PREDICTING ATTITUDES TOWARD OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM

February 2005

Psychological Reports;Feb2005, Vol. 96 Issue 1, p183

Academic Journal

Article

98 male and female college students ranging in age from 17 to 22 years (M= 19.2, SD = 1.1) were administered a questionnaire that contained Altemeyer's 20-item Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale (RWA), questions about the legitimacy of the 2000 presidential election, Mayton's Physical Nonviolence Subscale, and a scale designed to measure attitudes toward Operation Iraqi Freedom. RWA scores, perceptions of the legitimacy of the 2000 presidential election, and scores on the Physical Nonviolence sub scale were independent predictors of attitudes toward Operation Iraqi Freedom. In addition, those who had higher RWA scores were more likely to perceive the 2000 presidential election as legitimate. There was no significant correlation between RWA scores and attitudes toward physical nonviolence.

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