Perceptions of harm : a study on the relationship between perceptions of hate speech and right-wing authoritarianism

Abstract

Right-wing Authoritarianism (RWA) refers to a personality type where the individual conforms to ‘law and order’ and tend to prejudice out groups — also usually leaning towards a conservative political orientation. This research studied the attitudes of the general public towards hate speech and how they perceive the harm caused by it. Participants included a total of 98 individuals, mainly female (n = 53) — with an average age of 26.62 years. A quantitative methodology was utilised and data was collected via an online survey which assessed participants on demographics, right-wing authoritarianism, education levels, and perception of harm. The main findings of this study were that individuals who scored high on RWA are less likely to perceive harm from hate speech. Bivariate statistics showed relationships between several variables, such as academic level, and the perception of harm as a result of hate speech. However, gender was only found to affect whether hate speech should be considered as freedom of speech. The local implications of these findings are discussed in the upcoming chapters.