Original
Is support for authoritarian rule contagious? Evidence from field and survey experiments
Abstract
Abstract The increasing popularity of strongman rule in democratic societies underscores the need to explore how authoritarian regime preferences might spread socially. We assess the role of social influence on support for leaders with authoritarian inclinations through preregistered field and survey experiments in the Norwegian Armed Forces. The field experiment randomly assigned soldiers to different rooms during boot camp, so soldiers lived among peers with varying levels of openness to authoritarian rule. We found that many individuals adjusted their privately reported support for authoritarian rule to align more closely with their peers. Further survey‐experimental evidence among soldiers and the general Norwegian population confirms that learning about others’ level of support for authoritarian rule changes both perceptions and own support. Our results suggest that support for authoritarian rule can have a social basis and could potentially spread through social contagion in established democracies.
中文
对威权统治的支持具有传染性吗？——来自实地实验与调查实验的证据
摘要
摘要 强人统治在民主社会中日益受欢迎，这凸显出探究威权主义政权偏好在社会层面如何传播的必要性。我们通过在挪威武装部队中开展的预注册实地实验和调查实验，评估社会影响对支持具有威权倾向领导人的作用。实地实验将新兵在训练营期间随机分配到不同房间，使士兵与对威权统治开放程度不同的同伴共同生活。我们发现，许多个体会调整其私下报告的威权统治支持度，以更接近其同伴。针对士兵和挪威普通民众的进一步调查实验证据证实，了解他人的威权统治支持水平会改变其认知和自身的支持态度。我们的结果表明，对威权统治的支持可能具有社会基础，并可能通过社会传染在成熟民主国家中扩散。
关键词
威权统治支持、社会传染、社会影响、实地实验、调查实验、挪威武装部队、民主国家、政治态度