Social Equality Is Rather Threatening Than Normative to Authoritarians

ABSTRACT Authoritarianism is a key predisposition that serves as a motivational base for prejudice against non‐conventional social groups, but less is known about the contextual bases of authoritarian prejudice. Using multinational data, we revealed how contextual social equality and inclusion affect authoritarian prejudice. Authoritarians' sensitivity to social and normative threats and conformity to norms would indicate the opposite influence of contextual equality on the relationship between authoritarianism and negative attitudes towards non‐conventional outgroups. Based on data from the World Values Survey (2017–2022) and other country‐ranking indices, and the analysis of authoritarian prejudice against three different groups (immigrants, gay people, and traditional gender roles), we found that social equality and inclusion strengthen the effect of authoritarianism on prejudice. These results indicate that social equality functions as a contextual threat, catalyzing the “authoritarian dynamic” rather than serving as an acceptable norm to authoritarians.