Actually, Ed, their observations about Stalin and Mao and other traditionally leftist politicians are strong evidence that the study is truly about the personality traits of conservatives and not about a particular political party.

There are also cases of left-wing ideologues who, once they are in power, steadfastly resist change, allegedly in the name of egalitarianism, such as Stalin or Khruschev or Castro. It is reasonable to suggest that some of these historical figures may be considered politically conservative, at least in the context of the systems they defended.

page 5

The clearest example seems to be Stalin, who secretly admired Hitler and identified with several right-wing causes...In the Soviet context, Stalin was almost certainly to the right of his political rivals, most notably Trotsky. In terms of his psychological makeup as well, Stalin appears to have had much in common with right-wing extremists.

footnote, page 5

A fine example of the conservative personality is to be found in radical environmentalists. They resist change, they're dogmatic, they practice "system justification" sometimes violently, their "terror management" is motivated by a grand vision of mortality, the death of all living things. Whereas traditional conservatives pine for the golden age of the 1950s, radical environmentalists pine for the golden age of 10,000 BC and agrarian primitivism. The authors describe this latter trait as "an imaginatively transfigured conception of the past with which to criticize the present".

The authors' thesis is that a constellation of personality characteristics motivates people to choose a congenial ideology--"motivated social cognition". In the case of the conservative personality, that doesn't necessarily mean membership in the Republican party. It's a worldview and behavior pattern that cuts across political parties.