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Fifty years after the publication of The Authoritarian Personality, the empirical literature on authoritarianism continues to grow even though there is no widely accepted theory to account for the phenomenon. The absence of a secure theoretical grounding severely limits our understanding of authoritarianism. This paper offers a new conceptualization in which authoritarian predispositions originate in the conflict between the values of social conformity and personal autonomy. Prejudice and intolerance should be observed among those who value social conformity and perceive a threat to social cohesion. These hypotheses were tested with a sample of undergraduate students; the questionnaire included new measures of the dimension of social conformity–autonomy as well as items from Altemeyer's RWA (right–wing authoritarianism) scale.

"Die Autoritarismusforschung hat sich ohne eine klare theoretische Leitlinie entwickelt. Der an Freud angelehnten und von Adorno et al. (1950) formulierten Theorie ist es im allgemeinen nicht gelungen ihre Versprechungen zu erfüllen. Altemeyer entwickelt zwar eine reliablere Skala, doch fehlt ihm die Theorie bzw. die Konzeptualisierung, um damit empirische Ergebnisse zu interpretieren. In diesem Beitrag gebe ich einen Überblick über Aspekte der Konzeptualisierung, die in der Autoritarismusforschung immer problematisch waren und arbeite deren Bedeutung für die Messung und das Verstehen von Autoritarismus heraus. Danach unterbreite ich einen neuen Ansatz. Der Ursprung von Autoritarismus liegt nach meiner Auffassung in der Lösung des Konflikts zwischen den Werten sozialer Anpassung und persönlicher Autonomie. Vorurteile und Intoleranz, wie sie in der Autoritarismusforschung beschrieben werden, setzen sich aus einer Kombination von sozialer Anpassung und der Wahrnehmung von Gefahren für die soziale Ordnung zusammen. Diese Konzeptualisierung gibt klare Hinweise, um neue Meßinstrumente zu konstruieren und sie kann die Bedingungen vorhersagen, unter denen Vorurteile und Intoleranz entstehen." (Autorenreferat)

The problem of response instability in survey measures of policy positions has been studied for over 20 years without any apparent resolution. Two major interpretations remain: Philip Converse's nonattitudes model and a measurement error model. One reason why neither interpretation has as yet been rejected or well supported is that previous analyses have depended on three-wave panel data that do not contain sufficient information to assess the goodness-of-fit of the models and also provide unreliable estimates of the error variance for the issue questions. Using five-wave panel data, this article first re-estimates the measurement models for the issue positions to assess goodness-of-fit and then estimates models of response instability to help establish its determinants. Evidence consistent with both interpretations of response instability is found. It thus appears as if neither model can adequately deal with the empirical characteristics of opinion questions in panel data. In the conclusion, a third interpretation of the response instability problem is offered that better accounts for the empirical findings and is more consistent with our understanding of public opinion.

While some research in PO & mass belief systems indicates that most people do not structure their beliefs ideologically, other research suggests that specific attitudes & beliefs are in part a reflection of people's core beliefs & values. Here, the role of three core beliefs -- support for equality of opportunity, economic individualism, & the free enterprise system -- in structuring political beliefs & evaluations is examined, using data from the 1983 pilot study for the 1984 National Election Study (N = 314 Rs). Results indicate that beliefs in equality of opportunity & the work ethic are associated with references on public policy issues, presidential performance evaluations, & candidate evaluations. Free enterprise system support was found to have no significant relationship with any of the dependent variables. Suggestions for further research are made. 7 Tables, 1 Figure, 1 Appendix, 38 References. Modified HA

This article presents an initial step toward integrating cultural beliefs into the empirical study of public opinion and mass belief systems. The specific focus of the analysis is economic individualism—beliefs in the work ethic and quality of opportunity. After a short theoretical and conceptual discussion, a measurement strategy is proposed and explored using the Center for Political Studies 1972 national election study. The effects of these two beliefs on attitudes toward social welfare and black welfare issues are then examined. Implications for the structure of belief systems and patterns of public support for various policies are discussed.