# The Dark Side of Ideology: Ideological Worldviews and Antidemocratic Attitudes

## TL;DR

This study explores how different ideological views are linked to opposition to democracy in the UK, finding that both system-justifying and system-challenging worldviews are associated with anti-democratic attitudes.

## Contribution

The study provides a unified and nuanced understanding of the psychological roots of anti-democratic attitudes by examining multiple ideological dimensions.

## Key findings

- System-justifying and system-challenging worldviews are strongly linked to anti-democratic attitudes through perceived illegitimacy of democracy.
- Simplistic epistemology and misperceptions of political opponents' attitudes uniquely predict anti-democratic views.
- Authoritarianism and social dominance orientation are key predictors of specific anti-democratic behaviors.

## Abstract

This research investigated associations between diverse aspects of ideological worldviews and opposition to principles of liberal democracy in a heterogeneous sample of UK adults (N = 824). In line with the hypotheses, both system‐justifying worldviews (e.g., authoritarianism and social dominance orientation) and system‐challenging worldviews (e.g., need for chaos and prejudice against the rich and powerful) were robustly associated with antidemocratic attitudes, adjusting for other predictors and demographic variables—and these associations were mediated by perceived illegitimacy of the democratic system. Several system‐orthogonal aspects of worldviews, including a simplistic epistemology (e.g., lack of actively open‐minded thinking) and misperceptions of antidemocratic attitudes among political opponents, also robustly predicted antidemocratic attitudes, while political prejudice, societal discontent, and perceived superiority or the self and ingroup showed less robust effects. At a more specific level, the strongest predictors of support for democratic elections, censorship, political violence, and denying groups their rights were actively open‐minded thinking, authoritarianism, need for chaos, and social dominance orientation, respectively. Taken together, the findings contribute to a more unified and nuanced understanding of the psychological underpinnings of antidemocratic attitudes.

This study investigated associations between ideological worldviews and opposition to liberal democracy in a UK sample (N = 824). System‐justifying (e.g., authoritarianism and social dominance) and system‐challenging (e.g., need for chaos and prejudice against the rich) worldviews robustly predicted antidemocratic attitudes, mediated by perceived illegitimacy of the democratic system. System‐orthogonal aspects of worldviews, including a simplistic epistemology and misperceptions of antidemocratic attitudes among political opponents, also had unique effects.