The social development of right-wing authoritarianism: The interaction between parental autonomy support and societal threat to safety

- Societal threat to safety fosters right-wing authoritarianism.
- The effect is observed only for people with low parental autonomy support.
- Parental autonomy support buffers authoritarian responses to threat.

We tested the hypothesis that parental support for autonomy moderates the effects of societal threat to safety on the development of right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). In a quasi-experimental study performed on 241 Italian university students, societal threat to safety fostered RWA only among participants who reported low levels of parental support for autonomy.