Altemeyer's Right Wing Authoritarianism Scale

Yeah, I answered neutral on a few as well. And I answered a couple knowing it would skew me away from the libbies just to be safe.

 

Do you go quickly into a nearby phone booth before you post in here?

 

My views on how I should live my life and guide my family are different from how I think government should run the country. Government is a collaborative effort between all of us, and needs to be more moderate than some of us live our lives. And I'm okay with that.

I recognize that if I use my influence with the government to force others to live by my standards, they can also use their influence with the government to force me to live by their standards. And that isn't acceptable to me, so I don't try to push my ideals on them through government force.

Most of the discussion on here is about what we think government should be doing rather than how we individually live our lives, so my posting comes across as more moderate

 

92

 

97.


What the hell does that mean?


I answered a couple neutral. Also didn’t like the “obey the husband”question without a husband one.

 

The problem with these types of scales is that your knowledge of what the scale is measuring totally biases how you answer. Do you answer as your true self or do you answer as what you want to seen as? I tried to be honest and got a 38 but I was aware of how every question would affect my score in one direction or the other.

 

I think I messed up the forefathers one. I don’t know quite what they had in mind back then?

 

True, though I would suggest it's a problem with we who take it, more than with the measure itself. Case in point . . .

 

I did it again today and got a 37. 38 yesterday.

 

Some of these are no brainers. Like,

2 Women should have to promise to obey their husbands when they get married.

Does anybody actually agree with that? I very strongly disagree.

And

3 Our country desperately needs a mighty leader who will do what has to be done to destroy the radical new ways and sinfulness that are ruining us.

That's an obvious very strongly disagree for me.

But some are harder to answer. Like

It is always better to trust the judgment of the proper authorities in government and religion than to listen to the noisy rabble-rousers in our society who are trying to create doubt in people’s minds.

I slightly disagree with this. It's a harder one to answer. Right now we have a bunch of noisy rabble-rousers who want to turn us into an authoritarian state. Others might think that BLM are a bunch of noisy rabble-rousers. I guess the key to that question is the always. It's depends on the situation.

 

My wife and I agree with that, with the caveat that this only applies if the husband is striving to lead the family in righteousness.

 

What is the practical effect of such a promise? Just that the husband gets the final say in a tie vote? People have different personalities and skill sets. I know couples where the woman tends to make key decisions. I don't mind how people manage their homes so long as it's consensual and non-abusive. Of course, many women are happy for the husband to take the lead. That's up to them. But IMO, it seems arbitrary (and respectfully, sexist) for there to be a blanket belief or rule that men are always in a better position to lead than women.

 

It is sexist, men and women have different roles. I agree that it should be consensual and non-abusive. And the ideal isn't always the reality we live in. Some homes have no husband. Some homes have a husband with mental health issues. Some homes have a husband who is unrighteous, but the wife is unwilling to leave them and has to do her best with the situation she is in.

Just because our reality isn't always ideal, doesn't mean the ideal doesn't exist.

An article written for members of my church about the slippery slope this principle can lead to when men are willing to abuse those they should be serving.

Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man: D&C 121 and 132

 

They also use the word “Republic”. Why do right wing extremist borderline fascists in this country use the word “conservative”?

 

65, I want to know who the heck is going to strongly disagree with nudist camps.

 

Thanks for the response. Again, if it works for your marriage, then I think that's great. But it's an interesting discussion. I know you are not advocating abuse in any way, so I'm not even going there. It seems to me this is a very important discussion for any couple to have early on.

While I can often appreciate secular arguments for religious teachings or viewpoints on various issues - such as abortion, for example - when it comes to different roles based upon gender, I just don't get it. The justification for men having more authority seems to amount to an appeal to the Bible, a church teaching, or a tradition. If I'm understanding it correctly, it does not seem to offer any flexibility based upon the respective personalities, skill sets, or any attributes of the husband and wife.

I do think there are a lot of other men out there who not only feel entitled to a wife/sex but also have very selfish reasons for wanting men to have the power in romantic relationships. Some of these men might also be the type to be threatened by a woman who is a smarter than they are or who makes more money because it might call the man's relative power into question.

 

Yes, one of the many things that couples should be talking about while preparing for marriage.

We all fall short of the ideal, but that doesn't change that there is an ideal that we can strive for.

Unfortunately this is also true.

 

121...hey Phil is more right wing authoritarian than I am. @lacuna want to share whether you scored lower or higher than that?

 

See OP. (pssst. 76)

 

My thoughts on this. Several questions gauge whether or not one is in agreement with biblical morality. I probably accrued most of my points here.

Other questions get after if biblical immorality should be enforced or punished. I probably did not score so high here as I don't think the state should necessarily punish every instance of immorality, but only those immoralities that harm our neighbors.

Other questions get after perception of authority. The masses can be wrong, and the perceived authorities can also be wrong. So, I kind of answered neutrally here.

Other questions get after what needs to be done to fix our country. I probably did not score highly there. I don't think getting a guy in there to go after the bad guys necessarily fixes the country.