Authoritarianism, Perspectives on the Environment, and Work Values Among Social Science Students in Former Socialist and Western Societies

This is a study on differences between national samples on authoritarianism, optimism-pessimism on the environment, and work values. 755 undergraduate students in social science from the U.S.A., Bulgaria, Hungary, and Norway responded to a survey. 29% were male, 70% female, with a mean age of 22.83. Results yielded highly significant differences with respondents from former “socialist” societies scoring significantly higher on authoritarianism and environmental pessimism. Differences for work values are significant for 20 of 22 values for both self and prospective employer. A remarkable finding is the consistency between national samples for the highest ranked 5 and the lowest ranked 5 values.