The Psychology of Politics was published by Routledge & Kegan Paul in 1954, and it applies factor-analytic methods to political attitudes — with results that were uncomfortable for both left and right. Eysenck argued that the conventional left-right spectrum (socialism versus conservatism) captures only one dimension of political variation. A second dimension — which he called “tough-mindedness versus tender-mindedness” (borrowing William James’s terminology) — is equally important and cuts across the first.
The two-dimensional model produces four quadrants: tough-minded left (Communists), tender-minded left (democratic socialists), tough-minded right (fascists), and tender-minded right (conservatives). The striking implication is that Communists and fascists — despite being at opposite ends of the economic left-right spectrum — share the psychological characteristic of tough-mindedness: authoritarianism, willingness to use violence, contempt for individual rights, and preference for simple solutions to complex problems.
This finding was politically explosive. The left objected to being associated (even partially) with fascism; the right objected to the implication that fascism was a right-wing phenomenon. Eysenck delighted in the controversy, which confirmed his self-image as an independent thinker beholden to no political faction.
The book also proposed that political attitudes have a partly biological basis — that personality dimensions (which are heritable) predispose individuals toward certain political positions. This claim anticipated modern political psychology by several decades.
Collecting The Psychology of Politics
First edition (Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1954): Cloth binding, dust jacket.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $30–$80
- Without jacket: $10–$25