Whether you consider obedience to established authority necessary for order, or a threat to personal freedom.
What the two poles mean
Authority
A score toward 0 means you lean strongly toward authority. On this axis, positions near this pole reflect the priorities described above.
Liberty
A score toward 100 means you lean strongly toward liberty. On this axis, positions near this pole reflect the priorities described above.
A common misconception
Valuing authority is not the same as being authoritarian. It measures the trade-off between order and obedience on one side and personal liberty on the other — a trade-off every society makes differently, not a personality label.
A high authority score is often misread as a desire for tyranny. In practice it usually means a preference for clear hierarchies, strong institutions and respect for established roles — in families, workplaces and the state. Many people who score high on authority also strongly support democracy and the rule of law; they simply believe leadership and discipline produce better outcomes than constant questioning.
Conversely, a low authority score does not mean you want chaos. It usually reflects a stronger distrust of concentrated power and a preference for questioning, dissent and individual judgment — positions that still require some order to function.
How it relates to the other axes
Authority correlates with security (order versus freedom) and often with centralisation (concentrated power).
Where you stand
Find out where you stand on this axis — and the other 15 — by taking the 16 Values Test. It is free, anonymous and takes about five minutes.