Perceived grievance and psychological distress are linked to left-wing authoritarianism

A new psychological study suggests that feelings of psychological distress and perceived social grievances contribute to authoritarian attitudes among people on the political left. The findings provide evidence that left-wing authoritarianism is heavily influenced by a belief that society is deeply unjust and oppressive toward marginalized groups. The research was published in the Journal of Political Ideologies.

Savannah Love and Rachael Sharman conducted the research to better understand the psychological forces driving extreme political behavior on the left side of the spectrum. Sharman is a senior lecturer and undergraduate program coordinator in psychology at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s School of Health. “Extreme political polarization poses a real risk to society and is on the increase across most Western democracies,” Sharman said.

The researchers noted that individuals at both extremes share similar psychological traits. “Extremists exist on both ends of the right/left-wing spectrum and have more in common than they would like to admit, in particular a psychological predisposition toward intolerance,” Sharman explained. While right-wing extremism has a long history of academic study, left-wing extremism remains less examined.

In recent years, a rise in identity-based political movements has occurred on the political left. Identity politics involves focusing political attention on specific group attributes like race, gender, and sexuality. This approach often highlights an ongoing struggle between marginalized identities and privileged groups.

The scientists wanted to explore how an awareness of systemic social injustices relates to left-wing authoritarianism. In psychological literature, this awareness of social injustice is known as perceived grievance. They also aimed to test whether underlying mental health issues make individuals more susceptible to these rigid political beliefs.

To investigate these connections, the 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. The volunteers ranged in age from 18 to 85, with the majority falling between 25 and 34 years old.

The sample was slightly majority female and predominantly Caucasian. The group heavily leaned toward the left side of the political spectrum, with nearly forty percent identifying as very left-wing. These participants completed an extensive online survey containing several established psychological questionnaires.

The researchers measured left-wing authoritarianism using a specific twenty-two-item scale. This tool captures three distinct dimensions, which include revolutionary aggression, support for top-down censorship, and a rejection of traditional values. Revolutionary aggression refers to a desire to dismantle the established order, sometimes violently.

Free daily newsletter

Top-down censorship involves a willingness to restrict the free speech of those holding opposing viewpoints. Anti-conventionalism represents an aggressive intolerance toward people who hold traditional or conservative beliefs. To measure perceived grievance, participants completed the Privilege and Oppression Inventory.

This survey assesses a person’s awareness of systemic privileges, specifically focusing on sexism, heterosexism, Christian privilege, and white privilege. A higher score on this inventory indicates a greater belief that society is fundamentally structured around these forms of oppression. The survey also included the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale, which measures general psychological distress.

Participants answered questions about their moral concerns using the Moral Foundations Questionnaire. This tool evaluates whether people base their morality on individualizing foundations, like care and fairness, or binding foundations, like loyalty and authority. Additionally, the scientists assessed participants’ emotional reactivity and their 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 or ambiguity. Love and Sharman used a statistical technique called structural equation modeling to analyze the collected data.

This complex mathematical method allows scientists to map out and test relationships between multiple psychological variables simultaneously. Through this analysis, the final statistical model explained fifty-three percent of the variance in left-wing authoritarianism among the participants. The findings provide evidence that an awareness of systemic oppression strongly relates to a desire to enforce ideological conformity.

“Our study showed ‘perceived grievance’ (a feature of identity politics) most strongly predicted left-wing authoritarianism,” Sharman told PsyPost. People who view the world primarily through a lens of profound social injustice tend to support authoritarian solutions to fix those perceived wrongs. The study also revealed an indirect psychological pathway starting from basic psychological distress.

The data indicates that participants experiencing higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress tend to hold higher perceptions of social grievance. This heightened sense of grievance then contributes to their left-wing authoritarian attitudes. Psychological distress does not appear to cause authoritarianism directly on its own.

Instead, distress seems to make individuals more receptive to narratives of social grievance and systemic oppression. Adopting this aggrieved worldview then paves the way for rigid, authoritarian political thinking. The researchers also discovered an unexpected relationship involving the participants’ moral foundations.

They found that perceived grievances strongly influenced an individual’s reliance on individualizing moral foundations. These specific moral foundations focus heavily on protecting individuals from harm and ensuring fairness. “Perhaps somewhat counter-intuitively LWA (left-wing authoritarians) were more likely to prioritize individualizing aspects of morality over group-centered priorities,” Sharman noted.

She added that while this finding was unexpected, other research teams have observed similar patterns. This individualizing moral focus acted as a bridge, further increasing left-wing authoritarian tendencies. This suggests that left-wing authoritarians are primarily motivated by a desire to protect vulnerable people and enforce fairness.

As with all research, there are limitations to keep in mind. The study relies on a cross-sectional design. Because data was collected at a single point in time, the scientists cannot definitively prove that psychological distress or perceived grievance directly causes left-wing authoritarianism. The sample was also highly educated and mostly white, which limits how well the findings can be applied to the broader general public.

The researchers anticipate that some readers might struggle to view the results objectively. “I think unfortunately a lot of people now center their identity on their political affiliation (which ironically enough our study tangentially tested and found support for),” Sharman said. “So any perceived challenge to a strongly held idea is quickly perceived as a personal attack.”

Because of this, people might react defensively to the research. “With that in mind, I can guarantee this study will be interpreted by many in a way that protects their personal identity status rather than an objective reading of the findings,” Sharman explained. As for next steps, the scientists plan to look into the role of the internet in shaping these attitudes.

“Savannah Love is currently undertaking a PhD under my supervision investigating identity development in adolescents within social media,” Sharman said. “We suspect social media saturation may explain a lot of the issues we are seeing with political polarization.” Understanding these digital environments could provide a more complete picture of modern political extremes.

The study, “Perceived grievance and individualising moralities: exploring the psychological structure of left-wing authoritarianism,” was authored by Savannah Love and Rachael Sharman.