Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1993
Publication Title
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Abstract
Three studies were conducted to examine the relevance of authoritarianism to contemporary social attitudes, with special emphasis on AIDS, drug use, and the environment. In Studies 1 and 2, students scoring higher on authoritarianism (measured by Byrne's balanced F scale and Altemeyer's Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale, respectively) were more likely to endorse harsh, punitive sentiments and solutions to the problems of AIDS and drugs and less likely to endorse more egalitarian ones. These two issues are presumed to represent a threat to the "American way of life" and provide clear out-groups for authoritarian aggression. Regarding the environment, authoritarians express hostility toward the environmental movement, rather than toward polluters. In Study 3, authoritarianism was further related to attitudes on abortion, child abuse, homelessness, the space program, the trade deficit, political changes in the Soviet Union, and the purposes of colleges and universities. These results show that the concept of authoritarianism is applicable to attitudes on many important issues of the 1990s.
Volume
19
First Page
174
Last Page
194
DOI
10.1177/01461672931920
Recommended Citation
Peterson, Bill E.; Doty, Richard M.; and Winter, David G., "Authoritarianism and Attitudes Toward Contemporary Social Issues in the 1990s" (1993). Psychology: Faculty Publications, Smith College, Northampton, MA.
https://scholarworks.smith.edu/psy_facpubs/220
Comments
Archived as published.