Parenting style and child mental health at preschool age: evidence from rural China.

BACKGROUND: Mental health problems among children at preschool age are a common issue across the world. As shown in literature, a caregiver's parenting style can play a critical role in child development. This study aims to examine the associations between a caregiver's parenting style and the mental health problems (or not) of their child when he/she is at preschool age in rural China. METHODS: Participants were children, aged 49 to 65 months, and their primary caregivers. The primary caregivers of the sample children completed the Parenting Styles and Dimensions Questionnaire, Short Version, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and a questionnaire that elicited their socio-demographic characteristics. The level of cognitive development of each sample child was assessed using the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Fourth Edition. Pearson correlation analysis, linear regression analysis, and multivariable regression analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The prevalence of mental health problems among sample children at preschool age was high (31.6%). If a caregiver practices an authoritative parenting style, it was found to be negatively associated with the mental health problems of their child. In contrast, a caregiver's authoritarian parenting style was positively associated with the mental health problems of their child. Compared to those in a subgroup of primary caregivers that used a combination of low authoritative and low authoritarian parenting style, primary caregivers that used a combination of high authoritarian and low authoritative or a combination of high authoritative and high authoritarian were found to have positive association with child health problems. A number of demographic characteristics were found to be associated with the adoption of different parenting styles. CONCLUSION: Different parenting styles (including authoritative, authoritarian, and combination of authoritative and authoritarian) of the sample caregivers had different associations with the mental health problems of the sample children. Parenting programs that aim to improve the parenting styles (favoring authoritative parenting styles) should be promoted in an effort to improve the status of child mental health in rural China.

The effects of COVID-19 on domestic and international security in democratic and authoritarian regimes.

While numerous studies have examined how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected health care systems, supply chains, and economies, we do not understand how the pandemic has impacted the security of democratic and authoritarian states from a global standpoint. Thus, this study examines how COVID-19 has affected the security of democratic and authoritarian regimes. In conducting a historical, qualitative review of the security effects of the pandemic, we find that COVID-19 significantly affected domestic and international security for democratic and authoritarian states in both similar and varied ways. Additionally, the manner in which states responded to the pandemic was often conditioned by their regime type and by the nature of the governing leadership during the pandemic. These findings have important implications in considering how COVID-19 affected the security of democratic and authoritarian states, how regime type shapes government responses to infectious disease outbreaks, and how democratic and authoritarian states may respond to future pandemics.

Authoritarianism, perceptions of security threats, and the COVID-19 pandemic: A new perspective.

This article offers a new perspective on when and why individual-level authoritarian perceptions of security threats change. We reexamine claims that authoritarian members of the public responded to the COVID-19 pandemic in a counterintuitive fashion. The response was counterintuitive in that, rather than a desire for a stronger government with the ability to impose measures to address the pandemic and its consequences, authoritarian individuals rejected a stronger government response and embraced individual autonomy. The article draws on perceptions of security threats-issues that directly or indirectly harm personal or collective safety and welfare-from surveys in two different contexts in England: 2012, when perceptions of the threat from infectious disease was low relative to most other security threats, and 2020, when perceptions of the personal and collective threat of COVID-19 superseded all other security threats. We argue that the authoritarian response was not counterintuitive once we account for the type of threat it represented.

Managing under austerity: a qualitative study of management-union relations during attempts to cut labour costs in three South African public hospitals.

PURPOSE: In this paper, the authors examine the strategies used to reduce labour costs in three public hospitals in South Africa, which were effective and why. In the democratic era, after the revelations of large-scale corruption, the authors ask whether their case studies provide lessons for how public service institutions might re-make themselves, under circumstances of austerity. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A comparative qualitative case study approach, collecting data using a combination of interviews with managers, focus group discussions and interviews with shop stewards and staff was used. FINDINGS: Management in two hospitals relied on their financial power, divisions between unions and employees' loyalty. They lacked the insight to manage different actors, and their efforts to outsource services and draw on the Extended Public Works Program failed. They failed to support staff when working beyond their scope of practice, reducing employees' willingness to take on extra responsibilities. In the remaining hospital, while previous management had been removed due to protests by the unions, the new CEO provided stability and union-management relations were collaborative. Her legitimate power enabled unions and management to agree on appropriate cost cutting strategies. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Finding an appropriate balance between the new reality of reduced financial resources and the needs of staff and patients, requires competent unions and management, transparency and trust to develop legitimate power; managing in an authoritarian manner, without legitimate power, reduces organisational capacity. Ensuring a fair and orderly process to replace ineffective management is key, while South Africa grows cohorts of competent managers and builds managerial experience.

Attitudes Toward Cisgender Women's Participation in Sex Work: Opportunity for Agency or Harmful Exchange?

Despite the stigmatization of sex work in society, little empirical research has examined attitudes toward sex work, especially its modern incarnations (e.g., sugar relationships, webcamming). Here, a sample of 298 US residents (Mage = 40.06 years; 59.1% male, 40.9% female) was recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Various theoretical predictors (e.g., right-wing authoritarianism [RWA]), sociosexuality) were set to predict the degree to which four sex work domains (prostitution, pornography, sugar relationships, webcamming) provide cisgender women agency (beneficial) or harm them (detrimental). We found that the domains of sex work were organized hierarchically, as theorized by the so-called "whorearchy," whereby the more "unfavorable" domains (e.g., prostitution) fall at the bottom, and the more "favorable" ones (e.g., webcamming) sit at the top. Additionally, multiple regression analyses revealed that RWA (negatively) and sociosexuality (positively) were the strongest predictors of sex work agency across various domains. In predicting harm, RWA, feminism, religiosity, and age were unique positive predictors, whereas sociosexuality and male (vs. female) self-identified sex were unique negative predictors, across the four domains of sex work. Moreover, individual differences (e.g., RWA) were often significantly stronger predictors of agency or harm among female than male participants. The results suggest that although sex work domains vary in agency and harm ratings, individual differences (most notably, RWA and sociosexuality) are important predictors across domains, especially for cisgender women. Given the growing prevalence of such online forms of sex work, along with growing evidence of sugar relationships, it will become increasingly important to track reactions as these forms of sex work evolve.

Do We Know Enough about Negative Parenting? Recent Evidence on Parenting Styles and Child Maladjustment / ¿Sabemos suficiente sobre el estilo parental negativo? Pruebas recientes sobre los estilos parentales y la inadaptación de los hijos

Background: There are serious doubts as to whether parental strictness, one of the two main dimensions of parental style, can be a negative or positive component of parenting in traditional societies. Method: Parenting style (authoritarian, authoritative, indulgent, and neglectful) was captured from strictness and warmth dimensions and child maladjustment was assessed with problems of self-esteem and self-concept (academic, social, emotional, family, and physical) studied worldwide. The sample was composed of 1,282 Chinese participants (676 females, 52.7%), 581 adolescent children (age ranging from 12-18 years, 45.3%), and 701 young adult children (age ranging from 19-31 years, 54.7%). A 4 × 2 × 2 factorial MANOVA was applied for all outcomes using parenting style, sex, and age as the independent variables. Results: The statistical analysis plainly indicated that authoritarian (strictness but not warmth) and neglectful (neither strictness nor warmth) parenting styles were associated with higher maladjustment in terms of lower self-esteem and self-concept scores. Indulgent (not strictness but warmth) and authoritative (strictness and warmth) parenting were positive parenting styles acting as protective factors against self-esteem and self-concept problems. The authoritative style (strictness and warmth), but not the authoritarian parenting style (strictness but not warmth), was the most positive parenting for academic self-concept, but only among adolescents. Conclusions: Interestingly, completely contrary to expectations that authoritarian parenting might be a positive parenting in traditional societies, present findings suggest that the authoritarian style might be a negative parenting related to child maladjustment. (AU)

Antecedentes: Existen serias dudas sobre si la severidad parental, una de las dos dimensiones principales del estilo parental, puede ser un componente negativo o positivo de la socialización en las sociedades tradicionales. Método: El estilo parental (autoritario, autorizativo, indulgente y negligente) se evaluó a partir de las dimensiones de severidad y afecto, y el desajuste de los hijos por medio de problemas de autoestima y autoconcepto (académicos, sociales, emocionales, familiares y físicos) estudiados en todo el mundo. La muestra estaba compuesta por 1,282 participantes chinos (676 mujeres, 52.7%), 581 hijos adolescentes (de 12 a 18 años, 45.3%) y 701 hijos adultos jóvenes (de 19 a 31 años, 54.7%). Se aplicó un MANOVA factorial 4 × 2 × 2 para todos los criterios utilizando el estilo parental, el sexo y la edad como variables independientes. Resultados: El análisis estadístico indicó claramente que el estilo parental autoritario (severidad sin afecto) y el negligente (ni severidad ni afecto) estaban relacionados con un mayor desajuste, como indican las menores puntuaciones de autoestima y autoconcepto. El estilo indulgente (afecto sin severidad) y el autorizativo (severidad y afecto) fueron estilos parentales positivos que actuaron como factores protectores contra los problemas de autoestima y autoconcepto. El estilo autorizativo (severidad y afecto), pero no el autoritario (severidad sin afecto), fue el más positivo para el autoconcepto académico, pero sólo en los adolescentes. Conclusiones: En contra de las expectativas de que el estilo parental autoritario podría ser positivo para la socialización en las sociedades tradicionales, los presentes resultados sugieren que la socialización autoritaria es un estilo parental negativo relacionado con problemas de desajuste de los hijos. (AU)

Are All Negotiations Equally Favorable? The Role of Adolescents' Negotiation Style, Social Domain, and Mothers' Authoritarian Beliefs and Family History.

Although negotiation is generally considered an adaptive means for adolescents to express disagreement in the parent-child relationship, previous research on the correlates of adolescents' negotiation has reported rather mixed results. This may be because parents do not always positively appraise and respond to adolescents' negotiation. The key aim of the present study was to better understand variability in mothers' appraisals and responses to adolescents' negotiation attempts. This was done by examining whether their appraisals and responses vary as a function of adolescents' negotiation style, social domain, and mothers' personal characteristics (i.e., authoritarian beliefs and their own history of being parented). A total of 476 mothers of 9th and 10th grade adolescents in Belgium (Mage mothers = 44.93 years old, SD = 4.07; Mage adolescents = 14.88, SD = 0.75, 51.7% boys) participated in a vignette-based experimental study. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing authoritarian beliefs and their own history of being parented, and read a vignette-based scenario depicting an adolescent's negotiation attempt. Using a between-person 2 × 2 design, adolescents' negotiation style (autonomy-supportive versus controlling) and social domain (personal versus multifaceted) were experimentally manipulated. Mothers were more likely to positively appraise and respond in more constructive ways if adolescents adopted an autonomy-supportive instead of a controlling negotiation style, and when the situation involved a personal rather than a multifaceted issue. Mothers with high authoritarian beliefs and those with a history of being parented in a psychologically controlling way, had a more negative attitude towards adolescents' negotiation. Overall, the results suggest that the success of adolescents' negotiation depends on how, about what, and with whom they negotiate.

Psychological variables linked to hesitation toward vaccination against COVID-19 among late adolescents and young adults: The role of magical thinking and right-wing authoritarianism.

INTRODUCTION: Several studies on the predisposition to be subjected to vaccination have shown that vaccine hesitation is a global phenomenon influenced by a lack of knowledge and awareness, as well as perceived risks and benefits. The purpose of this study was to investigate the mediating role of right-wing authoritarianism in the relationship between magical thinking and positive attitudes toward COVID-19 vaccines (i.e. trust of vaccine benefits, worries over unforeseen future effects, concerns about commercial profits, preference for natural immunity). METHOD: The sample consisted of 201 Italian young adults, 49 males (24.4%), and 152 females (75.6%), aged between 18 and 25. Data were collected during 2022. RESULTS: The results confirmed the role of right-wing authoritarianism as a mediator for magical thinking on positive vaccine attitudes. Findings indicated a positive association between right-wing authoritarianism and magical thinking and a negative relationship of both the aforementioned variables on positive vaccine attitudes. SEM analyses showed a direct positive association from magical thinking to right-wing authoritarianism and a direct negative association from right-wing authoritarianism to trust of vaccine benefits, to low worries over unforeseen future effects, to lack of concerns about commercial profits and to low preference for natural immunity. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight that common contribution of odd or magical beliefs and right-wing authoritarianism may slow the spread of vaccines among late adolescents and young adults. Our findings provide insight on what effective communication with vaccine-resistant individuals should look like in order to increase the chances of reaching vaccine-hesitant individuals.

Different roles of interpersonal trust and institutional trust in motivating older adults to receive COVID-19 vaccines in Singapore.

Since the approvals of several vaccines against COVID-19 by the World Health Organization, a large body of research has studied the determinants of individuals' intention to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in a variety of societies. Vaccine intention is a complex construct rooted in the social context that informs the decision-making process. The underlying reasons for older adults' intention to receive the vaccination is even more important to health authorities in societies with large proportions of older adults. In this paper, we interview 27 women over age 55 in Singapore about their COVID-19 vaccine decision-making. Using a social-ecological framework of trust, we identify factors at both individual and institutional levels that build or undermine trust and underlie older women's decisions to receive COVID-19 vaccinations in an authoritarian regime. Findings show that both interpersonal trust and institutional trust contribute to vaccine uptake, however, trust can also contribute to delays in vaccination. Moreover, a sizable minority of respondents report that they were vaccinated not because of institutional trust, but because they felt compelled to do so. The results shed light on directions for future vaccination campaigns.

Is conservative opposition to climate change threat-based? Articulating an integrated threat model of climate change attitudes.

Throughout the literature, there are assertions that those endorsing conservative ideologies reject the science and solutions of climate change due to perceived threat. That is, they fear that accepting climate change means accepting problems with a favoured socioeconomic system and supporting action on climate change threatens to disrupt these systems. We draw together lines of research and reasoning on this topic to outline three key predictions this perspective makes about the drivers of conservative denial of climate change and opposition to climate policy. The first is that an asymmetry exists in climate-related threat perceptions, whereby greater endorsement of conservative ideology predicts lower perceived threat from climate change and greater perceived threat from climate reform. Second, climate-related threat perceptions are multifaceted, such that threats to economic and cultural well-being can be experienced, at personal or collective levels. Third, the asymmetry in threat perceptions explains conservatives' lower support for pro-climate reforms. We then specify a new integrated threat model of climate change attitudes, review the current evidence for and against each prediction in this model and outline ways to interrogate these theoretical predictions with empirical research. Doing so will advance understanding of the underpinnings of ideological disagreement on climate change.

Opposite effects of RWA and SDO on war support: Chinese public opinion toward Russia's war in Ukraine.

Previous research has identified the combined effects of Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) on individuals' militant attitudes. Much of the existing studies have been conducted in the United States and Europe, where political cleavage is drawn between liberalism and conservatism and where RWA and SDO are aligned with conservatism. In this article, we argue that in a different ideological backdrop where RWA and SDO are not bound by conservative ideology, their influence on war support varies. We use the case study of China, in which socialist ideology upholds authoritarianism but opposes social dominance. We hypothesize that in a war in which the state acquiesces, regime loyalists high on RWA and low on SDO tend to back the war, while regime critics low on RWA and high on SDO are less supportive. Using longitudinal data with a nationwide online sample (Time 1: N = 1000, Time 2: N = 500) collected during the war in Ukraine, we confirmed the opposite effects of RWA (measured by the traditionalism subscale) and SDO (measured by the dominance subscale) on war support. The findings extend our understanding of the impacts of authoritarianism and social dominance in a context beyond the United States and Europe.

The shared psychological roots of prejudice and conspiracy theory belief.

The psychological literature on prejudice and conspiracy theory belief have generally remained distinct, implicitly treating the two as unrelated phenomena. In this brief review, I demonstrate that the two phenomena share at least three dispositional precursors: ingroup bias, right-wing ideology (specifically right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation), and need for closure. The evidence I present suggests that prejudice and conspiracy beliefs may be more closely related both conceptually and normatively than existing research has indicated. In particular, they may appear in the same individuals, cause similar kinds of harms in adherents as well as target populations, and respond to similar counteractive interventions.

Experimentally induced changes in authoritarian submission as a response to threat.

Authoritarianism is best conceptualised by three attitudinal clusters: Aggression, Submission, and Conventionalism. Once considered a fixed characteristic, recent observational research has demonstrated how the dimension of submission can fluctuate in response to COVID-19 threat as a means of maintaining collective security. However, this effect has not been investigated with other forms of threat, nor has it been supported experimentally. In the present study, we sought to test observational findings by priming 300 participants with either a COVID-19 threat, a domestic terrorism threat, or a non-threatening control. Levels of authoritarianism were tested before and after presentation of a prime and then the difference between the two measures could be compared between prime conditions. Results from a Bayesian multivariate regression analysis informed by observational findings suggested that participants who experienced the COVID-19 or terrorism primes reported higher levels of authoritarian submission after the prime compared to before the prime, relative to those who experienced the neutral control prime. In contrast, the aggression subfactor did not seem to elicit any change in response to threat, and the conventionalism subfactor showed a response only to the terrorism prime. We concluded that two different forms of societal threat could elicit changes in specific dimensions of authoritarianism over a very short time span. We caution against the common practice of treating authoritarianism as a unidimensional construct without careful consideration.

Unethical behaviour in the military: The role of supervisor ethicality, ethical climate, and right-wing authoritarianism.

Using an anonymous self-report survey of 350 Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) personnel, this study investigated the effect of perceptions of the ethicality of one's immediate supervisor (supervisor ethics), right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), and ethical climate on self-reported unethical behavior in the form of discrimination and obeying an unlawful command (past behavior, behavioral intentions). As well, we investigated how supervisor ethics and RWA interact when predicting unethical behavior, and whether ethical climate mediated the relation between supervisor ethics and self-reported unethical behavior. Unethical behavior depended on perceptions of the ethicality of one's supervisor and RWA. RWA predicted discrimination toward a gay man (behavioral intentions), and supervisor ethics predicted discrimination against outgroups of people, and obedience of an unlawful command (past behavior). As well, the effects of ethical supervision on discrimination (past behavior, behavioral intentions) depended on participants' level of RWA . Finally, ethical climate mediated the relation between supervisor ethics and obeying an unlawful command, such that higher perceptions of supervisor ethics led to a higher ethical climate, which led to less obedience of an unlawful command in the past. This suggests that leaders can affect the ethical climate of on organization, which in turn affects ethical behavior of followers.

Are equitable physical performance tests perceived to be fair? Understanding officer cadets' perceptions of fitness standards.

In the last few decades, the armed forces in Western countries such as Canada and the United States have accepted women into virtually all military occupations. Despite this, a growing body of research confirms that female service members face prejudiced treatment while conducting their work in these organizations that continue to be predominately masculine and male-dominated. In particular, women attending the Canadian Military Colleges (CMCs) experience gender-related conflicts arising from the dissimilar fitness test standards between male and female cadets. There have been, however, few studies that scrutinize the psychological mechanisms of these tensions. The aim of this study was to unpack the existing biased perceptions against women pertaining to physical fitness through ambivalent sexism, social dominance orientation, and right-wing authoritarianism. Officer and naval cadets (n = 167, 33.5% women) at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) completed survey measures. Indirect effect analyses showed that cadets who viewed the fitness standards to be unfair expressed more hostile rather than benevolent sexist outlooks against women, and these negative feelings were connected to greater levels of social dominance and right-wing authoritarianism. These results indicate that sexist beliefs, competitive worldviews, and authoritarianism are underlying attitudes that should be addressed by militaries striving to fully integrate women into their forces.

Cooperative and conformist behavioural preferences predict the dual dimensions of political ideology.

Decades of research suggest that our political differences are best captured by two dimensions of political ideology. The dual evolutionary framework of political ideology predicts that these dimensions should be related to variation in social preferences for cooperation and group conformity. Here, we combine data from a New Zealand survey and a suite of incentivised behavioural tasks (n = 991) to test whether cooperative and conformist preferences covary with a pair of widely used measures of the two dimensions of political ideology-Social Dominance Orientation (SDO) and Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA)-and related policy views. As predicted, we find that cooperative behaviour is negatively related to SDO and economically conservative policy views, while conformist behaviour in the form of social information use is positively related to RWA and socially conservative policy views. However, we did not find the predicted relationships between punitive and rule following behaviours and RWA or socially conservative views, raising questions about the interpretation of punishment and rule following tasks and the nature of authoritarian conformist preferences. These findings reveal how cooperative and conformist preferences that evolved to help us navigate social challenges in our ancestral past continue to track our political differences even today.

Prejudice toward people with borderline personality disorder: Application of the prejudice toward people with mental illness framework.

BACKGROUND: People living with borderline personality disorder (BPD) face high levels of prejudice and discrimination from both the community and medical professionals, but no measure of prejudice toward people living with BPD exists. AIMS: The current study aimed to adapt an existing Prejudice toward People with Mental Illness (PPMI) scale and investigate the structure and nomological network of prejudice toward people with BPD. METHODS: The original 28-item PPMI scale was adapted to create the Prejudice toward People with Borderline Personality Disorder (PPBPD) scale. The scale and related measures were completed by three samples: 217 medical or clinical psychology students, 303 psychology undergraduate students, and 314 adults from the general population. RESULTS: The original four-factor structure of the PPMI was supported in the PPBPD scale. Reported prejudice toward people with BPD was more negative than prejudice toward people with mental illness in general. The association of the PPBPD scale with antecedents and consequences was assessed, including social dominance orientation, right-wing authoritarianism, ethnocentrism, personality traits, empathy, prior contact, and feelings toward other stigmatized groups and mental illnesses. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided evidence for the validity and psychometric properties of the PPBPD scale across three samples and investigated anticipated relationships with theoretically related antecedents and consequences. This research will help improve understanding of the expressions underlying prejudice toward people with BPD.

Maternal executive function, authoritarian attitudes, and hostile attribution bias as interacting predictors of harsh parenting.

Executive function (EF) plays a key role in healthy development and human functioning across multiple domains, including socially, behaviorally, and in the self-regulation of cognition and emotion. Prior research has associated lower levels of maternal EF with harsher and more reactive parenting, and mothers' social cognitive attributes like authoritarian child-rearing attitudes and hostile attribution biases also contribute to harsh parenting practices. There have been few studies that explore the intersection of maternal EF and social cognitions. The present study addresses this gap by testing whether the relationship between individual differences in maternal EF and harsh parenting behaviors is statistically moderated separately by maternal authoritarian attitudes and hostile attribution bias. Participants were 156 mothers in a socioeconomically diverse sample. Multi-informant and multimethod assessments of harsh parenting and EF were utilized, and mothers self-reported on their child-rearing attitudes and attribution bias. Harsh parenting was negatively associated with maternal EF and hostile attribution bias. Authoritarian attitudes significantly interacted with EF (and the attribution bias interaction was marginally significant) in prediction of variance in harsh parenting behaviors. Commensurate with social information processing theory, EF and social cognitive attributes play critical and distinct roles in the causes of harsh caregiving practices. Findings elucidate that reforming parental social cognitions, in addition to targeting EF, may be effective prevention and intervention methods for yielding more positive parenting behaviors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Linking primary emotional traits to ideological attitudes and personal value types.

The present study aimed at investigating associations of both ideological attitudes and personal value types with the personality traits derived from the Affective Neuroscience Theory (ANT). For that, data of N = 626 (n = 403 men, n = 220 women, n = 3 identifying as neither a man nor a woman) participants of an online survey in the German language were analyzed. Relations of primary emotional traits derived from the ANT with Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), Social Dominance Orientation (SDO), and personal value types, such as the higher-order value type dimensions "Conservation-Openness to Change" and "Self-Enhancement-Self-Transcendence", were examined by means of correlational analyses and structural equation modeling. Results revealed among others relations between low SEEKING, high ANGER and high RWA. Low CARE and high ANGER were associated with high SDO. Moreover, FEAR was related to the higher-order value type dimension ranging from Conservation to Openness to Change. ANGER was associated with the higher-order value type dimension ranging from Self-Enhancement to Self-Transcendence. The present results do not only expand knowledge on the personality traits associated with ideological attitudes and personal value types. Beyond this, considering the neuroanatomical, functional, and neurochemical correlates of the primary emotional traits SEEKING, ANGER, CARE, and FEAR, the present results may provide a roadmap for forthcoming studies aiming at examining biological correlates of ideological attitudes and personal value types, such as those works in the field of political neuroscience.

Populist ideology, ideological attitudes, and anti-immigration attitudes as an integrated system of beliefs.

A challenge for the identification of the core components of a beliefs system is the topological examination of these components within the overall structure of the said system. By modeling beliefs as nodes of interconnected networks, this research investigated the centrality of adherence to populist ideology and classical ideological attitudes in relation to voting behavior and negative feelings toward immigrants. Data from a sample of 774 Italian adults were examined by means of three Network Analysis models. Results showed four constitutive dimensions of populist ideology: People Sovereignty, Anti-elitism, People Homogeneity, and Manichaeism. The dimensions of Anti-elitism, People Sovereignty and Homogeneity were found to be the core. Analyses also highlighted the centrality of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) within the broader beliefs system, including voting, populist ideology dimensions, and anti-immigration. RWA was positively related to the core of populist ideology, whilst SDO was negatively associated with or unrelated to it. However, both RWA and SDO exceeded populist dimensions when associated with populist right-wing voting, representing the unique intermediate links in connecting it with anti-immigration. Five Star Movement voting emerged as a purer form of populist support, relating directly only to populist dimensions and placing itself at a greater distance from ideological attitudes and anti-immigration.