Work

Right-wing authoritarianism and support for restricting adolescents' access to social media: Evidence from Brazil's Felca Law

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Support for restricting civil rights remains a central concern in psychological science. Among these rights, access to information has increasingly been regulated, including through policies limiting adolescents' use of social media. Yet little is known about how adolescents themselves evaluate such measures or how ideological dispositions structure their support. Drawing on research linking Right-Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) to endorsement of restrictive policies, the present study examined whether RWA and age predict support for a new Brazilian law that prohibits unsupervised social media use for individuals under 16 (the so-called Felca Law). A sample of 308 Brazilian adolescents (ages 11–19; 48.4% female) completed measures of RWA and support for the Felca Law. Higher RWA and older age independently predicted greater support for the law, with no significant interaction between them. These findings indicate that authoritarian ideological dispositions operate during adolescence and extend to contemporary digital regulation. Support for the Felca Law appears to be shaped less by developmental maturation than by stable ideological mechanisms, even in a policy domain framed around youth protection.

Source: Personality and Individual Differences

DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2026.114077

Authors: Felipe Vilanova, Taciano L. Milfont, Bruno Ribeiro Jacobsen, Angelo Brandelli Costa

Institutions: Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, University of Waikato, Universidade La Salle

Language: English

Topic: Social and Intergroup Psychology

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Peace, justice, and strong institutions

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,170