Why do people support strong leaders? We examined the link between social identity continuity – the sense that a nation’s past, present, and future are interconnected – and the wish for a strong national leader. Drawing on a multi-country data set (Study 1: N = 6112) and a sample from Australia (Study 2: N = 621), Studies 1 and 2 showed that identity continuity was related to increased desire for a strong leader. Studies 3a (UK sample; N = 293) and 3b (US sample; N = 294) further showed that desired (not perceived) identity continuity was related to wish for a strong leader, suggesting that the key ingredient is the desire for continuity regardless of the perceived current levels of continuity. These findings suggest that people may want to preserve their national identity as a link to the past to face present and future challenges, even if it means forgoing democratic leadership.

为什么人们支持强大的领导者？我们研究了社会认同连续性（一个国家的过去、现在和未来相互关联的感觉）与对强大国家领导人的愿望之间的联系。利用多国数据集（研究 1：N  = 6112）和来自澳大利亚的样本（研究 2：N  = 621），研究 1 和 2 表明，身份连续性与对强大领导者的渴望增加有关。研究 3a（英国样本；N  = 293）和 3b（美国样本；N      = 294) 进一步表明，期望的（未感知的）身份连续性与对强大领导者的愿望有关，这表明无论感知到的当前连续性水平如何，关键因素是对连续性的渴望。这些发现表明，人们可能希望保留自己的民族身份，作为与过去的联系，以面对现在和未来的挑战，即使这意味着放弃民主领导。