ArticlePublisher preview available

Reconsidering the ideological happiness gap: left-wing authoritarianism, maladjustment, and unhappiness

Authors:
William P. Hart
William P. Hart
William P. Hart
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Danielle E. Wahlers
Danielle E. Wahlers
Danielle E. Wahlers
  • This person is not on ResearchGate, or hasn't claimed this research yet.
Joshua Tripp Lambert at University of Alabama
Joshua Tripp Lambert
Braden Hall at University of Alabama
Braden Hall
Show all 5 authorsHide
Read publisher preview
Download citation
To read the full-text of this research, you can request a copy directly from the authors.

Abstract

Liberals tend to indicate being less happy than conservatives; although one perspective suggests this happiness gap reflects liberals’ enhanced concern over the systemic maltreatment of others, the “maladjustment perspective” suggests it reflects, in part, liberals’ tendencies to reject aspects of conservatism that support agency and produce some life benefits. Some evidence seems to favor the maladjustment perspective; but, here, we sought to build on this perspective by examining its predictions in the context of Left-wing Authoritarianism (LWA). LWA is positively associated with liberalism, but, relative to liberalism, it encompasses aspects more rejecting of conservatism. US adults (N = 446) completed measures of LWA, happiness, agency, life impairment, and antagonistic personality constructs (e.g., sadism). The data supported the maladjustment perspective in the context of LWA: After accounting for liberalism (and demographics inclusive of age and sex), LWA was negatively related to happiness and positively related to agency deficiencies and life impairments; the latter two characteristics (reflective of maladjustment) completely accounted for LWA’s negative relation to happiness. These findings were generally consistent across LWA’s three facets. LWA also had a positive relationship to antagonistic personality constructs; hence, LWA is probably not conducive to enhanced concern over the systemic maltreatment of others. Additional analyses revealed that the anti-conventional facet of LWA completely accounted for relationships between liberalism and happiness, agency deficiencies, and life impairments. The results offer some novel insight into the ideological happiness gap.
A preview of this full-text is provided by Springer Nature.
Learn more
Content available from Current Psychology
This content is subject to copyright. Terms and conditions apply.
Current Psychology (2024) 43:35308–35325
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06919-0
liberal vs. conservative on the political ideology continuum
(what we will call “liberalism”) is associated with less hap-
piness (Carroll, 2007; Napier & Jost, 2008; Taylor et al.,
2006) and greater amounts of other internalizing symptoms,
such as anxiety and depression (Bernardi, 2021; Gimbrone
et al., 2022). Although it is possible that, to some extent,
being less happy can cause people to become more liberal
(e.g., it may be comforting to excuse one’s unhappiness as
rooted in societal vs. one’s own failings; Schlenker et al.,
1994), some evidence suggests that liberalism may cause
people to be less happy. For example, longitudinal evidence
suggests that liberalism, particularly in women, prospec-
tively predicts various internalizing symptoms (e.g., Gim-
brone et al., 2022).
The so-called “ideological happiness gap” is replicable
and tends to be between about small to moderate (Napier
& Jost, 2008; Schlenker et al., 2012). This happiness gap is
thought to be a meaningful phenomenon that can contrib-
ute to understanding the psychological impact of political
Political ideology can be conceptualized as dimensional
with “conservative” and “liberal” at opposing poles of an
ideological continuum. Traditionally, conservatives tend
to prioritize individual freedom and personal responsibil-
ity, a limited government, economic opportunities, a robust
national defense, in-group loyalty, adherence to a higher
moral order, and view conventions as based in a collective
wisdom that are worth maintaining; liberals tend to pri-
oritize change, equality, tolerance and diversity in morals,
religion, and politics, and view government intervention as
essential for addressing social injustices (Schlenker et al.,
2012). Interestingly, data suggests that identifying as more
William P. Hart
william.p.hart@ua.edu
1 Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, 505
Hackberry Lane, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
35401, United States of America
Abstract
Liberals tend to indicate being less happy than conservatives; although one perspective suggests this happiness gap reects
liberals’ enhanced concern over the systemic maltreatment of others, the “maladjustment perspective” suggests it reects,
in part, liberals’ tendencies to reject aspects of conservatism that support agency and produce some life benets. Some
evidence seems to favor the maladjustment perspective; but, here, we sought to build on this perspective by examining
its predictions in the context of Left-wing Authoritarianism (LWA). LWA is positively associated with liberalism, but,
relative to liberalism, it encompasses aspects more rejecting of conservatism. US adults (N = 446) completed measures
of LWA, happiness, agency, life impairment, and antagonistic personality constructs (e.g., sadism). The data supported
the maladjustment perspective in the context of LWA: After accounting for liberalism (and demographics inclusive of age
and sex), LWA was negatively related to happiness and positively related to agency deciencies and life impairments; the
latter two characteristics (reective of maladjustment) completely accounted for LWA’s negative relation to happiness.
These ndings were generally consistent across LWA’s three facets. LWA also had a positive relationship to antagonis-
tic personality constructs; hence, LWA is probably not conducive to enhanced concern over the systemic maltreatment
of others. Additional analyses revealed that the anti-conventional facet of LWA completely accounted for relationships
between liberalism and happiness, agency deciencies, and life impairments. The results oer some novel insight into the
ideological happiness gap.
Keywords Agency · Happiness · Liberalism · Positive psychology
Accepted: 31 October 2024 / Published online: 26 November 2024
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2024
Reconsidering the ideological happiness gap: left-wing
authoritarianism, maladjustment, and unhappiness
William P.Hart1· Danielle E.Wahlers1· Joshua T.Lambert1· Braden T.Hall1· Justin N.Wahlers1
1 3
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
Neuroticism and Executive Functioning Deficits: The Moderating Role of Negative Urgency
Article
  • Jan 2025
  • PSYCHOL REP
Neuroticism predicts behaviors symptomatic of behavior dysregulation. One idea is that Neuroticism encompasses deficits in executive functioning; despite this link being empirically substantiated, it remains poorly understood. If Neuroticism is associated with executive functioning deficits due to it activating impulsivity in response to negative emotion, and if Negative Urgency (NU) is the specific aspect of emotional impulsivity that amplifies impulsivity in response to negative emotion, then Neuroticism’s link to executive functioning deficits should be enhanced in individuals higher in NU. A large representative sample of US adults ( N = 446; M age = 46.10; 51.1% female; 78.0% White) completed validated measures of Neuroticism, NU and Positive Urgency (PU), and executive functioning deficits. As predicted, we found that Neuroticism’s link to executive functioning deficits was moderated by NU (after controlling for PU) but not PU (after controlling for NU); specifically, Neuroticism’s relation to executive functioning deficits was over twice as large for people with elevated (+1 SD) versus de-elevated (−1 SD) levels of NU. Furthermore, NU moderated relations between each Neuroticism facet (e.g., Anxiety, Anger) and executive functioning deficits. The findings extend understanding of how Neuroticism relates to executive functioning, suggesting utility in distinguishing between PU and NU and potentially studying Neuroticism and NU as interacting.
View
Testing Measurement Invariance of the Left-Wing Authoritarianism Index-13 (LWAI-13) in a US Adult Sample
Article
Full-text available
  • Nov 2024
Authoritarianism has been of interest to multiple fields in the social sciences (e.g., psychology, political science). Though traditionally conceptualized as a right-wing phenomenon, burgeoning research suggests it is also a left-wing phenomenon. The Left-Wing Authoritarianism Index-13 (LWAI-13) was recently developed as a brief measure of left-wing authoritarianism and its three factors: anti-hierarchical aggression, top-down censorship, and anti-conventionalism. Though prior work provided evidence for the LWAI-13’s factor structure and construct validity, its measurement invariance (MI) remains untested. We evaluated the LWAI-13’s MI regarding sex, age, and education; scalar MI was evidenced for all groupings. Thus, the structural properties of the LWAI-13 appeared robust to the three group distinctions.
View
Construction and validation of a scale for assessing critical social justice attitudes
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2024
  • SCAND J PSYCHOL
Two large studies (combined n = 5,878) set out to construct and validate a scale for assessing critical social justice attitudes. Studies assessed the reliability, factor structure, model fit, and both convergent and divergent validity of the scale. Studies also examined the prevalence of critical social justice attitudes in different populations and the scale's correlations with other variables of interest, including well‐being variables: anxiety, depression, and happiness. Participants for Study 1 ( n = 848) were university faculty and students, as well as non‐academic adults, from Finland. Participants responded to a survey about critical social justice attitudes. Twenty one candidate items were devised for an initial item pool, on which factor analyses were conducted, resulting in a 10‐item pilot version of critical social justice attitude scales (CSJAS). Participants for Study 2 were a nationwide sample ( n = 5,030) aged 15–84 from Finland. Five new candidate items were introduced, of which two were included in the final, seven‐item, version of CSJAS. The final CSJAS scale had high reliability ( α = 0.87, ω = 0.88) and a good model fit (comparative fit index [CFI] = 0.99, TLI = 0.99, root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA] = 0.04, standardized root mean residual [SRMR] = 0.01, χ ² (14, 5024) = 132.8 ( p < 0.001)) as well as convergent and divergent validity. Overall, the study sample rejected critical social justice propositions, with strong rejection from men. Women expressed more than twice as much support for the propositions ( d = 1.20). In both studies, CSJAS was correlated with depression, anxiety, and (lack of) happiness, but not more so than being on the political left was. The critical social justice attitude scale was successfully constructed and validated. It had good reliability and model fit.
View
The Triangle Model of Responsibility
Article
Full-text available
  • Oct 1994
Responsibility acts as a psychological adhesive that connects an actor to an event and to relevant prescriptions that should govern conduct. People are held responsible to the extent that (a) a clear, well-defined set of prescriptions is applicable to an event (prescription–event link); (b) the actor is perceived to be bound by the prescriptions by virtue of his or her identity (prescription–identity link); and (c) the actor is connected to the event, especially by virtue of appearing to have personal control over it (identity–event link). Studies supported the model, showing that attributions of responsibility are a direct function of the combined strengths of the 3 linkages (Study 1) and that, when judging responsibility, people seek out information that is relevant to the linkages (Study 2). The model clarifies prior multiple meanings of responsibility and provides a coherent framework for understanding social judgment.
View
Cyberbullying and Its Relation to Right and Left Authoritarianism, Trait Victimhood, and Mental Illness
Article
Full-text available
  • Apr 2023
Many policymakers, advocates, and the general public perceive online discourse as having become aggressive, with widespread issues related to cyberbullying and harassment. However, not all individuals engage in noxious online behaviors equally. The current study sought to identify correlates of cyberbullying behaviors in a community sample of 361 adults (range 18–69). All methods and analyses were preregistered. Results suggested that cyberbullying was related to trait victimhood and directly to right-wing authoritarianism. In exploratory analyses, trait victimhood was itself related to both right- and left-wing authoritarianism, as well as to general mental health symptoms. It is concluded that cyberbullying is related to a tendency to report mental health issues, along with perceiving oneself as a victim and with a willingness to embrace authoritarian worldviews, particularly from the right. By contrast, trait victimhood is related to both right and left authoritarianism.
View
Understanding left-wing authoritarianism: Relations to the dark personality traits, altruism, and social justice commitment
Article
Full-text available
  • Mar 2023
  • CURR PSYCHOL
In two pre-registered studies, we investigated the relationship of left-wing authoritarianism with the ego-focused trait of narcissism. Based on existing research, we expected individuals with higher levels of left-wing authoritarianism to also report higher levels of narcissism. Further, as individuals with leftist political attitudes can be assumed to be striving for social equality, we expected left-wing authoritarianism to also be positively related to prosocial traits, but narcissism to remain a significant predictor of left-wing authoritarianism above and beyond those prosocial dispositions. We investigated our hypotheses in two studies using cross-sectional correlational designs. Two nearly representative US samples (Study 1: N = 391; Study 2: N = 377) completed online measures of left-wing authoritarianism, the Dark Triad personality traits, and two variables with a prosocial focus (i.e., altruism and social justice commitment). In addition, we assessed relevant covariates (i.e., age, gender, socially desirable responding, and virtue signaling). The results of multiple regression analyses showed that a strong ideological view, according to which a violent revolution against existing societal structures is legitimate (i.e., anti-hierarchical aggression), was associated with antagonistic narcissism (Study 1) and psychopathy (Study 2). However, neither dispositional altruism nor social justice commitment was related to left-wing anti-hierarchical aggression. Considering these results, we assume that some leftist political activists do not actually strive for social justice and equality but rather use political activism to endorse or exercise violence against others to satisfy their own ego-focused needs. We discuss these results in relation to the dark-ego-vehicle principle.
View
View
Don't Worry About Being You: Relations Between Perceived Authenticity and Mental Health are Due to Self-Esteem and Executive Functioning
Article
  • Jul 2024
  • PSYCHOL REP
Numerous studies show that perceived authenticity is a reliable predictor of mental health outcomes. To expand on these studies, we examined whether such relations could be due to perceived authenticity’s confounding with both self-esteem and executive functioning. A representative sample of US participants ( N = 446; M age = 46.10; 51.1% female; 78.0% White) completed measures of perceived authenticity, self-esteem, executive functioning, and various indicators of mental health (e.g., subjective wellbeing, depression). At the bivariate level, perceived authenticity had a positive, large correlation with a mental health composite. However, after controlling for self-esteem and executive functioning, this relationship became nonsignificant and trivial in size. The findings extend basic understanding of how self-relevant constructs contribute to mental health and suggest advice for individuals looking to capitalize on evidence linking perceived authenticity to mental health benefits: Build a strong base of self-worth and exercise agency.
View
View
View
Subjective Well-Being The Science of Happiness and Life Satisfaction
Chapter
  • Dec 2001
Psychology after World War II became a science largely devoted to healing. It concentrated on repairing damage using a disease model of human functioning. This almost exclusive attention to pathology neglected the idea of a fulfilled individual and a thriving community, and it neglected the possibility that building strength is the most potent weapon in the arsenal of therapy. The aim of positive psychology is to catalyze a change in psychology from a preoccupation only with repairing the worst things in life to also building the best qualities in life. To redress the previous imbalance, we must bring the building of strength to the forefront in the treatment and prevention of mental illness.
View