Authoritarian stereotyping: Values, judgements and representations of groups in conversations on news

This study examines the relationship between authoritarian dispositions and stereotyping in peer-group conversations about news. Building on research in political psychology and discourse studies, the concept of authoritarian stereotyping is introduced to explain the interrelation between beliefs in conformity and the stereotyping of outgroups, which ultimately serves to justify authoritarian solutions to social problems. Drawing on a socio-cognitive approach, the study analyses how stereotypes emerge from the interaction between news discourse and audiences’ cognitive frameworks. The qualitative focus group study investigates how stereotyping is discursively articulated in news discussions. The findings show how alarming news about societal disorder and progressive identities makes stereotypes applicable, which manifest in exaggerated one-sided representations of groups and related moral judgements. The analyses provide deeper insights into contrasting stereotyping and non-stereotyping discourses, as well as how peer-group conversations function as sites for co-construction and negotiation of stereotypes.