Authoritarians Who Dislike Authority?

Abstract

This chapter reviews and critiques one of the most frequently invoked descriptions of intense Trump supporters—that they have authoritarian personalities. This phrase is taken from the title of a landmark book published in 1950 by Theodor Adorno and colleagues, a work that is described in some detail in this chapter. Subsequent efforts to measure similar concepts have focused on right-wing authoritarianism and preferences for child-rearing. These scholarly efforts attempt to explain anti-Semitism, ethnocentrism, and prejudice based on authoritarian attitudes that include submissiveness, conventionalism, and aggression. The argument made in this chapter is that the application of these concepts to Trump’s base does not capture the real difference between those who are and those who are not avid Trump supporters because the actual central distinction has more to do with attitudes toward security than authority and because they mix personality traits with worldview.