Predicting Perceptions of Symbolic and Realistic Threat From Terrorists: The Role of Right-Wing Authoritarianism and Social Dominance Orientation

This study addressed questions of whether right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO) would be related to perceptions of terrorists as either symbolic or realistic threats to the United States. RWA was expected to be positively associated with the perception of terrorists as a symbolic threat, whereas SDO was expected to be positively associated with the perception of terrorists as a realistic threat. One-hundred and seventy six community adults were surveyed as part of this study on measures of RWA, SDO, self-rated political conservatism, and perceived symbolic and realistic threat. RWA and SDO were both positively correlated with perceived symbolic and realistic threat in the study. During regression analyses, RWA emerged as a strong predictor of the perception of symbolic threat from terrorists, yet failed to predict scores on perceived realistic threat. SDO failed to predict both forms of perceived threat.