Young Men and their Vote for the Radical Right in Austria: Can Personality Traits, Right-wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation Contribute to the Explanation of Radical Right Voting?

Abstract

Abstract

Although radical right parties are known to be particularly successful among young voters, detailed analyses for the young are scarce. Moreover, we lack knowledge about psychological predispositions and their possible impact on radical right voting. This article explores, if and to what extent young male voters’ support for the radical right can be explained by personality traits and ideological attitude dimensions, in particular social dominance orientation (SDO) and right wing authoritarianism (RWA). For young men in Austria we are able to show that high openness to experience and high agreeableness reduce SDO and anti-immigrant attitudes, and thus the propensity to vote for the radical right FPÖ. Interestingly, RWA does not contribute to the explanation of radical right voting in our study.

Keywords: radical right – personality traits – right wing authoritarianism (RWA) – social dominance orientation (SDO) – Austria