Conservatism in Relation to Psychiatric Treatment

Wilson's Conservatism Scale was related to measures of attitudes to patient care and psychiatric treatment in three groups of nurses and a group of psychiatric patients respectively. Significant correlations were found in all groups. The results support the authors of the scale in their argument that Conservatism is a general factor underlying all social attitudes. In the absence of scientific evidence to support one approach rather than another, attitudes to patient care and psychiatric treatment may be included in the broad term ‘social attitudes’ and as such will be affected by the general attitude of conservatism.