The study's authors viewed left-wing authoritarianism as a set of beliefs | Image: Adobe Stock

Tuesday, September 30, 2025
by Vladimir Hedrih/Psy Post

Researchers in Serbia have developed a new psychological scale, called the SLAV scale, to assess a set of beliefs often labeled as left-wing authoritarianism. Their research indicated that these beliefs comprise four distinct but related components: anti-capitalist sentiment, anti-conventionalism, anti-hierarchical aggression, and censorship of right-wing ideas. A central finding of the study, however, is that these beliefs have a weak or even negative relationship with ideologically neutral measures of authoritarianism, leading the researchers to question the accuracy of the "authoritarian" label itself. The paper was published in the journal Political Psychology.

Authoritarianism is a political and psychological concept describing a preference for strict obedience to authority and strong conformity to established rules and norms. It emphasizes order, hierarchy, and control, typically at the expense of personal freedoms and individual autonomy. Psychologically, authoritarianism is linked to traits such as submission to authority figures, aggression toward out-groups, and resistance to ambiguity.

Traditionally, researchers noted that authoritarian individuals tend to value security, tradition, and stability over diversity and change. This generally describes what is now referred to as right-wing authoritarianism. Newer studies have indicated that there might be another type of authoritarianism found in individuals with left-wing political views.

It seems that this left-wing type of authoritarianism shares with its right-wing counterpart a preference for conformity with rules and norms, as well as moral absolutism and aggression toward perceived enemies. However, unlike right-wing authoritarianism, left-wing authoritarianism is characterized by a desire to abolish the current societal hierarchy by force, a rejection of traditional and conventional values, and a strong belief that the government should censor speech viewed as intolerant.

Study authors Marija B. Petrović and Milica Ninković wanted to construct a psychological scale that could be used to assess left-wing authoritarianism. To do this, they decided to rely on study participants from Serbia, a post-communist country, where left-wing authoritarian views might show some specificities given that the country experienced left-wing authoritarian governments in the past.

The study’s authors viewed left-wing authoritarianism as a set of beliefs and attitudes one adopts, not as an innate psychological trait. They initially proposed that, in line with previous research, a scale for assessing these beliefs should capture four aspects: antihierarchical aggression, anticonventionalism, anticapitalist and antineoliberal sentiments, and top-down censorship and control.

Antihierarchical aggression is the belief that the current system needs to be overthrown through political violence instead of the regular democratic process and the justification of said violence (e.g., “The existing social order has to be burned down to the ground.”). Anticonventionalism is the rejection of traditional, conservative values, and moral absolutism regarding progressive values (e.g., “All forms of religious education in schools should be abolished”).

Anticapitalist and antineoliberal sentiments involve the rejection of modern capitalism, including all of its values and practices. “This includes attitudes that range from the rejection of neoliberalism and consumerism to downright opposition to private property, as well as support for centralized over free market economy (e.g., ‘Capitalism’s most successful product is actually global poverty’). Rejection of capitalism implies the rejection of a free, non-controlled market, and it can also imply the refusal of liberal democracy. This would suggest a strong limitation of choice and freedom in the economic domain (e.g., ‘Inheritance should be abolished and redistributed according to the needs of society.’ or ‘Private property should be abolished.’),” the study authors explain.

Finally, the concept of top-down censorship and control includes support for government or organizational censorship of intolerant speech and political opponents, with an emphasis on strong state control over information and intolerant speech (e.g., “We need to limit who can appear in the media during societal crises”), but also over resources (e.g., disagreeing with the statement, “The healthcare system would have better quality if it were entirely privatized.”).

The researchers conducted three studies. The goal of the first was to select the best items for the new scale with the help of 20 psychologists and sociologists from Serbian universities. Based on expert ratings, the authors excluded the 20% of the lowest-rated items before proceeding to the next study.

The second study established the validity and reliability of the scale with 546 participants recruited through social media (average age 51; 52% women). The statistical analysis supported the four-component structure but also led to a refinement; based on the specific content of the associated items, the Top-down censorship and control dimension was renamed Censorship of right-wing ideas.

Finally, the third study examined associations between scores on the SLAV scale and various other psychological characteristics. The participants were 655 individuals recruited through social media (average age 45; 66% women).

Results showed that scores on the SLAV scale were positively associated with scores on another existing left-wing authoritarianism scale. Additionally, individuals with stronger anticapitalist sentiments tended to show more political cynicism and were more prone to see the world as dangerous and to hold conspiracy beliefs. Higher scores on the SLAV scale were generally associated with seeing the current economic system as less just.

However, left-wing beliefs as measured by the SLAV scale were not associated with higher general authoritarianism or with support for authoritarian child-rearing practices. For example, individuals with pronounced anticonventionalism tended to have lower levels of endorsement for authoritarian child-rearing practices. Antihierarchical aggression was positively associated with authoritarian aggression, but higher endorsement of Censorship of right-wing ideas and anticonventionalism was associated with lower general authoritarianism.

“Despite our efforts to broaden the range of potentially authoritarian leftist ideas, the newly developed scale (as well as the existing LWA [left-wing authoritarianism] index scale) rather captures radical leftist ideas than it captures authoritarianism. This, alongside other results, would suggest that ideological labeling of authoritarianism might hinder instead of help our understanding of it. In fact, even the initial label of right-wing authoritarianism makes it unclear what is the opposite pole of this dimension: whether it is left-wing liberalism (non-right-wing non-authoritarianism), or maybe left-wing authoritarianism, or right-wing liberalism. As such, our studies paradoxically offer empirical support for the need to reassess the term authoritarianism,” the study authors concluded.

The study makes a valuable contribution to the scientific understanding of left-wing political views and attitudes. However, it should be noted that study participants came from two large community samples in Serbia and cannot be considered representative for the general population of the country. Results in samples more representative of the general population or conducted in other countries and cultures might differ.

The paper, “A specter is haunting political psychology—a specter of left-wing authoritarianism: Development and validation of left-wing authoritarianism scale in a post-communist society,” was authored by Marija B. Petrović and Milica Ninković.

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