DOI: 10.5068/d1rh4k
title: Right-wing Authoritarianism, Left-wing Authoritarianism, and pandemic-mitigation authoritarianism

description: On April 22, 2020, 549 U.S. resident users of
 Prolific.co completed (1)
 the Authoritarianism-Conservatism-Traditionalism Scales (Duckitt,
 Bizumic, Kruauss, and Heled, 2010), (2) the 22-item short form of the
 Left-Wing Authoritarianism Index (Costello and Lilienfeld, 2019), (3)
 their level of endorsement of 19 policies that could possibly mitigate the
 impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and (4) a set of demographic questions
 (age, gender, ethnicity, pre-pandemic household income, and highest
 educational attainment).  They were also asked to provide their
 current ZIP code, because county-level COVID-19 prevalence was a control
 variable in the analyses.  To protect participants'
 confidentiality, neither ZIP code nor county name is included in
 this data set.  Instead, the data set includes the relevant
 control variable (COVID-19 cases per 100,000 county residents on Apr. 22,
 2020). Also provided are the STATA commands used in the analyses.
description: Data ReadMe: "Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Left-Wing
 Authoritarianism, and Pandemic-Mitigation Authoritarianism"
 final_dataset: 1 = cases remaining after excluding those lacking
 ZIP codes, genders other than male or female, and one case with a reported
 age of 2. 0 = excluded cases. afr_am: 1 = yes
 income_reduced: 7-point scale, anchored by "strongly
 disagree" and "strongly agree": My income is being reduced
 by following social distancing restrictions [Note: To
 protect participants' confidentiality, county COVID rate is not
 included in this file.  Researchers may request these rates, and the names
 of counties, by contacting the author] The remaining
 items were responded to on a 7-point scale anchored by "strongly
 disagree" and "strongly agree." con_1_r:
 It’s great that many young people today are prepared to defy authority
 (reversed)<br> con_2: What our country needs most is discipline,
 with everyone following our leaders in unity<br> con_3_r: Students
 at high schools and at university must be encouraged to challenge,
 criticize, and confront established authorities (reversed)<br>
 con_4: Obedience and respect for authority are the most important virtues
 children should learn.<br> con_5: Our country will be great if we
 show respect for authority and obey our leaders.<br> con_6_r: People
 should be ready to protest against and challenge laws they don’t agree
 with (reversed). trad_1_r: Nobody should stick to the
 “straight and narrow.” Instead people should break loose and try out lots
 of different ideas and experiences (reversed)<br> trad_2: The
 “old-fashioned ways” and “old-fashioned values” still show the best way to
 live<br> trad_3: God’s laws about abortion, pornography, and
 marriage must be strictly followed before it is too late<br>
 trad_4_r: There is absolutely nothing wrong with nudist camps
 (reversed)<br> trad_5: This country will flourish if young people
 stop experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sex, and pay more attention to
 family values<br> trad_6_r: There is nothing wrong with premarital
 sexual intercourse (reversed) auth_1_r: Strong, tough
 government will harm not help our country (reversed)<br> auth_2:
 Being kind to loafers or criminals will only encourage them to take
 advantage of your weakness, so it’s best to use a firm, tough hand when
 dealing with them<br> auth_3_r: Our society does NOT need tougher
 government and stricter laws (reversed)<br> auth_4: The facts on
 crime and the recent public disorders show we have to crack down harder on
 troublemakers, if we are going preserve law and order<br> auth_5_r:
 Our prisons are a shocking disgrace. Criminals are unfortunate people who
 deserve much better care, instead of so much punishment
 (reversed)<br> auth_6: The way things are going in this country,
 it’s going to take a lot of “strong medicine” to straighten out the
 troublemakers, criminals, and perverts lwa_1: Bigots
 must be taught to shut-up and stay in their place<br> lwa_2: Certain
 elements in our society must be made to pay for the violence of their
 ancestors<br> lwa_3: Colleges and universities that permit speakers
 with intolerant views should be publicly condemned<br> lwa_4: I am
 in favor of allowing the government to shut down right-wing internet sites
 and blogs that promote nutty, hateful positions<br> lwa_5: Fox News,
 right-wing talk radio, and other conservative media outlets should be
 prohibited from broadcasting their hateful views<br> lwa_6: Getting
 rid of inequality is more important than protecting the so-called “right”
 to free speech<br> lwa_7: I cannot imagine myself becoming friends
 with a political conservative<br> lwa_8: I hate being around
 non-progressive people<br> lwa_9: I hate people who are themselves
 hateful<br> lwa_10: I hope that far right extremists become sterile
 and can never reproduce<br> lwa_11: I would be willing to take up
 arms to help a left-wing revolution succeed<br> lwa_12: I would
 prefer a far-left leader with absolute authority over a right-wing leader
 with limited power<br> lwa_13: If I could remake society, I would
 put members of historically and presently marginalized groups at the
 top<br> lwa_14: If you're not going to support marginalized
 folks, you and I can't be friends<br> lwa_15: It is important
 that we destroy the West's nationalist, imperialist values<br>
 lwa_16: Not to change one’s behavior to accommodate victims of social
 injustice is a denial of their humanity<br> lwa_17: One isn't
 closed-minded for hating people who are themselves closed-minded<br>
 lwa_18:. Opposition to affirmative action is, by definition,
 racist<br> lwa_19: People who are prejudiced against transgender
 folks are all evil<br> lwa_20: Political correctness does not hinder
 free speech - it expands it<br> lwa_21: The only good racist is a
 dead racist<br> lwa_22: When we spend all of our time protecting the
 right to “free speech” we're protecting the rights of sexists,
 racists, and homophobes at the cost of marginalized people
 rep_police: I would report it to the police if I saw someone
 violating social distancing rules<br> persuasion: overnment policies
 to reduce the spread of COVID-19 should rely more on persuasion than on
 enforcing rules about social distancing<br> need_punishment: People
 can't be trusted to follow social distancing guidelines unless they
 are threatened with punishment<br> certif_immunity: I support the
 idea of an official federal government certificate that would be issued to
 people with proven immunity to COVID-19<br> mandatory_app: I support
 the idea of requiring all smartphones to run an app that tracks a
 person's movements and notifies them when they are near a person
 infected with COVID-19 For as long as the COVID-19
 pandemic continues... follow_distance_orders:
 ...Americans need to follow government orders about social distancing,
 even if they disagree with them<br> prohibit_misinformtn:
 …governments should have the power to prohibit the spread of
 misinformation about COVID-19 that could endanger people if it were widely
 believed.<br> surveill_churches: …government officials should put
 churches under surveillance to make sure that they're not holding
 services that violate social distancing rules<br> restrict_protests:
 …the constitutional right to protest against government actions should be
 restricted<br> ban_firearms: …sales of firearms should be
 banned.<br> ban_nonessentials: …sales of non-essential goods should
 be banned<br> close_abortion_clinics: …abortion clinics should be
 closed<br> govt_run_economy: …governments will need to run the
 economy by deciding what goods are to be produced, and in what
 quantities<br> no_jury_trial: …illegal activities that increase the
 spread of the virus should be punished directly by government officials,
 without the right to trial by jury<br> executive_rule: …heads of
 national, state, and local governments should be able to order new
 restrictions on activities that could spread the virus, without needing to
 consult legislative bodies (such as Congress or state
 legislatures)<br> extra_punishment: …crimes that take advantage of
 the pandemic (like stealing masks) should be punished much more severely
 than the same crimes when committed under normal conditions<br>
 authority_to_experts: …public health experts should be given more
 authority than elected politicians<br> mandatory_testing: …public
 health authorities should test people for the virus, even if they
 don't want to be tested, to obtain data that the authorities have
 decided they need to get the pandemic under control<br>
 ban_foreigners: …citizens of foreign countries should be banned from
 entering the United States <br> STATA Code for
 "Right-Wing Authoritarianism, Left-Wing Authoritarianism, and
 Pandemic-Mitigation Authoritarianism." Example of
 Imputation: The Conservatism scale of the ACT Scales. Using only cases for
 which final_dataset==1. mi set mlong
 . mi register imputed con_1_r con_2 con_3_r con_5
 con_6_r<br> (8 m=0 obs. now marked as incomplete)
 . mi register regular con_4 . mi impute
 chained (regress) con_1_2r con_2 con_3_r con_5 con_6_r = con_4,
 add(20) <br> The mean value of 20 imputations was
 substituted for each missing value. Following
 imputation: Each of the ACT scales was scored as the
 mean score across its six items.<br> RWA was scored as the mean
 score across the three ACT scales.<br> LWA was scored as the mean
 score across the 22 LWA Index items. Example of
 hierarchical regression analysis: hireg rep_police
 (incm_reduced t_covid gender age afr_am) (lwa rwa) if final_dataset==1,
 r(beta) Here, t_covid is the zero-skewness log
 transform of county COVID-19 rate (cases per 100,000 residents)<br>