A new study published in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality reveals that people who leave their religion often shed the conservative attitudes associated with their former faith but retain a strict, authoritarian style of thinking. Formerly religious participants exhibited the highest levels of left-wing authoritarianism in the survey, compared with those who remain religious or have never been religious. The research, conducted by Daryl R. Van Tongeren of Hope College and Shauna M. Bowes of Vanderbilt University, used a United States sample of 804 participants to explore what the authors describe as religious residue.
Authoritarianism, in psychology, describes a particular approach to social organisation characterised by a preference for conformity over personal independence, a tendency to submit to leaders within one’s own group, and a readiness to punish norm violators. While it is most commonly linked to right-wing political ideologies and religious fundamentalism, it can also manifest on the political left, with left-wing authoritarianism involving similar desires for conformity and the punishment of dissenters, albeit directed at different norms and authorities.
The participants were categorised into three groups: 286 currently religious, 300 formerly religious, and 218 never religious. They completed two standardised questionnaires to measure distinct types of authoritarianism: 14 items assessing right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and 39 items assessing left-wing authoritarianism (LWA). The researchers also collected data on age, gender, sexual orientation, political ideology, and the number of years spent as religious or nonreligious, while statistically accounting for participants’ self-identified political ideology and belief in a deity.
As expected from prior work, the currently religious group reported the highest levels of right-wing authoritarianism, while the formerly religious and never-religious groups showed much lower levels with no significant difference between them. The finding aligns with the link seen between religious fundamentalism and right-wing authoritarianism, both rooted in traditionalism and conservatism.
By contrast, the pattern for left-wing authoritarianism was strikingly different. The formerly religious group reported the highest LWA scores across the entire sample, surpassing both the currently religious and never-religious participants, who did not differ from one another on this measure.
Researchers interpret these results as reflecting a combination of religious residue and religious reactance. Reactance refers to adopting beliefs that oppose one’s former worldview, which helps explain the shift away from right-wing conservatism. Residue refers to the enduring underlying psychological style that persists even as the content of beliefs changes.
In other words, the formerly religious individuals reoriented their political content from right to left, but retained a rigid, authoritarian approach to belief and disagreement, demanding conformity and supporting punitive measures against opponents of their new worldview.
The study also examined how the duration away from religion influenced these attitudes. It found that the longer someone had been nonreligious, the lower their RWA scores tended to be. By contrast, the length of time spent outside religion did not relate to LWA scores, suggesting that left-wing authoritarian attitudes can emerge relatively quickly after deconversion.
Researchers caution that the study’s cross-sectional design captures a snapshot in time and cannot prove causation. A longitudinal study following individuals over years would be needed to determine how an individual’s right-wing authoritarianism might transform into left-wing authoritarianism during the deconversion process. The participants were all based in the United States, and the authors note that regional cultures and religious traditions could shape how these patterns manifest elsewhere.
The authors describe the work as exploring what they term residual authoritarianism, with the study titled “Residual Authoritarianism: Religious Dones Report the Highest Levels of Left-Wing Authoritarianism.” It was authored by Daryl R. Van Tongeren and Shauna M. Bowes.
