Suchergebnisse

THIS STUDY EXAMINES AND TESTS ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE DIMENSIONALITY OF ISSUE SCALES COMMONLY USED IN ATTITUDE RESEARCH. RESEARCHERS ASSUME THAT A RESPONDENT DESIGNATION OF HIS OR HER POSITION ON AN ISSUE REPRESENTS AN IDEAL POINT ON A SINGLE-PEAKED PREFERENCE SCALE. HOWEVER, IN COMPARING ACTUAL RESPONDENT PREFERENCE ORDERINGS WITH THE LIBERAL-CONSERVATIVE ORDERING ASSUMED BY THE SCALE, IT IS FOUND THAT MANY RESPONDENTS DO NOT CONFORM TO THE ASSUMPTION. FURTHERMORE, IN A SAMPLE OF RELATIVELY WELL-EDUCATED RESPONDENTS, THOSE WHO DO NOT CONFORM TO THE DOMINANT SCALING DIMENSION ARE FOUND TO BE AS INTERESTED IN POLITICS, AS EFFICACIOUS, AND AS PREDICTABLE IN THEIR VOTING AS THOSE WHO DO CONFORM. HOWEVER, NONCONFORMISTS DO APPEAR TO BE SOMEWHAT MORE INTERNALLY DIRECTED AND MORE DOGMATIC THAN CONFORMIST RESPONDENTS.