People who have left religion show the highest levels of left-wing authoritarianism, a new study finds. The authors suggest the authoritarian streak does not disappear when someone walks away from faith, but changes direction.
The study, titled “Residual authoritarianism: Religious dones report the highest levels of left-wing authoritarianism,” was written by Daryl R. Van Tongeren and Shauna M. Bowes. It was published online in Psychology of Religion and Spirituality on September 17, 2026.
What religion leaves behind
Religion has long been linked with authoritarianism, but most research has looked at right-wing authoritarianism. Much less is known about how religion relates to its left-wing counterpart.
The researchers drew on the religious residue hypothesis, the idea that some patterns of thinking and behaving formed in religion stay with people after they leave. They asked whether authoritarianism might be one of those leftovers, showing up in a left-wing form among the so-called religious dones.
A shift, not a drop
In a preregistered study, 804 participants completed measures of both right-wing and left-wing authoritarianism.
People who were currently religious reported the highest right-wing authoritarianism. People who had left religion reported the highest left-wing authoritarianism.
The authors read this as a sign that authoritarianism stays strong after leaving religion, while its orientation moves from the right to the left.
The abstract does not describe how participants were recruited, how never-religious people scored, or how large the differences between the groups were, so those details cannot be judged from it.
Study Details:
- Title: Residual authoritarianism: Religious dones report the highest levels of left-wing authoritarianism
- Authors: Daryl R. Van Tongeren, Shauna M. Bowes
- Journal: Psychology of Religion and Spirituality
- Publication Date: September 17, 2026 (online)
- DOI: 10.1037/rel0000646