The relationship between right-wing ideological attitudes and aggression in everyday life

Abstract Ample evidence has shown a relationship between right-wing attitudes and ideology-based aggression, yet the question remains whether these attitudes are also associated with aggression in contexts lacking any ideological components. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between right-wing attitudes and aggression in non-ideological, frustrating contexts. Situations which require one to deal with, for instance, drivers who hog the middle-lane and people who “reserve” hotel pool chairs with towels. We administered various vignettes in two samples (total N = 458), and recorded participants' self-reported aggression. The results revealed that authoritarianism and social dominance orientation were positively related to behavioural indicators of interpersonal aggression in these everyday, frustrating contexts. No such significant relationships were obtained for anger and hostile thoughts.