Psychopathology, Authoritarian Attitudes, and Prejudice

Abstract

While psychological theories have long linked prejudice and psychopathology, research findings have been weak and inconsistent. Three possible reasons for this were remedied in this study: social desirability was controlled, the participants (N = 110; South African adults) had clinically diagnosable psychopathology, and a validated multidimensional measure of psychopathology, the MMCI-II, was used. Analyses of the Millon personality and symptom scales, and principal component factors derived from each set, with measures of authoritarian attitudes and anti-Black prejudice indicated two significant paths linking psychopathology and prejudice. First, a Compulsive-Dependent personality factor was significantly related to authoritarian attitudes, which mediated an indirect effect of this personality disorder on prejudice. Second, a Negative Affectivity symptom factor was directly associated with prejudice, and also mediated indirect effects of an Avoidant-Negativistic personality factor on prejudice. The findings are discussed in terms of authoritarian personality theory and theories linking symptoms of psychopathology and prejudice.