Authoritarianism, Anomia, and Prejudice

Previous studies of the relationship of authoritarianism and anomia to prejudice have yielded inconsistent results. This study of <it>1,018</it> college and university students finds that authoritarianism is more highly correlated to prejudice than is anomia. Possible reasons for the varying results of the studies are examined. McDill's contention that there is a common general factor—a negative world view—underlying each of the scales is rejected on the basis of a factor analysis which reveals six distinct factors, none of which accounts for more than <it>13.5</it> percent of the total variance. It is concluded that the previous studies may have been compromised by acquiescence and other response biases and that there is little profit in attempting to determine the relative importance of authoritarianism and anomia as correlates of prejudice until better measures of the variables are developed which are relatively free of response bias.