Bart Duriez

The march of modern fascism. A comparison of social dominance orientation and authoritarianism

In the present study, we tried to identify variables that are differently related to social dominance orientation (SDO) and authoritarianism. A strong positive relationship between SDO and authoritarianism was found and both variables showed strong positive correlations with racism. Nevertheless, results support the idea that SDO and authoritarianism refer to different kinds of dispositional prejudice. Authoritarianism, when statistically corrected for SDO, was negatively associated with level of education, moral competence, relativism, and the values hedonism, stimulation and self-direction, whereas positive correlations with age, cultural conservatism, orthodoxy, and the values tradition, conformity and security were registered. In contrast, SDO, when corrected for authoritarianism, was negatively associated with age, second naivete and the values universalism, benevolence and tradition, whereas economic conservatism, external critique, and the values power, achievement, hedonism and stimulation showed positive relationships. It is argued that SDO represents a more modern kind of prejudice than authoritarianism.

The Impact of Need for Closure on Conservative Beliefs and Racism: Differential Mediation by Authoritarian Submission and Authoritarian Dominance

The present study explores the influence of need for closure as well as authoritarian submission (Right-Wing Authoritarianism [RWA]) and authoritarian dominance (Social Dominance Orientation [SDO]) on the genesis of conservative beliefs and racism. For this purpose, two structural equation models were compared. In Model 1, RWA and SDO were entered as independent variables and the need for closure facets Decisiveness and Need for Simple Structure acted as mediator variables. In Model 2, the need for closure facets served as independent variables and RWA and SDO acted as mediators. In two student samples (Sample 1, N = 399, Sample 2, N = 330) and one adult sample (Sample 3, N = 379), Model 2 showed superior fit to the data. These results corroborate the hypothesis that authoritarianism should be interpreted in terms of generalized beliefs rather than in terms of personality characteristics. In addition, analyses show that the effects of Need for Simple Structure on conservative beliefs and racism are fully mediated by RWA but only partly by SDO. These results suggest a differential genesis of RWA and SDO.

The Intergenerational Transmission of Empathy-Related Responding in Adolescence: The Role of Maternal Support

This study proposed and tested an integrated model of the intergenerational transmission of empathy-related responding in adolescence. This model included maternal support as a mediator of the intergenerational transmission of empathy and examined friendship quality as an outcome of adolescent empathy. In a sample of middle adolescents and their mothers (N = 177), maternal support significantly predicted the empathy dimensions perspective taking and sympathy and mediated the mother–child concordance of perspective taking but not sympathy. Adolescent empathy (and perspective taking in particular) predicted adolescent friendship quality and served as an intervening variable in the relation between maternal support and friendship quality. Implications of the present study for research on the socialization of empathy-related responding and social adjustment in general are outlined.

Maladaptive perfectionism as an intervening variable between psychological control and adolescent depressive symptoms: A three-wave longitudinal study

Maladaptive perfectionism has been postulated as an intervening variable between psychologically controlling parenting and adolescent internalizing problems. Although this hypothesis has been confirmed in a number of cross-sectional studies, it has not yet been examined from a longitudinal perspective. Findings from this 3-wave longitudinal study show that parental psychological control (as indexed by parent and adolescent reports) at age 15 years predicted increased levels of maladaptive perfectionism 1 year later. Maladaptive perfectionism, in turn, predicted increased levels of adolescent depressive symptoms again 1 year later and acted as a significant intervening variable between parental psychological control at Time 1 and depressive symptoms at Time 3. Multigroup analyses show that the model tested was consistent across gender for paternal psychological control but not for maternal psychological control. Suggestions for future research are outlined.

Personality, identity styles and authoritarianism: an integrative study among late adolescents

The relations between five personality factors, three identity styles, the prejudice dispositions of right‐wing authoritarianism (RWA), social dominance orientation (SDO) and racial prejudice were investigated in a Flemish‐Belgian late adolescent sample (N = 328). Results show that Openness to Experience and Agreeableness relate to racial prejudice but that these relations were fully mediated by RWA and SDO. In addition, results show that whereas RWA relates to Conscientiousness and lack of Openness to Experience, SDO relates to lack of Agreeableness and lack of Openness to Experience. The relation between Conscientiousness and RWA and between Openness to Experience and SDO was fully mediated by the identity styles. However, Openness to Experience had a direct influence on RWA and Agreeableness had a direct influence on SDO. The implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright

Parenting and Trajectories of Children’s Maladaptive Behaviors: A 12-year Prospective Community Study

This study investigated how parenting accounted for interindividual differences in developmental trajectories of different child behaviors across childhood and adolescence. In a cohort sequential community sample of 1,049 children, latent class growth analysis was applied to three parent-reported dimensions (monitoring, positive parenting, inconsistent discipline) across 12 annual assessments (ages 6–18). Four longitudinal parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, uninvolved) were differentiated on the basis of levels and rates of change in the constituent parenting dimensions. Multigroup analyses demonstrated that these parenting styles were differentially related to changes in parent- and child-reported measures of childrens alcohol and cigarette use, antisocial behavior, and internalizing symptoms, with the authoritative parenting class being related to the most optimal long-term development.

The internal structure of the Post-Critical Belief scale

According to Wulff (1991, 1997) the various approaches to religion can be located in a two-dimensional space along the bipolar dimensions Exclusion vs. Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal vs. Symbolic. Drawing on Wulff, Hutsebaut and his colleagues (1996, 1997, 2000) developed the Post-Critical Belief scale to measure interindividual differences in these dimensions. In this article, results from multidimensional scaling and principal component analyses in 16 samples (N=4648) gathered in Flanders (Belgium) are presented which support the interpretation of the relationships between the Post-Critical Belief scale items in terms of Wulffs dimensions.

Clarifying the Link between Parental Psychological Control and Adolescents' Depressive Symptoms: Reciprocal versus Unidirectional Models

Research has demonstrated consistent positive associations between perceived parental psychological control and adolescents’ depressive symptoms, but the direction of influence remains unclear. Using a cross-lagged longitudinal design in two samples of late (Study 1, N = 396) and middle (Study 2, N = 724) adolescents, this study compared three models, that is, a psychological control effects model, an adolescent adjustment effects model, and a reciprocal model. Structural equation modeling analyses generally favored the reciprocal model over each of the unidirectional models. The cross-lagged effects of perceived psychological control remained significant after controlling for two important parenting dimensions (i.e., parental responsiveness and behavioral control; Study 1) and were found in all types of parent-adolescent dyads except for the mother-daughter dyad (Study 2). Implications for the understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the deleterious effects of parents’ psychological control on adolescent adjustment are discussed.

In Search of the Antecedents of Adolescent Authoritarianism: The Relative Contribution of Parental Goal Promotion and Parenting Style Dimensions

Although research drew attention to the importance of both parental goal promotion and parental rearing style in explaining adolescent authoritarian submission (Right‐Wing Authoritarianism or RWA) and authoritarian dominance (Social Dominance Orientation or SDO), research failed to examine their combined effects. This study examines the relative contribution of parenting goals (i.e. extrinsic vs. intrinsic and conservation goals) and styles (i.e. need support and regulation) and their interactions in the prediction of adolescent RWA and SDO. Cross‐sectional analyses show that, whereas parenting goals and styles and their interactions predict RWA, SDO is predicted by parental goals only. However, in a second, longitudinal study, changes in RWA and SDO were predicted by parenting goals only. Copyright

Consequences of a Multidimensional Approach to Religion for the Relationship Between Religiosity and Value Priorities

Based on both a theological and a sociopsychological analysis, the goals of Roman Catholic religion were identified and translated in terms of Schwartzs (1992) 10 value types of Hedonism, Stimulation, Self-Direction, Universalism, Benevolence, Tradition, Conformity, Security, Power, and Achievement. The relations between these value types and Wulffs (1991, 1997) two religiosity dimensions of Exclusion versus Inclusion of Transcendence and Literal versus Symbolic, as measured by the Post-Critical Belief scale (Fontaine et al., 2003), were tested in seven samples (N = 1695) gathered in Flanders (Belgium). The value pattern associated with the Exclusion versus Inclusion of Transcendence dimension was characterized by a conflict between Hedonism, Stimulation, and Self-Direction on one hand, and Tradition and Conformity on the other hand. The value pattern associated with the Literal versus Symbolic dimension was characterized by a conflict between Security and Power on one hand, and Universalism and Benevolence on the other hand.