A recent study published in the Journal of Personality has found that adolescents with lower levels of both cognitive and emotional abilities are more likely to hold authoritarian attitudes, whether on the left or right of the political spectrum. The findings highlight how limitations in reasoning and emotional regulation are tied to authoritarianism, shedding light on the shared psychological traits that underpin these ideological attitudes.
Adolescence is a critical developmental period when political beliefs and ideological attitudes begin to take shape, yet studies examining these processes among adolescents are sparse. Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium aimed to determine whether the relationships observed in adults—such as the link between lower cognitive abilities and more authoritarian attitudes—also apply to adolescents.
One of the primary motivations for the study was to address the assumption that ideological development primarily occurs during adulthood, particularly following exposure to higher education. This assumption has been widely discussed in political psychology, with theories suggesting that adolescence is too early for meaningful political engagement due to limited cognitive capacities.
However, recent research has challenged this view, arguing that proto-ideological beliefs emerge even in childhood and that understanding these early beliefs can shed light on how ideological attitudes develop. By focusing on adolescents, the researchers hoped to capture a critical stage in this developmental trajectory.
Another key goal was to examine the role of emotional abilities, which had received less attention than cognitive abilities in prior research. Emotional abilities—such as understanding and regulating emotions—are crucial for navigating social situations and making judgments about societal issues. Given that previous studies on adults found emotional abilities to be strong predictors of ideological attitudes, the researchers hypothesized that these abilities might play an even more significant role during adolescence.
To examine how cognitive and emotional abilities relate to ideological attitudes, the researchers recruited 507 participants aged 15 to 22 years. The participants were primarily high school and college students, ensuring a sample representative of middle and late adolescence.
The researchers used standardized intelligence tests to measure cognitive abilities. For participants aged 16 or younger, the WISC-V test was administered, assessing skills such as verbal comprehension, fluid reasoning, and processing speed. For those 17 and older, the Kaufman Adolescent and Adult Intelligence Test was used, which measures fluid and crystallized intelligence through tasks like reasoning, symbol learning, and comprehension.
Emotional abilities were assessed using four abridged performance-based tests, including measures of emotional understanding and recognition. The results from these tests were combined into a composite score to represent each participant’s overall emotional abilities.
To measure ideological attitudes, the researchers used three well-established scales. Right-wing authoritarianism was assessed using items measuring conformity, respect for authority, and aggression toward out-groups. Social dominance orientation was measured by assessing preferences for hierarchical versus egalitarian social structures. Finally, left-wing authoritarianism was evaluated using a scale adapted to capture opposition to traditional authority and advocacy for redistributive policies.
The results showed significant relationships between both cognitive and emotional abilities and ideological attitudes, though the strength and nature of these relationships varied. In line with prior studies in adult populations, adolescents with lower cognitive abilities were more likely to endorse authoritarian attitudes, both on the right and left of the political spectrum.
Interestingly, the relationship between cognitive abilities and social dominance orientation was weaker than for right-wing authoritarianism, suggesting that hierarchical preferences might be less cognitively driven.
Emotional abilities, however, emerged as even stronger predictors of ideological attitudes than cognitive abilities. Adolescents with lower emotional abilities were more likely to hold authoritarian beliefs across all three dimensions: right-wing authoritarianism, social dominance orientation, and left-wing authoritarianism. Furthermore, when emotional abilities were included in the models, the influence of cognitive abilities on ideological attitudes became nonsignificant, suggesting that emotional abilities may play a mediating role.
Another key finding was the striking similarity between right-wing and left-wing authoritarian attitudes. Both shared common psychological underpinnings, such as a preference for conformity and authority, which were negatively related to emotional and cognitive abilities. This overlap supports the idea that authoritarian attitudes, regardless of political orientation, stem from similar cognitive and emotional processes.
Interestingly, the study found no significant differences between middle and late adolescents in the strength or nature of these relationships. This consistency suggests that the links between abilities and ideological attitudes are stable across this developmental period, challenging the notion that these relationships emerge only in adulthood.
“In summary, the present results mirror the results obtained in adult samples, with similar relationships of more or less equal magnitude between cognitive abilities and ideological attitudes, and with even stronger relationships for emotional abilities,” the researchers wrote. “The very concept of ‘ideological attitudes’ almost necessitates that its developmental roots go back in time. Many people are committed to politics, but in reflecting on ‘the political’ they do not always think in terms of specific policy issues. Ideological attitudes, after all, have a different compass, one that aligns with values and norms . Such values and norms likely develop at younger ages and are amenable to socialization, making people responsive to specific ideological attitudes.”
The findings shed light on how both cognitive and emotional abilities are related to adolescents’ ideological attitudes. However, because the data were cross-sectional, the researchers could not establish causal relationships or observe how these abilities and attitudes evolve over time. This limitation leaves unanswered questions about whether deficits in cognitive and emotional abilities lead to authoritarian attitudes or if certain ideological beliefs influence the development of these abilities. Future longitudinal studies are necessary to explore these dynamics in greater depth, tracking changes across adolescence and into adulthood to better understand the developmental pathways that connect abilities to ideological preferences.
The study, “The Relationship Between Cognitive and Emotional Abilities and Ideological Attitudes Among Adolescents,” was authored Alain Van Hiel, Kim Dierckx, Hilde Depauw, Tassilo Tissot, Ruben Van Severen, Johnny Fontaine, and Arne Roets.
