Right-wing authoritarianism appears to have a genetic foundation

New research provides evidence that political leanings are more deeply intertwined with our genetic makeup than previously thought, specifically linked to two core ideological traits: right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. Unlike the conventional belief that our political stances are merely extensions of our personality traits, this study suggests that our views on hierarchy and social dominance have their own distinct genetic foundations. The findings have been published in the Journal of Personality.

Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation are two psychological constructs that have been extensively studied in the context of political attitudes and behaviors.

Right-wing authoritarianism is characterized by three broad attitudes: submission to authorities perceived as established and legitimate, aggression toward individuals or groups that are seen as deviant or dissenting from perceived societal norms, and adherence to conventional norms and values of the society. People high in right-wing authoritarianism tend to value order, tradition, and national unity, showing strong support for authorities that enforce these principles.

Social dominance orientation, on the other hand, reflects an individual’s preference for inequality among social groups. This orientation is about the extent to which individuals desire and support hierarchical relationships between groups, believing that some groups are inherently superior to others. Those with high social dominance orientation are more likely to support policies and practices that maintain these disparities, including discrimination against perceived lower-status groups.

Previous research has established that both right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation are powerful predictors of political attitudes and behaviors, independently of the Big Five personality traits. However, the extent to which these ideological traits are influenced by genetics, as opposed to environmental factors such as socialization, has been less clear.

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To explore the underpinnings of political attitudes and their relationship with personality traits, researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the University of Oslo analyzed data collected from a sample of 1,987 twins registered in the Norwegian Twin Registry, encompassing individuals born between 1945 and 1960.

The methodological core of the study relied on the classical twin design, which compares the similarities between monozygotic twins, who share virtually all their genes, and dizygotic twins, who share about half of their segregating genes. This approach allowed the researchers to distinguish genetic influences from environmental factors.

The participants completed validated measures of the Big Five personality traits (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism), right-wing authoritarianism, and social dominance orientation. To gauge political policy attitudes, the researchers developed an index based on four specific items. These items were measured on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from −3 (against) to +3 (support) and included attitudes towards deporting the Roma, reducing aid for developing countries, accepting more asylum seekers (reversed), and implementing strict immigration control.

The researchers found that the covariation between ideological traits and policy attitudes related to national resources and immigration was predominantly explained by genetic factors. This genetic overlap implies that the propensity towards certain political views, especially those concerning hierarchy and authority, can be significantly influenced by one’s genetic makeup.

In contrast, the Big Five personality traits, while influential in shaping individuals’ general attitudes and behaviors, have a comparatively lesser genetic correlation with specific political policy attitudes. This indicates that the Big Five might play a more indirect role in political ideology, perhaps by influencing broader worldview or cognitive style, rather than specific political beliefs.

Furthermore, the study highlighted a significant genetic correlation between right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation themselves, suggesting a common genetic architecture underlies these traits. This is an intriguing finding as it supports the notion that these orientations might not be entirely distinct in their genetic roots, despite differing in their social and psychological manifestations.

Right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation, therefore, appear to form a genetically influenced framework for understanding hierarchy and group dynamics, which in turn shapes individuals’ political attitudes.

Another notable result is the lack of significant shared environmental effects for most traits, including social dominance orientation and the Big Five personality traits, suggesting that shared family environment and upbringing do not play a major role in developing these ideological orientations. However, a modest shared environmental effect was observed for right-wing authoritarianism, indicating that some aspects of authoritarian attitudes might be influenced by environmental factors common to twins, such as family values or cultural context.

These findings challenge some traditional views in political and social psychology, particularly those that emphasize the role of upbringing and social environment in shaping political ideology. Instead, the results support a more nuanced view that acknowledges a significant genetic component to political attitudes, alongside and sometimes even above personality traits traditionally linked to political orientation.

“Our results suggest that the two core ideological traits of [right-wing authoritarianism] and [social dominance orientation] have a much higher (genetic and phenotypic) covariation with political policy attitudes than do Big Five personality traits,” the researchers concluded.

“The covariation of such ideological traits with policy attitudes is best explained by genetic overlap as opposed to common socialization. These findings challenge key influential theories in social and political psychology and suggest instead that hierarchy-related traits are not simply epiphenomena or downstream consequences of standard personality traits, but instead might form a dedicated and heritable package for navigating intergroup struggles over territory and resources.”

But the study, like all research, includes some limitations. For one, it relies on data from a relatively homogeneous population — middle-aged adults from Norway — which might not represent the global diversity in political attitudes. Future research could expand on these findings by exploring other populations.

The study, “The genetic underpinnings of right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation explain political attitudes beyond Big Five personality,” was authored by Thomas Haarklau Kleppesto, Nikolai Olavi Czajkowski, Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington, Olav Vassend, Espen Roysamb, Nikolai Haahjem Eftedal, Jonas R. Kunst, Eivind Ystrom, and Lotte Thomsen.