The COVID-19 pandemic, authoritarianism, and rejection of sexual dissenters in Poland.

Abstract

In Poland, gender hierarchy restricting women’s sexuality and hetero-normativity are rooted in traditional ‘family values’ supported by the teachings of the Polish Catholic Church and attached to Polish national identity. Dissenters to traditional norms regulating gender and sexual relations are rejected as threat to social order and national unity. Latent growth curve modeling performed on data from a three-wave longitudinal study indicated linear, inter-related increases in authoritarianism, a desire for national cohesion and rejection of sexual dissenters in the nationally representative sample of participants (N = 889) as the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in Poland. Data were collected before and during the outbreak of the pandemic allowing us to link the changes in social attitudes to this naturally occurring threat. Cross-lagged panel analysis indicated that authoritarianism predicted desire for national cohesion, which resulted in rejection of dissenters. These results are in line with theoretical models of authoritarianism as a response to threat. They are also in line with findings linking death anxiety and the threat of infectious disease to increases in authoritarianism, traditional worldview defense, in-group cohesion and sexual restrictiveness.