Authoritarian Aggression and Social Stratification: A Research Note
View/ Open
Issue Date
1999-04-01Author
Smith, David N.
Gunn, Christopher
Publisher
Department of Sociology, University of Kansas
Type
Article
Rights
Copyright (c) Social Thought and Research. For rights questions please contact Editor, Department of Sociology, Social Thought and Research, Fraser Hall, 1415 Jayhawk Blvd, Lawrence, KS 66045.
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Ever since Seymour Martin Lipset's famous paper on authoritarianism and the left(1959), it has been widely assumed that blue collar workers are uniquely susceptible to the temptations of hate. Thisassumption was tested and (itseemed) confirmed by Melvin Kahn & Carmi Schooler (1983), among others. Yet in our recent research we have found contrary evidence - evidence suggesting, in fact, that comparatively high status professionals are significantly more authoritarian than other strata of the workforce. The starting point for this research was our hypothesis that the attitude questions in Erik Olin Wright's 15-nation study of Class Structure and Class Consciousness might correlate with Bob Altemeyer's time-tested "Rigbt Wing Authoritarianism" scale. Early tests of this thesis indicate that this seems to be true,at the .70 level;and subsequent analysis of Wright's first United States survey (1980) reveals a number of further correlations. Most notably, and contrary to the oft -reported findings ofKahn & Schooler, we found that white collar "experts" in Wright's study appear to have significantly more aggressive and authoritarian attitudes than lower status workers. (Their mean authoritarianism scores, respectively, are 2.85 and 2.31) These are preliminary findings, to be sure, and we are certainly not trying to vindicate the old chestnut that classical working-class status guarantees virtue - but if in fact this finding is borne out in further studies, it may prove important.
Collections
Citation
Social Thought and Research, Volume 22, Number 1&2 (1999), pp. 95-112 http://dx.doi.org/10.17161/STR.1808.5155
Items in KU ScholarWorks are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.
We want to hear from you! Please share your stories about how Open Access to this item benefits YOU.