The Role of Authority Figures' Approval in Anti-Muslim Aggression

• Other Authors: Beck, Christopher Loyd (authoraut)
• Format: Others
• Language: English; English
• Published: Florida State University
• Subjects: Social psychology
• Online Access: http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_SUMMER2017_Beck_fsu_0071E_14059

Recent events have shown no abatement in the increasingly common anti-Muslim attitudes and aggression. Anti-Muslim incidents have steadily risen over the last few years. One contributing factor in anti-Muslim harassment may be Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). RWA can lead to aggressive behavior towards minorities, as individuals high in RWA tend to act aggressively towards individuals who do not share their cultural values or norms. We argue that the authority figures that people admire play a role in shaping the attitudes and behaviors individuals endorse. As such, perceptions of political authority figures’ approval may dictate whether authoritarian individuals act on their aggressive impulses towards minority group members. Across two studies, we posit that for people high in RWA these perceptions of authority figure approval act as a mechanism to influence the personal endorsement of aggression towards Muslims. Our results support this hypothesis, as high RWA participants perceive their authority figures as approving of prejudice towards Muslims which in turn contributes to their own endorsement of aggressive policies. Perceptions of authority figure approval are an important contributor to anti-Muslim aggression. Authoritarian individuals become more likely to aggress against Muslims due to their perceptions that their political authority figures would support such actions. === A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. === Summer Semester 2017. === July 17, 2017. === Islam, Prejudice, Religion, Right-wing Authoritarianism === Includes bibliographical references. === E. Ashby Plant, Professor Directing Dissertation; Albert Stiegman, University Representative; James McNulty, Committee Member; Walter Boot, Committee Member; Paul Conway, Committee Member.