{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T06:07:05Z","timestamp":1789020425954,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":56,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788998400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      In light of recent social developments, debates about the adequacy of Altemeyer\u2019s widely-used scale on \u201cright-wing authoritarianism\u201d have (re-)gained momentum, as a shift in the articulation and expression of authoritarianism could be observed. In the German-speaking realm, researchers argue for a reconsideration of the original conceptualization of authoritarianism, drawing on a developmental-psychological model and a social-theoretical basis in the tradition of Critical Theory. Making this debate accessible to an international readership, we propose a measurement model that conceptualizes authoritarianism as a third-order factor comprising two distinct authoritarian psychodynamics \u2014\n                      <jats:italic>sadomasochism<\/jats:italic>\n                      and\n                      <jats:italic>fetishism<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u2014 as second-order factors.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>After deriving these factors theoretically, we test the proposed model by means of confirmatory factor analysis on a German representative dataset (N = 2,466).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      The proposed model fits the data very well (scaled CFI = 0.965, scaled RMSEA = 0.058, scaled SRMR = 0.044) with significant loadings throughout, though it cannot be statistically distinguished from two equivalent specifications and shows limited reliability at the higher-order level (\n                      <jats:italic>\u03c9<\/jats:italic>\n                      l2 = 0.67).\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Discussion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>By critically reconsidering the origins of authoritarianism and systematically operationalizing and testing our theoretical claims, the paper sheds light on the concept\u2019s evolving manifestations and contributes to a nuanced understanding of authoritarian tendencies amidst emerging societal changes.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1620427","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T05:33:17Z","timestamp":1789018397000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Authoritarianism today\u2014a revised measurement model"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Marius","family":"Dilling","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Else-Frenkel-Brunswik-Institute, University of Leipzig","place":["Leipzig, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ayline","family":"Heller","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"GESIS, Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences","place":["Mannheim, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Clara","family":"Schlie\u00dfler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Else-Frenkel-Brunswik-Institute, University of Leipzig","place":["Leipzig, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Johannes","family":"Kiess","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Else-Frenkel-Brunswik-Institute, University of Leipzig","place":["Leipzig, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elmar","family":"Br\u00e4hler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Else-Frenkel-Brunswik-Institute, University of Leipzig","place":["Leipzig, Germany"]},{"name":"Clinic and Polyclinic of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Rostock University Medical Center","place":["Rostock, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oliver","family":"Decker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Else-Frenkel-Brunswik-Institute, University of Leipzig","place":["Leipzig, Germany"]},{"name":"Department of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology, University of Leipzig","place":["Leipzig, Germany"]},{"name":"Sigmund Freud University","place":["Berlin, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"The Authoritarian Personality","author":"Adorno","year":"1950"},{"key":"ref2","volume-title":"Right-wing Authoritarianism","author":"Altemeyer","year":"1981"},{"key":"ref3","volume-title":"Enemies of Freedom: Understanding right-wing Authoritarianism","author":"Altemeyer","year":"1988"},{"key":"ref4","volume-title":"The Authoritarian Specter","author":"Altemeyer","year":"1996"},{"key":"ref5","volume-title":"Offended Freedom: The rise of Libertarian Authoritarianism","author":"Amlinger","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"367","DOI":"10.1080\/13537903.2015.1081339","article-title":"Conspirituality reconsidered: how surprising and how new is the confluence of spirituality and conspiracy theory?","volume":"30","author":"Asprem","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Contemp. Relig."},{"key":"ref7","volume-title":"Kurzskala Autoritarismus (KSA-3)","author":"Beierlein","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"279","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2013.00279","article-title":"Measuring belief in conspiracy theories: the generic Conspiracist beliefs scale","volume":"4","author":"Brotherton","year":"2013","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref9","volume-title":"Confirmatory factor Analysis for Applied Research. Methodology in the Social Sciences","author":"Brown","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref10","volume-title":"Das Ichideal: Psychoanalytischer Essay \u00fcber die \u201eKrankheit der Idealit\u00e4t\u201c","author":"Chasseguet-Smirgel","year":"1987"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"177","DOI":"10.30820\/9783837977714-177","volume-title":"Autorit\u00e4re Dynamiken: Neue Radikalit\u00e4t - alte Ressentiments. Die Leipziger Autoritarismus Studie 2020","author":"Decker","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e15791","DOI":"10.5964\/jspp.15791","article-title":"Exploring different types of the authoritarian syndrome: a latent profile analysis of the German population. Journal of social and political","volume":"13","author":"Dilling","year":"2025","journal-title":"Political Psychology"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"169","DOI":"10.3224\/zrex.v3i2.02","article-title":"Flucht in die Projektion. Zum Zusammenhang von Autoritarismus, Verschw\u00f6rungsmentalit\u00e4t und rechtsextremer Einstellung","volume":"3","author":"Dilling","year":"2023","journal-title":"ZRex \u2013 Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Rechtsextremismusforschung"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"199","DOI":"10.1111\/0162-895X.00322","article-title":"The impact of social threat on worldview and ideological attitudes","volume":"24","author":"Duckitt","year":"2003","journal-title":"Polit. Psychol."},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"98","DOI":"10.1080\/10478400903028540","article-title":"A dual-process motivational model of ideology, politics, and prejudice","volume":"20","author":"Duckitt","year":"2009","journal-title":"Psychol. Inq."},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"571","DOI":"10.5964\/jspp.v4i2.168","article-title":"The aggression-submission-conventionalism scale: testing a new three factor measure of authoritarianism","volume":"4","author":"Dunwoody","year":"2016","journal-title":"J. Soc. Polit. Psychol."},{"key":"ref18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"733","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780197541302.013.19","volume-title":"The Oxford Handbook of Political Psychology","author":"Feldman","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"484","DOI":"10.1177\/2515245920951747","article-title":"Your coefficient alpha is probably wrong, but which coefficient omega is right? A tutorial on using R to obtain better reliability estimates","volume":"3","author":"Flora","year":"2020","journal-title":"Adv. Methods Pract. Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"ref20","first-page":"311","volume-title":"Gesammelte Werke, Bd. 14: Werke aus den Jahren 1925\u20131931","author":"Freud","year":""},{"key":"ref21","first-page":"77","volume-title":"Studien \u00fcber Autorit\u00e4t und Familie: Forschungsberichte aus dem Institut f\u00fcr Sozialforschung","author":"Fromm","year":""},{"key":"ref22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"195","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9221.2005.00415.x","article-title":"The dimensionality of right-wing authoritarianism: lessons from the dilemma between theory and measurement","volume":"26","author":"Funke","year":"2005","journal-title":"Polit. Psychol."},{"key":"ref23","volume-title":"ALLBUS\/GGSS 2018 (Allgemeine Bev\u00f6lkerungsumfrage der Sozialwissenschaften\/German General Social Survey 2018)","year":"2019"},{"key":"ref24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"941466","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2022.941466","article-title":"Changes in authoritarianism before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: comparisons of latent means across East and West Germany, gender, age, and education","volume":"13","author":"Heller","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"533863","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2020.533863","article-title":"Detecting authoritarianism efficiently: psychometric properties of the screening instrument authoritarianism - ultra short (A-US) in a German representative sample","volume":"11","author":"Heller","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref26","first-page":"52","article-title":"Elternidealisierung und Autoritarismus: Kritische \u00dcberlegungen zu einigen sozialpsychologischen Annahmen","volume":"12","author":"Hopf","year":"1992","journal-title":"Z. Sozialisationsforsch. Erziehungssoziol."},{"key":"ref27","volume-title":"Studien \u00fcber Autorit\u00e4t und Familie: Forschungsberichte aus dem Institut f\u00fcr Sozialforschung","author":"Horkheimer","year":""},{"key":"ref28","volume-title":"Handbook of Structural Equation Modeling","author":"Hoyle","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"25","DOI":"10.1002\/per.1930","article-title":"Speaking (un\u2013)truth to power: conspiracy mentality as a generalised political attitude","volume":"28","author":"Imhoff","year":"2014","journal-title":"Eur. J. Personal."},{"key":"ref30","first-page":"146","volume-title":"Rechtsextremismus der Mitte","author":"Imhoff","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref31","author":"J\u00e4ger","year":"2022"},{"key":"ref32","author":"Kaufhold","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref33","first-page":"87","article-title":"Autoritarismus als regression","volume":"1","author":"King","year":"2021","journal-title":"WestEnd. Neue Zeitschrift F\u00fcr Sozialforschung"},{"key":"ref34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1007\/s41682-023-00150-7","article-title":"Wider die Natur \u2013 Zur sozialpsychologischen Dimension des B\u00fcndnisses von Verschw\u00f6rungsdenken und Spiritualit\u00e4t in den Corona-Protesten. Eine Fallanalyse [\u2018against nature\u2019-on the social psychological dimension of the alliance between conspiracy beliefs and spirituality in COVID-19 protests. A case study]","volume":"7","author":"Knasm\u00fcller","year":"2023","journal-title":"Zeitschrift f\u00fcr Religion, Gesellschaft und Politik"},{"key":"ref35","volume-title":"Test Theory: A Unified Treatment","author":"McDonald","year":"1999"},{"key":"ref36","first-page":"1077","article-title":"Die Stellung der Perversionen in Metapsychologie und Technik","volume":"28","author":"Morgenthaler","year":"1974","journal-title":"Psyche"},{"key":"ref37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"435","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-658-25947-1_24","volume-title":"Gro\u00dfe Transformation? Zur Zukunft moderner Gesellschaften","author":"Nachtwey","year":"2019"},{"key":"ref38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"275","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1467-9221.2005.00418.x","article-title":"Flight into security: a new approach and measure of the authoritarian personality","volume":"26","author":"Oesterreich","year":"2005","journal-title":"Polit. Psychol."},{"key":"ref39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"220","DOI":"10.1038\/s44159-023-00161-4","article-title":"The psychological causes and societal consequences of authoritarianism","volume":"2","author":"Osborne","year":"2023","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"ref40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"354","DOI":"10.1037\/a0029315","article-title":"When can categorical variables be treated as continuous? A comparison of robust continuous and categorical SEM estimation methods under suboptimal conditions","volume":"17","author":"Rhemtulla","year":"2012","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"},{"key":"ref41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-658-39404-2","volume-title":"Formative Modelling in Psychology and Educational Science","author":"Riebel","year":"2023"},{"key":"ref42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-322-91369-2","volume-title":"Autoritarismus","author":"Rippl","year":"2000"},{"key":"ref43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1037\/1082-989X.7.2.147","article-title":"Missing data: our view of the state of the art","volume":"7","author":"Schafer","year":"2002","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"},{"key":"ref44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"23","DOI":"10.23668\/psycharchives.12784","article-title":"Evaluating the fit of structural equation models: tests of significance and descriptive goodness-of-fit measures","volume":"8","author":"Schermelleh-Engel","year":"2003","journal-title":"Methods Psychol. Res."},{"key":"ref45","first-page":"47","volume-title":"Radikalisierung durch Verschw\u00f6rungstheorien: Zum Umgang mit einem demokratiegef\u00e4hrdenden Ph\u00e4nomen","author":"Schlie\u00dfler","year":"2024"},{"key":"ref46","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"283","DOI":"10.30820\/9783837977714-283","volume-title":"Autorit\u00e4re Dynamiken: Neue Radikalit\u00e4t - alte Ressentiments. Die Leipziger Autoritarismus Studie 2020","author":"Schlie\u00dfler","year":"2020"},{"key":"ref47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"102","DOI":"10.7146\/serendipities.v7i1-2.132327","article-title":"Logical positivism or critical theory as the methodological foundation of the authoritarian personality?","volume":"7","author":"Schmidt","year":"2023","journal-title":"Serendipities. J. Sociol. Hist. Soc. Sci."},{"key":"ref48","first-page":"223","article-title":"Autoritarismusforschung: Zwischen Tradition und Emanzipation","volume":"28","author":"Six","year":"1997","journal-title":"Gruppendynamik"},{"key":"ref49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1185699","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2023.1185699","article-title":"Conspiracy thinking and the long historical shadow of romanticism on authoritarian politics","volume":"14","author":"Smallpage","year":"2023","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref50","first-page":"76","volume-title":"Literatur der Psychoanalyse. Objekte des Fetischismus","author":"Smirnoff","year":"1972"},{"key":"ref51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e16537","DOI":"10.5964\/miss.16537","article-title":"A new measure of authoritarianism: development and validation of the short modern comprehensive F scale in Germany and the U.S.","volume":"7","author":"Sorrentino","year":"2025","journal-title":"Meas. Instrum. Soc. Sci."},{"key":"ref52","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"769","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2016.00769","article-title":"Best alternatives to Cronbach\u2019s alpha reliability in realistic conditions: congeneric and asymmetrical measurements","volume":"7","author":"Trizano-Hermosilla","year":"2016","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"ref53","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.1080\/13537903.2011.539846","article-title":"The emergence of conspirituality","volume":"26","author":"Ward","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Contemp. Relig."},{"key":"ref54","first-page":"666","article-title":"\u00dcbergangsobjekte und \u00dcbergangsph\u00e4nomene","volume":"23","author":"Winnicott","year":"1969","journal-title":"Psyche"},{"key":"ref55","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"113","DOI":"10.1007\/BF02294531","article-title":"On the relationship between the higher-order factor model and the hierarchical factor model","volume":"64","author":"Yung","year":"1999","journal-title":"Psychometrika"},{"key":"ref56","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"363","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1540-4560.2008.00566.x","article-title":"The syndrome of group-focused enmity: the interrelation of prejudices tested with multiple cross-sectional and panel data","volume":"64","author":"Zick","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Soc. Issues"},{"key":"ref57","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.22237\/jmasm\/1177992180","article-title":"Ordinal versions of coefficients alpha and theta for Likert rating scales","volume":"6","author":"Zumbo","year":"2007","journal-title":"J. Mod. Appl. Stat. Methods"}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1620427\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T05:33:22Z","timestamp":1789018402000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1620427\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"references-count":56,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1620427"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1620427","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"article-number":"1620427"}}