The Authoritarian Spectrum Through the Prism of Individualism/Collectivism

Abstract

The general orientation to authority in Moroccan society is associated with dynamics that characterize it at the basic social level. Respect for authority tends to take the form of a syndrome forged in the sphere of convergent styles of family, pedagogical, and professional socialization, before being expressed as political loyalty. This articulation is at the very heart of the theory of congruence developed by Harry Eickstein, and recently taken up by other political scientists. The main idea put forward by the proponents of this theory is that the stability of the government is brought to bear when the models of authority on which it rests enjoy social fascination. The purpose of this article is to study the relationship between respect for authority in the three spheres of social and political work based on World Values Survey (WVS) data on Moroccan society (N = 3651) including the family, workplace, and political world. The examination of the general configuration of the orientation to authority is parameterized according to the individualistic and collectivist profiles constructed in the WVS database, as categorical variables.