Sex/Gender Beliefs are Strongly Related to Either Right-Wing Authoritarian Conventionalism or Left-Wing Authoritarian Anti-Conventionalism

Previous research investigating the correlates of sex/gender beliefs (i.e., “Sex/gender is binary and permanently fixed” vs. “Sex/gender is nonbinary or changeable”) massively focused on right-wing authoritarianism (RWA). In the present research, we aimed at conceptually replicating previous findings on the relationship between sex/gender beliefs and RWA conventionalism. Based on the authoritarianism symmetry hypothesis, as a novel aspect, we additionally investigated the association between sex/gender beliefs and left-wing authoritarianism (LWA) anti-conventionalism. In two pre-registered studies, socioeconomically diverse samples from the U.S. (N = 1,431) and the UK (N = 1,390) completed measures of sex/gender beliefs, RWA (and social dominance orientation in Study 2), and LWA. In line with our expectations, in both studies we found that binary/fixed sex/gender beliefs were strongly associated with RWA conventionalism while nonbinary/changeable sex/gender beliefs were strongly associated with LWA anti- conventionalism. Thus, in both studies, opposing sex/gender beliefs were related to rigid and restrictive authoritarianism on the opposing ideological sides. Our results lend support to the authoritarianism symmetry hypothesis and indicate that one-sided arguments about authoritarianism in specific sex/gender beliefs are shortsighted.