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Abstract

Previous research on attitude to authority has not adequately examined the generality of attitudes across different institutional authorities. This problem is distinct from "authoritarianism " and its purported concomitants. In this study, five scales were developed, relating to the Police, the Army, the Law, Teachers, and Symbolic Authority. The five scales showed a high degree of internal consistency on cross-validation. The intercorrelations among the scales, and with a Radicalism measure, demonstrated a high degree of generality in attitude towards institutional authorities. Moderate validity correlations were found with relevant reported activities: church attendance, participation in political demonstrations, and having been in conflict with teachers.

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The Generality of Attitude to Authority

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