Integrating political attitudes and cognitive style in a model of right wing radicalism

Research showed that multi-factorial models of ideology which include existential, epistemic and relational motives not only account for political orientation but also highlight its core aspects (Jost, Federico & Napier, 2009; Schwartz, Caprara, & Vecchione, 2010). Recently, Montuori (2005) argued that reasoning according to a “logic of disjunction that creates binary opposition that cannot be reconciled” exacerbates what is termed the “totalitarian mindset” (p. 26). In this study we examined this hypothesis by testing a model in which a disjunctive binary logic mediates political attitudes and proxies for right-wing radicalism. Methods: 425 participants completed a survey on political orientation which included measures of social dominance orientation and right wing authoritarianism. Personal values, egalitarianism, and beliefs in a free society were also assessed as they are motives typically associated with ideology. Lastly, we assessed disjunctive logic based on a scale derived from a comprehensive study of ambiguity intolerance markers (Lauriola, Foschi, Mosca, & Weller, 2014). Results: A structural equation model in which beliefs in free society, egalitarianism and traditionalism predicted right-wing radicalism was tested with or without interposing a disjunctive logic factor. This factor increased the proportion of variance in right-wing radicalism explained and the mediation model had a good fit with the data. Conclusion: Our findings show that a cognitive style characterized by disjunctive logic played a major role in predicting behaviors associated with right-wing radicalism, thus extending previously published literature which has focused on core aspects of political orientation (Jost, et al. 2003; Montuori, 2005; Napier & Jost, 2008).