Are You Authoritarian? (Take the Test to Find Out)

[ProudLib72]

Last edited Sun Jan 13, 2019, 10:29 PM - Edit history (2)

Just for funzies. There are plenty of other tests, but I like the way the questions are worded. Try to focus on what it would take to truly believe in authoritarianism like a deplorable. I scored 5.86%. The higher the percentage, the more authoritarian you are.

https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/RWAS/

Here's another one that lends more historical perspective and does not take itself very seriously:

https://www.anesi.com/fscale.htm

Again, look at the weird questions!

[Merlot]

1. I hate taking tests! and I won't do anything anyone tells me to do!

There, did I fail the test?

[diddlysquat]

2. Actually, I think you are definitely

NOT authoritarian!

[NurseJackie]

20. You win!! Best response... and a very smart choice.

The test was crap.

[Chemisse]

3. That was fun.

7.39%

I don't think it was very scientific for a number of reasons.

Just one is that, in the survey, to renounce all authority one must believe that laws and government are not important or necessary, another is that you can't think the "old ways" were nice without condemning any and all new ways. People's outlooks are a lot more nuanced than that.

But it was fun.

[ProudLib72]

32. I liked it because of the wording of the questions

It was pretty obvious what was or was not "authoritarian", but I kept trying to imagine the mindset of a deplorable taking the test. He/She would have thought the "old ways" were great. I just cannot think like that at all. The test convinced me that there is a very low chance that I could ever relate or understand deplorables.

[NRaleighLiberal]

4. I come out rated at 0.57%.

[ProudLib72]

31. Yep, if you were strongly opposed to everything that seemed authoritarian

Then you probably scored super low.

[NRaleighLiberal]

42. I sure am !

[uppityperson]

40. 4.55, but I'm more quiet and shy

[NRaleighLiberal]

43. Me...a bit of a big mouth!

[hunter]

5. Well, this question got me...

"There are many radical, immoral people in our country today, who are trying to ruin it for their own godless purposes, whom the authorities should put out of action."

I call them Republicans.

[Voltaire2]

7. But you would have the state eliminate them?

That was actually a well worded question.

[Voltaire2]

6. 1.7%.

It was that high only because one of the questions included the assumption that religious people are the moral standard atheists should aspire to.

[frogmarch]

8. 11.36

but some of the questions were worded in such a way that depending on my take on them at a given moment, different answers would work.

[Trumpocalypse]

22. I got the same nt

[Stinky The Clown]

9. 21.02%. It occurs to me that a lot of people will choose answers at the extremes instead of . . . .

. . . . southing more nuanced.

[Voltaire2]

11. Or that many are ok with authoritarianism

in moderation.

[Stinky The Clown]

24. I should think that scores in the single digits or less are as extreme as scores in the high 90s

[Voltaire2]

30. I am extremely in favor of individual freedom

to live life as fully and freely as possible. That is equivalent, in your view, to extreme authoritarians who wish to impose their rules on others?

Seriously?

[Stinky The Clown]

34. No that's not what I said, but you go with whatever helps you.

But consider: Full authoritarian means, among other things, rules for everyone and everything with extreme punishment for deviation.

Full individual freedom means, among other things, no rules for anyone or anything, with no legal consequences.

In the first case, if the rule says no chewing gum and you chew some, you get five lashes of the cane on your bare buttocks (see Singapore)

In the second case, you can cut my arm off and I have no legal recourse, only my ability to cut both your arms off.

Neither case is very reasonable in my view.

Have a swell day!

[Voltaire2]

38. I don't know any libertarians on the left or

right who have a belief that individual freedom encompasses the right to harm others. I do however know many authoritarians who do in fact believe that they have the right to harm others. So no your argument is nonsense.

[Stinky The Clown]

45. Clearly you think it is nonsense. but extreme is extreme.

Dassa fact, Jack.

As I said, have a swell day.

[Voltaire2]

48. Ok please provide a link documenting

libertarians on the left or the right who believe they have the right to harm others.

I’ll wait.

[Stinky The Clown]

49. We're done because you are now being ....

...... argumentative for its own sake.

See ya around campus.

[Voltaire2]

50. Lulzd.

[Bettie]

13. 19.89

I think it was due to answering some things as "moderately" instead of strong/very strong.

[Stinky The Clown]

25. Which indicates nuance and thoughtfulness

Which in my view is good

[lark]

10. 6.5% seems pretty low to me.

Happy about that. I just wish they had a scale so I could see how this rates.

[jmowreader]

12. I'm a little disappointed in myself

I got 10.23%; I hoped to get about 2%.

[Sapient Donkey]

14. Not a fan of the wording on that.

I got the impression the test writers have a very narrow view of how the world is, and they scored the test accordingly. On a lot of those I had to answer 'neutral' because it really depends on specific situations that the test writer has in mind. There are plenty of cases where the so-called 'rebels' are not being reasonable or rational, and the established "authority" is more in the right. Not a fan of absolutes, because in nearly every situation things are more nuanced. I also get a sense there is a bit of "if you don't think like I do, then you're an authoritarian" as opposed to the less authoritarian view "do what you want so long as you don't interfere with others living their life as they want" type of view.

[if..fish..had..wings]

15. 0%

Hmmm... how 'bout that

[hedda_foil]

16. Has it dawned on anyone that this is a perfect vehicle for political psych profiling?

Remember Cambridge Analytica and the Oxford prof's Facebook psych test? This one has flashing red lights all the hell over it.

[Sapient Donkey]

17. Yeah, I had similar thoughts

Get a bunch of demographic data to tie into the questions/answers. Seems like useful information for someone who wants to exploit various traits of people within a targeted group.

[Akacia]

18. 10.8% nt.

[NurseJackie]

19. Very VERY clumsy wording of questions that seemed to be LEADING, and...

... and also seemed to me that in ALL those question, it was just four of five questions being reworded and asked again in a different way. Clumsy interface with the drop-down selections. I've seen better with sliders or round checkboxes.

Was this someone's school/college project? Also, the link at the bottom of the intro page gives an error message. Looks like an abandoned test because the comments at the end are dated about a year ago.

http://members.shaw.ca/jeanaltemeyer/drbob/TheAuthoritarians.pdf

[Salviati]

26. From the lead in page, it looks like the original questions were developed in 1947...

and revised a bit in 1981, so it's not surprising that the questions are a bit dated or leading. I think we've learned a lot about how to get more accurate information from people in the last 40-70 years.

[NurseJackie]

28. Good observations!

I think we've learned a lot about how to get more accurate information from people in the last 40-70 years.

I hope to!

[ProudLib72]

35. Have you ever taken that 300 question psych test

they use to see if you are on the spectrum or are borderline personality disorder? I forget what the test is called. I took it years ago when I was battling depression. Anyway, as I was taking it, I thought all the questions were just the same dozen reworded. Then the results came back and I was floored. Yes, the results were accurate. This test reminded me of that one (only in a very shortened form). I think they try to pose a question several different ways to establish a baseline of how you felt about just a few different questions.

I agree, though. You have to take it with a grain of salt.

[NurseJackie]

44. I don't think I'd have the stamina...

... I'd just go ahead and stipulate that I'm crazy if I could avoid taking a test like that.

[akraven]

21. I don't mind tests, even on a Sunday morning -

8.52% authoritarian...………

[snort]

23. 100%!

I'm happy being part of the group taking the test.

[treestar]

27. 13.07

One thing is I don't think just because someone is established means they are always wrong either. People gain expertise in things.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

29. The questions are tendentious

These are the results of the Right-wing Authoritarianism Scale.

Your score for right-wing authoritarianism was 8.93%. Higher scores indicate more right-wing authoritarianism.

Right-wing authoritarians want society and social interactions structured in ways that increase uniformity and minimize diversity. In order to achieve that, they tend to be in favour of social control, coercion, and the use of group authority to place constraints on the behaviours of people such as political dissidents and ethnic minorities. These constraints might include restrictions on immigration, limits on free speech and association and laws regulating moral behaviour. It is the willingness to support or take action that leads to increased social uniformity that makes right-wing authoritarianism more than just a personal distaste for difference. Right-wing authoritarianism is characterized by obedience to authority, moral absolutism, racial and ethnic prejudice, and intolerance and punitiveness towards dissidents and deviants. In parenting, right-wing authoritarians value children's obedience, neatness, and good manners.

[ProudLib72]

39. So how would you go about making them less tendentious?

I'm seriously asking. Would the wording be more subtle? Would you include different or more up to date scenarios? Would you allow for more nuanced answers with different conditions? Because I agree it seems really obvious what the questions are getting at, but I'm not sure if I agree that it's a problem. In other words, if one of the deplorables wearing one of those "I'd rather be Russian than Democrat" t shirts took the test, I think they would see the answers as obvious as well... just from the completely opposite perspective.

[ProudLib72]

36. You can always withhold the catnip

That's the power you wield over cats. The only power.

[LAS14]

37. This test disappointed me the way a recent article about "the authoritarian personality"...

... disappointed me. I wanted to know what underlying personality characteristics cause people to take the positions used in the test questions. The test basically says "people who have right wing opinions are right wingers."

[Mosby]

41. seems like they were testing for compliance more than anything.

[UTUSN]

46. I know myself better than this test does!

*******QUOTE******

Your score for right-wing authoritarianism was 10.8%. Higher scores indicate more right-wing authoritarianism.

Right-wing authoritarians want society and social interactions structured in ways that increase uniformity and minimize diversity. In order to achieve that, they tend to be in favour of social control, coercion, and the use of group authority to place constraints on the behaviours of people such as political dissidents and ethnic minorities. These constraints might include restrictions on immigration, limits on free speech and association and laws regulating moral behaviour. It is the willingness to support or take action that leads to increased social uniformity that makes right-wing authoritarianism more than just a personal distaste for difference. Right-wing authoritarianism is characterized by obedience to authority, moral absolutism, racial and ethnic prejudice, and intolerance and punitiveness towards dissidents and deviants. In parenting, right-wing authoritarians value children's obedience, neatness, and good manners.

****UNQUOTE****

[ProudLib72]

47. The second one is better IMO

You don't even need to take it. Just look at the difference in the questions and read the history blurb at the bottom of the page.

[MikeDuffy]

51. Answer ONLY question 6 (about atheism)

and see how you score...

[ProudLib72]

52. Holy crap, it's the exact opposite of what it should be!

Unless...

[Oneironaut]

53. First one was too obvious - You could easily just choose the "correct" answer.

For example, the first question, " The established authorities generally turn out to be right about things, while the radicals and protestors are usually just "loud mouths" showing off their ignorance," is pretty bad. There's clearly a "correct" answer to it. You already know how the test is going to rate you just by looking at the questions, so you can get the exact results you want.

The second one was more interesting, imo.

[smirkymonkey]

54. I was very close to you. I scored 5.68%

Although I could have told you that I am not an authoritarian.