Artikel

Attitudes en persoonlijkheidseigenschappen van politiek extremisten: een evaluatie van de belangrijkste theorieën

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Abstract

Personality and attitudes of political extremists : an evaluation of some major theories - The present article is concerned with the relationships between attitudes and personality on the one hand and political extremism on the other hand. We will consider the authoritarian personality theory proposed by Adorno, Frenkel Brunswik, Levinson and Sanford (1950), which has catalyzed subsequent research in the domain of political psychology. Those authors found that right-wing extremists are closed-minded and show a general intolerance of cognitive ambiguity. However, a fierce debate about the relationship between attitudes and political extremism among several political theorists has developed. In the present paper this debate is reviewed, showing that from a present perspective some hypotheses formulated in those theories are hardly acceptable. Moreover, our review shows that certain theoretical and empirical impasses were clear from the onset. As such, those theories do not seem to be viable alternatives for the authoritarian personality theory. Three studies (Riemann, Grubich, Hempel, Mergl & Richter, 1993; Van Hiel & Mervielde, 1996a,b) conducted recently, tested the relationships between the Five Factor Model personality dimensions and political beliefs. These studies indicate a negative relationship between ’general conservatism’ and ’openness to experience’. It is concluded that the latter relationship confirms, at least in part, the authoritarian personality theory.

How to Cite:

Van Hiel, A. & Mervielde, I., (1997) “Attitudes en persoonlijkheidseigenschappen van politiek extremisten: een evaluatie van de belangrijkste theorieën”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 42(3), 270–289. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95275