen. Die Analysen querschnittlich erhobener Daten von 859 Schülern der 6., 8. und 10. Klassenstufe ergaben Korrelationen einer Größenordnung, die deutlich über bislang ermittelte Zusammenhänge zwischen den Einstellungen von Jugendlichen und Personen in ihrem Umfeld hinausgehen. Altersgradierte Variationen in der Enge der Zusammenhänge tragen zu der Vermutung projektiver Prozesse im Dienste der Bestätigung eigener Einstellungen bei." (Autorenreferat)

Intention der vorliegenden Studie ist es, Fremdenfeindlichkeit, Antisemitismus und Rechtsradikalismus nicht nur als ein ostdeutsches Problem zu verorten und damit "ein gesamtdeutsches Problem zu halbieren". Dieses erkenntnisleitende Interesse wird durch vier Fragen spezifiziert: (1) Ist Ausländerfeindlichkeit gleich Ausländerfeindlichkeit? (2) Was sind rechtsextreme (politische) Orientierungen? (3) Sind die typisch rechtsextrem orientierten Jugendlichen überwiegend männlich, Hauptschulabgänger und ostdeutscher Herkunft? (4) Gehören rechtsorientierte Jugendszenen zu den dominierenden Jugendkulturen? Die Ergebnisse einer Befragung zeigen, dass sich fremdenfeindliche Konstruktionen und Ausschreitungen nur unzureichend mit dem Ost-West-Gefälle erklären lassen. Mit Hilfe eines heuristischen Modells geht die Studie tiefer auf die psychosozialen Hintergründe von Resentimentstrukturen ein. (ICA)

Intention der vorliegenden Studie ist es, Fremdenfeindlichkeit, Antisemitismus und Rechtsradikalismus nicht nur als ein ostdeutsches Problem zu verorten und damit "ein gesamtdeutsches Problem zu halbieren". Dieses erkenntnisleitende Interesse wird durch vier Fragen spezifiziert: (1) Ist Ausländerfeindlichkeit gleich Ausländerfeindlichkeit? (2) Was sind rechtsextreme (politische) Orientierungen? (3) Sind die typisch rechtsextrem orientierten Jugendlichen überwiegend männlich, Hauptschulabgänger und ostdeutscher Herkunft? (4) Gehören rechtsorientierte Jugendszenen zu den dominierenden Jugendkulturen? Die Ergebnisse einer Befragung zeigen, dass sich fremdenfeindliche Konstruktionen und Ausschreitungen nur unzureichend mit dem Ost-West-Gefälle erklären lassen. Mit Hilfe eines heuristischen Modells geht die Studie tiefer auf die psychosozialen Hintergründe von Resentimentstrukturen ein. (ICA).