Explaining the Relationship Among Fundamentalism and Authoritarianism: An Epistemic Connection

Although numerous studies have documented a strong, positive association between Right-wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Religious Fundamentalism (RF), little empirical work has actually investigated the reasons for this relationship. In the present study we propose that a fundamentalist meaning syste...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Hathcoat, John D. (Author) ; Barnes, Laura L. B. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group 2010
In: The international journal for the psychology of religion
Year: 2010, Volume: 20, Issue: 2, Pages: 73-84
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Parallel Edition:Electronic
Description
Summary:Although numerous studies have documented a strong, positive association between Right-wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Religious Fundamentalism (RF), little empirical work has actually investigated the reasons for this relationship. In the present study we propose that a fundamentalist meaning system predicts a system of beliefs about knowledge and knowing (e.g., personal epistemology), which is then partially responsible for sustaining authoritarian attitudes. A convenience sample of 227 undergraduate students was given the RWA scale, the Epistemic Belief Inventory, and the Revised Religious Fundamentalism scale in an online survey. A partial mediation model was tested using structural equation modeling analysis, in which 2,000 bootstraps were taken from the observed covariance matrix to construct confidence intervals around each indirect effect. Findings from the present study support the partial mediation hypothesis, in which the effect of RF to RWA travels through belief in certain knowledge, simple knowledge, and omniscient authority.
ISSN:1532-7582
Contains:Enthalten in: The international journal for the psychology of religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/10508611003607884