Authoritarian People Share These 7 Characteristics
He authoritarianism It is more than just a form of government in which one person or a privileged few. There are also authoritarian people; They are those who, consciously or unconsciously, tend to reproduce behaviors in which their own criteria try to impose those of others without worrying about justifying why they must be obeyed.
Identifying authoritarian people is relevant both outside of psychological intervention and within it. In the latter case, do this makes it possible to establish a communication channel with them and jointly see how this type of trends could be corrected
The way in which authoritarian people try to maintain power and direct the decisions and actions of others can often go unnoticed. After all, many of them have no means to impose their will by force directly so they try to influence others in more subtle ways and in ways in which they often do not even have to realize how harmful their behavior is.
However, it is worth keeping in mind what the characteristics of authoritarian people are, both to identify them in other people who could be a bad influence and to review the possibility that we ourselves fit, even partially, with some of these descriptions. .
Let’s see what these fundamental traits of authoritarian people are.
1. The belief that one is right “by default”
A person’s tendency towards authoritarianism can be detected if they are directly or indirectly states that, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, she is the one who is right on all topics in general.
The belief that it is oneself who is best able to decide how things should be and how others should be, together with the associations and learning carried out in the past in which this type of attitude has been rewarded, is the basis of this style of behavior.
2. Leadership is not questioned
Authoritarian people see questioning their own leadership as something personal, an offense. This is because, by assuming as a fundamental belief that oneself commands and the rest obey, leadership itself is taken as something natural, that is, it is normalized in the same way that centuries ago the ability of kings and queens to command was not questioned and was valid in itself.
Questioning that other people have to follow one’s own instructions is seen as a transgression or something that has to be justified very well in order to be accepted as an exceptional fact.
3. Undervaluing the work and skills of others
So that the belief that oneself has a special and “privileged” criterion to decide what to do, It is necessary to maintain the illusion that the merits of other people are not so great That is, to avoid the cognitive dissonance of seeing that other people may be as capable or more capable than oneself of deciding and acting correctly, one must interpret their successes as the result of luck or one must interpret them as partial successes.
For example, if a person obtains a university degree in the shortest possible time, a markedly authoritarian person can resort to the discourse that he knows more about the world outside the classroom, thus implying that he is still in a position to teach the other person. on topics related to your career.
4. Showing off merits
For the same reason that they tend to underestimate the merits and capabilities of others, Authoritarian people are especially likely to make their achievements visible and draw attention to them. In this way, they themselves will keep in mind these superficial justifications for why one has authority, and at the same time they will draw the attention of others to these more or less exaggerated merits.
However, in those cases in which authoritarian people can exercise power without having to seek even these minimal justifications, this characteristic may not be present. This occurs, for example, when someone has the material ability to bend others to her will, either by having greater physical strength or a socioeconomic status that can be used to harm others.
5. Constant demands
Authoritarian people do not limit themselves to using this facility to manipulate others just to achieve some objectives, but on many occasions they They end up falling into a dynamic in which they begin to demand many things of all kinds from others This is because they learn that being authoritarian can be useful in the short term.
6. Tendency towards aggressiveness
The fact of demanding many things from others causes situations of conflict and dissatisfaction to end up being created, and it is these types of phases that lead to authoritarian people. They respond energetically to punish the other so that the episodes of disobedience are not repeated again
These punishments do not have to be based on physical force, but can be expressed symbolically and verbally.
7. Authoritarianism in multiple contexts
Authoritarian people are not only authoritarian in certain contexts and not in others. Since their behavior is based on learning that has been done in many different kinds of situations, They will try to impose their point of view in all varieties of possible scenarios
Modifying authoritarian behavior
Let’s talk about authoritarian people It doesn’t mean that these always have to be as if that adjective were a label that defines the deepest part of his personality.
By unlearning certain relationship dynamics and learning more adaptive ones, it is possible to become someone more tolerant, and many forms of psychological intervention can be helpful in providing tools that enable this change.
