Attitude Organization in the General Public: Evidence for a Bidimensional Structure

T7his paper examines interrelationships among attitudes toward a wide range of political and social topics. The issue under investigation is whether, and howv, social attitudes are organized or structured among the general public. While many assume that attitudes are organized in terms of a single underlying ideology of liberalism/conservatism, others argue that attitudes show little organization, or that attitude structure is bidimensional. To address this issue, this study analyzes data from two separate national surveys, each containing information about a large number of attitude topics. In both data sets, confirmatory factor analyses support a bidimensional model. Social and political attitudes are organized along at least two uncorrelated dimensions: economic welfare policy, on the one hand, and individual liberty, on the other. Results point to qualifications in Kerlinger's (1984) criterial referents theory of attitude structure.