DOES AUTHORITARIANISM OF PERSONALITY GO WITH CONSERVATISM

Existing scales of authoritarianism are generally lacking in validity. Their correlations with conservatism are therefore uninformative. A new scale of authoritarianism in personality scale format has been devised and shown to be valid. Various correlates of this scale in Australia suggest that it is not related to conservatism. Two general population studies in England and Scotland found that there were no correlations between the new scale and various conservatism attitude items. It was concluded that authoritarianism of personality is equally likely to be found on either side of the political divide even if admiration of traditional authority is generally associated with conservatism only. 1979 Australian Psychological Society