(RNS) — Americans who hold Christian nationalist views are also likely to express support for forms of authoritarianism, according to a new report, pointing to a possible link between those who advocate for a Christian nation and people who agree with statements such as the need to “smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs.”
The Public Religion Research Institute unveiled the new survey last week during Religion News Service’s 90th anniversary celebration in New York City, presenting the data to a room of faith leaders, advocates and reporters. A statement sent to RNS on Monday (Sept 16), Melissa Deckman, CEO of PRRI, framed the study as an effort to connect recent research on Christian nationalism with longstanding efforts to assess authoritarianism.
“While most Americans do not espouse authoritarian views, our study demonstrates that such views are disproportionately held by Christian nationalists, who we know in our past research have been more prone to accept political violence and more likely to hold antidemocratic attitudes than other Americans,” Deckman said.
In addition to being presented with questions from PRRI’s ongoing study of Christian nationalism — which tracks support for the ideology by rating people on a scale of Adherents, Sympathizers, Skeptics or Rejecters — survey respondents where asked whether they agree with statements such as “What our country really needs is a strong, determined leader who will crush evil, and take us back to our true path” and whether they think children should exhibit traits such as obedience and curiosity.
Such questions were based on two well-known rubrics to measure authoritarian leanings: the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, which was developed in 1950 by a group of scholars at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Child-Rearing Authoritarianism Scale, which social scientists use to measure similar trends with child-rearing preferences as a framework.
Researchers found striking connections in the responses. A large majority of Christian nationalism supporters (namely, Adherents and Sympathizers) also scored high on both the RWAS (74%) and CRAS (61%) — significantly more than Christian nationalism Skeptics and Rejecters (30% and 31%, respectively). In addition, about half (51%) of those who scored high on the RWAS also qualified as Christian nationalism supporters. The reverse was true among those with low RWAS scores: only 7% could be classified as Christian nationalism supporters.
“Support for Strong Leaders and Authoritarian Presidential Powers, by Authoritarianism Scales and Christian Nationalist Beliefs” (Graphic courtesy PRRI)
And while few Americans overall (34%) agreed the U.S. needs a “strong leader who is willing to break some rules,” the statement was supported by majorities of both Christian nationalism supporters (55%) and those who score high on the RWAS (59%).
