Authoritarianism or Acquiescence? South African Findings

Summary Recent work by Ray has revived concern about the effects of acquiescent response set on attitude scales. In the present survey among a random door-step sample of 106 white South Africans, a questionnaire containing the Ray balanced F (BF) scale plus other attitude measures was administered. When the BF scale was scored without reversals (i.e., for acquiescence), it was found to show significant reliability and to have meaningful correlations. Acquiescers to F scale type items tended to be conformists, prejudiced, economic radicals, and poorly educated. It is concluded that only an acquiescence artifact offers a simple explanation of people being both prejudiced and radical.