A third of the population is authoritarian, says political psychologist Karen Stenner. Why diversity and freedom make these people intolerant and how we can make life easier for them in democracies.
This text is part the series “Trump’s Revenge”, in which our reporters investigate the question: What would happen if Donald Trump moved into the White House again? In this episode, psychologist Karen Stenner talks about how democracies should deal with authoritarians.
Dr. Stennerwhat is an authoritarian personality?
These are people with a deep-rooted, fundamental bias towards uniformity and equality. Instead of freedom, individuality and diversity, they long for strong authorities and homogeneity. They tend to groupthink, like rules and regulations, and get annoyed when others don’t follow them. Too much complexity and freedom of choice overwhelms them. We all know people like that. The world today is poison for them.