The Psych Student

The Authoritarians by Bob Altemeyer’s is online in pdf format. It combines more than 30 years of research into authoritarianist regimes, doctrines and thier fans. I’m bookmarking it here because I’m both a fan of online publishing and interested in the topic, so am hoping to give it a look-see soon.

Boingboing says “It’s a fascinating explanation of how the minds of this subset of the population works- or in some cases, fails to: how they are able to assiduously apply double standards, fail to notice inconsistencies in their beliefs, justify abominable behavior, etc. Somehow, knowing that these people really, truly, can’t reason in the same way the majority of us can makes them a little less irksome, if not less frightening.”

I don’t know if I’d go that far, but some of Altemeyer’s research beckens a deeper look.

“The studies explain so much about these people. Yes, the research shows they are very aggressive, but why are they so hostile? Yes, experiments show they are almost totally uninfluenced by reasoning and evidence, but why are they so dogmatic? Yes, studies show the Religious Right has more than its fair share of hypocrites, from top to bottom; but why are they two-faced, and how come one face never notices the other? Yes, their leaders can give the flimsiest of excuses and even outright lies about things they’ve done wrong, but why do the rank-and-file believe them? What happens when authoritarian followers find the authoritarian leaders they crave and start marching together?” – Bob Altemeyer