The Role of Attitudes towards Authoritarianism and Social Trust in the Manifestations of Civic and On-Line Activity

Abstract

Attitudes towards authoritarianism, social dominance, social competition and social trust are important regulators of social behavior. Therefore, correlating attitudes with commitment to various forms of activity is an important step towards understanding and specifying their role in behavior. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of attitudes towards authoritarianism and social trust in the manifestations of civic and on-line activity of Russian youth. Participants. The study involved young people aged 17-35 years (average age M=21.8; SD=6.2) in the number of 442 people (men - 33.5%, women - 66.5%). The sample is representative of the provincial regions of central Russia of economically different strata. Methods. The forms of social activity were measured using direct scaling, the types of activity were determined based on factor analysis. To determine the settings, the J. Dakkit’s scale was used in D.S. Grigoriev's adaptation. Indicators of trust are determined using the Scale of interpersonal trust of J. Rotter in the adaptation of I.Y. Leonova, I.N. Leonova. Correlations have been established between indicators of right-wing authoritarianism, institutional trust with commitment to civic (positive) and Internet network (negative) activity; belief in a competitive world — with a commitment to civic (positive) and protest (negative) activity. As a result of structural modeling, the hypothesis about the direct effect (directed connection) of right-wing authoritarianism and belief in a competitive world on commitment to civic and Internet network activity is confirmed. The role of different attitudes in adherence to certain types of activity varies. Their isolated contribution to activity can reach 16-19%, together with age, religiosity and trust - 19-26% of variations. Trust plays the role of a mediator of a direct connection between attitudes and activity, and at the same time, right-wing authoritarianism also plays the role of a mediator of a direct causal connection between age, subjective religiosity and civic and Internet network activity.