New psychological research suggests that feelings of psychological distress and perceived social dissatisfaction contribute to authoritarian attitudes among people on the political left. The findings provide evidence that left-wing authoritarianism is heavily influenced by the belief that society is highly unjust and oppressive towards marginalized groups. This study political ideology journal.
Savannah Love and Rachel Sherman conducted research to better understand the psychological factors that drive political behavior on the extreme left side of the spectrum. Sharman is a Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Program Coordinator in Psychology in the Faculty of Health at the University of the Sunshine Coast. “Extreme political polarization poses real risks to society and is on the rise in most Western democracies,” Sherman said.
The researchers noted that people at both extremes share similar psychological characteristics. “Extremists exist on both ends of the right and left, and they have more in common than they would like to admit, especially a psychological predisposition toward intolerance,” Sherman explained. While right-wing extremism has a long history of academic research, left-wing extremism remains largely understudied.
In recent years, identity-based political movements have emerged on the political left. Identity politics involves focusing political attention on the attributes of particular groups, such as race, gender, or sexuality. This approach often highlights ongoing struggles between marginalized identities and privileged groups.
The scientists wanted to investigate how perceptions of systemic social injustice are related to left-wing authoritarianism. In the psychological literature, this perception of social injustice is known as perceived grievance. They also aimed to test whether underlying mental health issues could make individuals more susceptible to these rigid political beliefs.
To explore these connections, researchers recruited 299 English-speaking adults through various social media platforms. Participants were found in general community forums and specific political groups across the political spectrum. Volunteers ranged in age from 18 to 85 years, with the majority between 25 and 34 years.
The sample was predominantly Caucasian with a slight overrepresentation of women. This group leans heavily to the left of the political spectrum, with nearly 40% identifying as very left-wing. These participants completed a large online survey that included several established psychological questionnaires.
The researchers measured left-wing authoritarianism using a specific 22-item scale. The tool captures three different dimensions, including revolutionary aggressiveness, support for top-down censorship, and rejection of traditional values. Revolutionary aggression refers to the desire to dismantle, sometimes violently, the established order.
Top-down censorship involves willingly restricting the free speech of people with opposing views. Anti-conventionalism describes aggressive intolerance towards people with traditional or conservative beliefs. To measure perceived dissatisfaction, participants completed the Privilege and Oppression Inventory.
This study assesses individuals’ awareness of systemic privilege, with a particular focus on sexism, heterosexism, Christian privilege, and white privilege. Higher scores on this inventory indicate a greater belief that society is fundamentally structured around these forms of oppression. The survey also includes the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, which measures general psychological distress.
Participants answered questions regarding their moral concerns using the Moral Foundations Questionnaire. This tool assesses whether people base their morality on individualizing foundations such as compassion and fairness, or on binding foundations such as loyalty and authority. Additionally, the scientists assessed participants’ emotional reactivity and need for cognitive closure.
Emotional reactivity describes how quickly and intensely a person experiences negative or positive emotions. The need for cognitive closure refers to an individual’s desire for firm answers and an aversion to uncertainty and ambiguity. Love and Sherman used a statistical technique called structural equation modeling to analyze the data they collected.
This complex mathematical method allows scientists to plan and test relationships between multiple psychological variables simultaneously. Through this analysis, the final statistical model explained 53 percent of the variance in left-wing authoritarianism across participants. This finding provides evidence that awareness of systemic oppression is strongly associated with the desire to enforce ideological conformity.
“Our study showed that ‘perceived dissatisfaction’ (a hallmark of identity politics) is the strongest predictor of left-wing authoritarianism,” Sherman told Cypost. People who view the world primarily through the lens of serious social injustices tend to support authoritarian solutions to right those perceived wrongs. This study also revealed indirect psychological pathways that begin with basic psychological distress.
The data show that participants who experience higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress tend to perceive social dissatisfaction more strongly. This growing feeling of dissatisfaction contributes to their left-wing authoritarian attitudes. Psychological distress itself does not seem to directly cause authoritarianism.
Rather, distress appears to make individuals more receptive to narratives of social grievance and systemic oppression. Adopting this dire worldview paves the way for rigid, authoritarian political thinking. The researchers also found an unexpected relationship involving participants’ moral foundations.
They found that perceived dissatisfaction has a strong influence on an individual’s reliance on moral foundations. These particular moral foundations focus on protecting individuals from harm and ensuring fairness. “Perhaps somewhat counterintuitive, LWAs (left-wing authoritarians) were more likely to prioritize individualizing aspects of morality over group-centered priorities,” Sherman noted.
He added that the finding was unexpected, but other research teams have observed similar patterns. This individualizing moral focus acted as a bridge, further strengthening the left’s authoritarian tendencies. This suggests that left-wing authoritarians are primarily motivated by a desire to protect the vulnerable and enforce fairness.
As with all research, there are limitations to keep in mind. This study is based on a cross-sectional design. Because the data were collected at a single point in time, scientists cannot conclusively prove that psychological distress or perceived dissatisfaction directly causes left-wing authoritarianism. Additionally, the sample was highly educated and mostly white, limiting the applicability of the findings to the broader general public.
The researchers anticipate that some readers may have difficulty viewing the results objectively. “Unfortunately, I think many people now center their identity around their political party affiliation (ironically, our research tested that inside out and showed support),” Sherman said. “So any objection to strongly held ideas is quickly perceived as a personal attack.”
Because of this, people may react defensively to this study. “With that in mind, I can guarantee that this study will be interpreted by many people in a way that protects their personal identity rather than an objective interpretation of the findings,” Sherman explained. As a next step, the scientists plan to investigate the role of the Internet in shaping these attitudes.
“Savannah Love is currently working on her PhD under my supervision studying adolescent identity development within social media,” Sherman said. “We suspect that many of the problems we see with political polarization may be explained by the saturation of social media.” Understanding these digital environments may provide a more complete picture of contemporary political extremes.
The study, “Perceived Grievances and Personalizing Morality: Exploring the Psychological Structure of Left Authoritarianism,” was authored by Savannah Love and Rachel Sherman.
