There are two main points of reference to Frankfurt School's authoritarianism research. On the one hand, scholars who, following Fromm (1932), seek to identify a contemporary social character under conditions of post-Fordist capitalism emphasize that the authoritarian character has been replaced by a flexible, entrepreneurial self. On the other hand, research on authoritarianism still relies on adaptations of the F-scale developed by Adorno et al. (1950) (e.g., Altemeyer, 1981; Beierlein et al., 2014; Oesterreich, 1998; Decker et al., 2022). At the same time, certain new forms of authoritarianism are being identified (Amlinger & Nachtwey, 2025). In this paper, we aim to bridge this tension by introducing a measurement tool for a contemporary “affirmative social character” adapted to flexible capitalism, and to explore the relationship between this social character and authoritarian tendencies. Based on a German sample ( N = 1,196), we develop the 28-item Aff-Scale to measure the adaptive authoritarian tendencies aligned with the demands of 21st-century meritocracy. The scale captures five dimensions: affirmation, self-optimization, flexibility & mobility, solutionism, and libertarianism. Validation measures included traditional authoritarianism (KSA-3; Beierlein et al., 2014), right-wing extremism (FR-LF; Heller et al., 2020), and sociodemographic variables. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the multidimensionality ( CFI = 0.927; RMSEA = 0.048) but showed a need for further validation. Internal consistency was good (Cronbach's α = .83; ω = .64) and the expected correlations with RWA and educational-, social status and age were significant. Despite its limitations, the Aff-scale is a useful tool for examining a 21st century social character and contributes to a better understanding of modernized forms of authoritarianism.

The paper presents a comprehensive validation of a model for measuring Right-Wing Extremist Attitudes (RWE-A) in Germany, utilizing five repeated cross-sectional surveys from the so-called Mitte-survey (2014–2023), a representative population survey conducted every two years. Building on a long tradition of attitude research, the study examines an 18-item scale representing six theoretically grounded subdimensions: (1) support for a right-wing dictatorship, (2) national chauvinism, (3) trivialization of National Socialism, (4) xenophobia, (5) anti-Semitism and (6) social Darwinism. The survey instrument has been in use in Germany for 20 years, developed by a consensus of experts, to record such an extreme right-wing world view. We tested the psychometric properties of the scale using confirmatory factor analysis and multiple group comparisons, focusing on measurement invariance over time and across demographic subgroups. Our results confirm a coherent, stable second-order factor structure for RWE-A, invariant across all survey waves and most population strata. Notably, also anti-Semitism remains closely tied to the overall construct of RWE-A. The study detects a significant decline in RWE-A from 2014 to 2021, followed by a marked increase in 2023. Latent mean differences indicate a growing polarization in the population. Demographic analyses show consistent associations between RWE-A and lower education, older age, residence in East Germany, and right-wing political self-identification. Voting preferences reveal a sharp increase in RWE-A among supporters of the far-right party “Alternative für Deutschland” (AfD). The findings underline the reliability and construct validity of the RWE-A scale and highlight its importance for longitudinal monitoring and comparative research on anti-democratic attitudes.

This study examines the structure of Group-Focused Enmity (GFE) among majority and ethnic minority populations in Belgium using second-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). While GFE has been widely studied in majority populations, its configuration among minorities remains underexplored. Using data from the 2020 Belgian National Elections Study (BNES) and the Belgian Ethnic Minorities Elections Study (BEMES), we compare measurements of GFE between majority Belgians and Belgians of Turkish and Moroccan descent. While a 2nd-order factor measuring GFE can be distinguished in both groups, measurement invariance tests reveal important differences in its constellation. While anti-Muslim sentiment dominates GFE among majority Belgians, antisemitism is the central component among Belgians of Turkish and Moroccan descent. These findings highlight the group-specific nature of the structure of interrelated prejudices.

A robust measure of hate crime-related attitudes is crucial to exploring the reciprocal relationship between hate crime and attitudes within society. Building on previous versions of the Hate Crime Beliefs Scale (HCBS), developed and validated in the U.S. (Cabeldue et al., 2018; Kehn et al., 2023) and the U.K. (Bacon et al., 2021), we created the HCBS-Universal (HCBS-U) in German and English, designed to be context-independent by omitting references to specific target groups and contexts. The HCBS-U was validated in three pre-registered studies. Study 1 (German sample, Nt1 = 581; Nt2 = 300) confirmed the three-factor structure and convergent validity and demonstrated strict measurement invariance across time. Study 2 (German sample, N = 3,000) replicated the three-factor structure and convergent validity. Study 3 (U.S. sample, N = 593) validated the English HCBS-U and supported scalar invariance across countries. Results affirm the HCBS-U as a reliable tool for assessing hate crime attitudes in diverse contexts.

This study validates the Beliefs About Children’s Adjustment in Same-Sex Families Scale (BCASSFS) in the Greek societal context where recent advancements in LGBTQIA+ rights intersect with traditional cultural values and overt hostile discrimination as well as modern covert prejudice against same sex parenting. The BCASSFS was created to capture the latter more socially acceptable and subtle prejudice that rejects same-sex parenting based on the welfare of children’s development. Data from 361 heterosexual participants (52.08% females) revealed that personal biases such as religiosity, conservative attitudes, and beliefs about the acquired nature of sexual orientation formed an Individual Opposition (IO) factor, whereas attitudes of socially acceptable concerns tied to cultural and societal norms formed a Normative Opposition (NO) one. Both factors demonstrated high internal consistency and were defined by the same items as the respective IO and NO factors in the validation of the original BCASSFS. Gender differences were observed, with men expressing greater IO and NO than women. Moreover, irrespective of gender, IO scores were lower than NO, following the lines of the more socially acceptable modern prejudice. The present psychometric validation of the BCASSFS is a useful addition to the utility of the instrument in different cultural settings. Further, it offers a robust tool for future research and intervention programs aimed at reducing prejudice and supporting equal family rights.

In the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), the Big Five personality traits were assessed using the 15-item extra-short form of the Big Five Inventory-2 (BFI-2-XS). For this purpose, the instrument was translated into 24 languages and adapted to 29 countries, resulting in 39 language versions. This translation and adaptation process followed state-of-the-art procedures to generate language versions of the BFI-2-XS that are maximally comparable across countries and regions. In the present paper, we describe this general translation procedure from a methodological point of view. We also document each resulting language version and report in detail the decisions taken during the translation process and the adaptations made to preexisting national versions of the BFI-2-XS. Our aim is to share with researchers the resulting BFI-2-XS language versions developed with high quality standards to allow maximal cross-cultural comparability. Our intention in so doing is to enable their wider usage beyond PIAAC.

Social scientists increasingly form composite datasets using data from different survey programs, which often use different single-question instruments to measure the same latent construct. This creates an obstacle when we want to run analyses using the combined data, since the scores measured with different instruments are not necessarily comparable. In this paper, we explore one consequence of such comparability problems. Specifically, we examine the case where instruments measuring the same construct have different item difficulties. This means if we applied the instruments to the same population, we would get different mean responses. If such mean differences are not mitigated before combining data, we introduce a mean bias into our composite data. Such mean bias has direct consequences for analyses based on the combined data. In data drawn from the same population, mean bias introduces error variance. In data drawn from different populations it would bias or even invert true population differences. However, in this paper I demonstrate that mean bias can also bias bivariate correlations if one or both variables in a composite dataset are subject to mean bias. If differences in item difficulty are not mitigated before combining data, we introduce a variant of Simpson’s paradox into our data: The bivariate correlation in each source survey might differ substantially from the correlation in the composite dataset. In a set of systematic simulations, I demonstrate this correlation bias effect and show how it changes depending on the mean biases in each variable and the strength of the underlying true correlation.

This article reports the development of a Portuguese shortened form of the Fraboni Scale of Ageism FSA (FSA-SF). The original FSA with 29 items measures the affective aspect of attitudes toward elderly to complement the cognitive component evaluated by other tools. Two studies were implemented to determine the psychometric features of the FSA-SF with 9 items. In the first study, 404 participants answered a questionnaire in Portuguese to evaluate the dimensionality of the FSA-SF via confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, the second-order factor, the reliability, and the convergent validity of the FSA-SF was assessed. Results showed 3 factors (Avoidance, Stereotypes, and Discrimination) with a second order factor (Ageism). The reliability and convergent validity of the FSA-SF were adequate. In the second study, 246 participants also answered a questionnaire in Portuguese to evaluate the replicability of the 3-factor structure and the second-order factor. In addition, the reliability, convergent, and incremental validity of the FSA-SF were examined. Good construct validity for the first and second order models was replicated via confirmatory factor analyses. Findings showed that the Portuguese FSA-SF had satisfactory reliability, convergent, and incremental validity. Overall, this article determines that the Portuguese shortened FSA-SF is an adequate tool to assess ageism.

The growing scientific interest in conspiracy beliefs calls for validated measures of conspiracy mentality, the tendency to believe any conspiracy theory. In this study, we validate a French and Italian version of the Conspiracy Mentality Scale (CMS). French (N = 160) and Italian (N = 114) speaking residents of Switzerland filled out a questionnaire, including measures of the need for social validation, compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures, perceived severity of the pandemic, and functional literacy. The two-dimensionality of the scale (conspiracy theory ideation and skepticism) was validated by confirmatory factor analysis. As predicted, conspiracy theory ideation was negatively related to functional literacy and compliance with pandemic control measures, and positively related to social validation. Measurement invariance indicated metric, scalar, residual and strucutral equivalence across the two samples. We conclude that the French and Italian versions of the CMS lend a valid assessment of people’s general tendency to believe conspiracy theories.