This study examined criticisms in the media that women and feminists are ultra-sensitive to sexual harassment, making false accusations that may ruin an accused man's career by empirically examining gender and feminist identity in relation to SH judgments for scenarios that varied by evidence strength. This study also examined whether those endorsing radically conservative views, specifically Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA), are particularly insensitive to sexual harassment, denying that it exists even when evidence is strong. We hypothesized that perceiver gender, attitudes toward the feminist movement, stages of feminist identity, and RWA attitudes would impact perceptions of sexual harassment severity, accuser guilt, perceptions of future job consequences for the accused perpetrator, and perceptions of false accusations, and that strength of evidence would moderate these relationships. A sample of 961 adults was recruited from Amazon's MTurk to complete an online vignette study. Participants were assigned to a scenario condition based on a 2 (Hostile Work Environment vs. Unwanted Sexual Attention scenario) * 2 (Strength of Evidence: Strong vs. Weak) factorial design. Contrary to the popular belief that feminists are ultra-sensitive, findings indicated that women endorsing feminist beliefs were more cautious than others to judge a scenario as sexually harassing when evidence was weak. Those endorsing RWA beliefs, however, were more likely than others to claim a woman was making a false accusation of unwanted sexual attention sexual harassment regardless of strength of evidence.

Föreliggande uppsats är en studie om ämneslärarstudenters potentiella böjelse för auktoritarianism vid ämneslärarprogrammet på Mälardalens högskola i syfte att undersöka hur auktoritarianismen kan te sig i skol- och utbildningssammanhang. En böjelse för auktoritarianism kännetecknas av tre egenskaper: viljan att lyda en auktoritets order, aggressivitet mot de som inte underkastar sig auktoriteten och uppfattningen om att alla ska följa den auktoritära ordningens normer och lagar. För att undersöka detta har ett beprövat mätinstrument (Right-Wing Authoritarianism scale) ämnat att mäta förekomsten av sådan böjelse bland olika grupper via ett frågeformulär. Studiens resultat visade att ämneslärarstudenterna inte skiljde sig från en kontrollgrupp bestående av andra studenter vid Mälardalens högskola i böjelse för auktoritarianism. Varken ämneslärarstudenternas ämneskombinationer, avklarade verksamhetsförlagda utbildningar eller terminer vid programmet hade en effekt på deras böjelse för auktoritarianism. Däremot hade åldern en signifikant effekt på sagd böjelse: De som var i åldrarna 19-25 hade en högre grad av böjelse jämfört med de som var 30 år eller äldre. Dessutom korrelerade högre grad av böjelse för auktoritarianism med en negativ attityd till genuspedagogik, positiv attityd till användandet av disciplinära åtgärder i skolan och en positiv attityd till betyg i ordning och uppförande. Resultatet diskuteras i relation till forskning och litteratur om skolans utveckling under 2000talet.

Public opinions of climate change are not consistent with the reality that climate change is occurring. Effective persuasive messages must be created to ensure that irreparable damage to the environment is prevented. This study investigated the cognitive processes that occur when an individual is exposed to a persuasive message regarding environmental concerns that is matched to an individual’s personality characteristics like right wing authoritarianism and purity. Messages on two environmental topics (solar panels and the Environmental Protection Agency) were created. Each topic was framed in multiple ways to test hypotheses about personality-based message matching. Participants completed a thought listing task after reading about each of the topics, and then indicated their attitudes toward the message topics. Participants were also asked to complete several individual difference scales. Reported attitudes were regressed on individual differences and message frame type in order to determine the effects of message matching on attitudes. While the results do not support a matching effect for purity, an effect of right wing authoritarianism was found after controlling for environmental apathy. This suggests that individual difference matching effects do exist, although they may be more complex than initially hypothesized.

Över 6000 personer söker till de 900 lediga studieplatserna vid polishögskolan vid varje ansökningstillfälle. Urvalet för att tillsätta dessa platser är således stort. Kritik har dock riktats mot polisens urvalsprocess som har utpekats för inte tillräckligt kunna identifiera och gallra ut olämpliga individer med låg och bristfällig respekt och inställning till andra människor och olikheter. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka skillnader i fördomar mellan två grupper; sökande till, och studerande vid polishögskolan (N=84) och jämföra dessa med en ickepolisiär kontrollgrupp. Fördomarna mättes med tre moderna fördomsfullhetsskalor; rasism, sexism och fördomar mot homosexuella. Studien undersökte även undersökningsdeltagarnas personlighetstyper med Big-Five Inventory (BFI), Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) och Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). Inga skillnader mellan grupperna i fördomsfullhet hittades, dock visade sig kombinationen av BFI, RWA och SDO vara bra på att predicera fördomsfullhet. Resultaten diskuterades och polisutbildningens urvalsprocess uppmanas reflektera över införande av motsvarande personlighetstest.

Previous researchers have often speculated about the role of risk taking in creativity, however this association has rarely been systematically investigated. This thesis explores the association between domain specific risk taking and creativity in human participants. It presents a systematic review of the speculations and scientific studies which aimed at uncovering the association between creativity and risk taking in various populations. This discussion aims to bring together the current knowledge centred around the link between risk taking and creativity and poses two overarching questions – Are creative individuals risk takers and if so, is this association domain specific? In five studies, the present research investigated these questions and found that creativity is strongly associated with risk taking in the social domain (but not in the financial, ethical, health/ safety or recreational domains). Additionally, with an aim to further disentangle the association between creativity and risk taking in specific populations and social situations, this thesis explored creativity in a specific group of individuals (sexual minority) who are speculated to be highly creative and are known to be more likely to take health/ safety risks such as smoking tobacco, consuming illegal drugs or engaging in unsafe sexual encounters. It was found that sexual minority (specifically bisexual individuals) were highly creative and were also more likely to take risks in various domains. As opposed to the sexual minority, another group of individuals in which creativity and risk taking are hypothesised to be different, consists of individuals who subscribe to the right-wing socio-political ideologies. As predicted, individuals who affiliated to the right-wing socio-political ideologies (in the United States) were found to be low on creativity and were significantly less likely to take risks, specifically in the social domain. A mediating role of social risk taking on the relationship between sociopolitical attitudes and creativity was also found. The research work presented in this thesis illustrates the role that social risk taking plays in creativity and paves way for the development of new ways to foster creativity.

This study examined the relationship between exposure to COVID-19 fake news, right-wing authoritarianism (RWA), sociodemographic factors (i.e., race, biological sex), and xenophobia along with anti-Asian sentiment during the pandemic. Participants included 133 female and male college students. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) exposed to COVID-19 fake news, (2) exposed to real news related to COVID-19 news, and (3) no news exposure. All participants from three groups were then asked to complete a series of measures regarding their attitudes toward Asian Americans and xenophobia. Participants levels of RWA and sociodemographic variables of race and biological sex were also examined. There was no significant difference in participants' attitudes toward Asian Americans based on which experimental group they were in. Participant's level of RWA and xenophobia significantly predicted participants attitudes toward Asian Americans. Participants race marginally predicted levels of comfort and kinship with, as well as enthusiasm for Asian Americans. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The stand of liberal democracy as the most desirable form of governance has long been left unquestioned in the West. The rise of geopolitical, and national, security issues force the population in these states to consider the trade off between security and democracy. Research on which demographic factors affect populations’ attitudes towards limiting their democratic rights for the sake of security is scarce. The few studies of the Swedish population's relationship to their democracy that do exist, do not problematize the found relationship between gender and the will to limit democracy in cases of crises.  This thesis tests what effects Swedes’ will to limit democracy for the sake of national security against two hypotheses. Right Wing Authoritarianism is used as the explanatory framework as to why women are more positive towards democracy limiting security measures than men. Utilising multiple regression analysis, the findings indicate that women to a larger extent than men are more positive towards democracy limiting security measures when controlling for other demographic factors and time. Therefore, this study concludes that gender-based structures in society affect womens’ relationship with the trade-off between security and democracy.

Terror management theory predicts that when people are reminded of their own mortality (mortality salience), they cling more strongly to cultural worldviews which provide them with a sense of security (Greenberg et al., 1986). For some people, this reaction to mortality salience also involves derogation of, and discrimination against, “other” people and cultures. An increasing tendency towards sensationalism in the news media has resulted in even more frequent reminders of vulnerability and death (e.g., terrorism, violent crime, health and safety concerns). In two experiments involving 868 introductory psychology students, the present research examined the extent to which their (a) support for authoritarian social policies relevant to Canada and (b) authoritarian attitudes in general are influenced by mortality salience. Specifically, right-wing authoritarianism, attachment security, and political orientation were measured in participants in both experiments. Participants were then prompted to think about either their own mortality or about another aversive experience having nothing to do with mortality. Next, participants were asked their opinions regarding authoritarian social policies (Experiment 1) and beliefs indicative of right-wing authoritarianism (Experiment 2). Multiple regression, analysis of variance, and t-tests revealed that individuals with (a) high pre-existing right-wing authoritarian attitudes and (b) conservative political beliefs increased their support for authoritarian social policies following mortality salience (Experiment 1). In contrast, individuals with (a) high attachment security and (b) moderate political beliefs decreased their support for right-wing authoritarian beliefs following mortality salience (Experiment 2), although the former relationship only approached statistical significance. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the news media, for social policies and political opinions, and for social justice.

Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) suggests there are five distinct moral dimensions, which define morality as a whole. MFT can be broken down into two groups binding: in group/loyalty, authority/respect, and purity/sanctity-which encompass group morality. Harm/Care, fairness/reciprocity are individualizing dimensions, which highlight individual morality. Recent work has found MFT predicts sociopolitical ideologies, as well as sociopolitical attitudes. In an effort to better understand the existing relationships we investigate MFT as a predictor of sociopolitical parties, and attitudes Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) and Social Dominance Orientation (SDO). We also draw on similarities between Individualism/Collectivism and MFT. Specifically we demonstrate individualizing foundations, and dimensions of individualism predict SDO, where as Binding dimensions and dimensions of Collectivism relate to RWA.

Workplace bullying is a recently recognized problem within organizations. Two personalities may be theoretically related, and may be able to predict this aggressive behavior: right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. However, it is still unclear how to measure right-wing authoritarianism as a construct. Two surveys were distributed. The first was to assess the factor structure inconsistency among the literature. A three-factor operationalization was supported. Analysis of the second survey examined the relationship between the aggression dimension of right-wing authoritarianism, dangerous worldview and workplace bullying; as well as the relationship between social dominance orientation and competitive worldview on workplace bullying. No significant relationship was found between authoritarian aggression and workplace bullying, however, social dominance orientation fully mediated competitive worldview and workplace bullying. Theoretical implications, limitations, and practical applications are discussed.