Economic Threat and Authoritarianism in Television Programs: 1950–1974

1761 prime-time television programs aired on the three major networks during the first week in October for each of the years from 1950 to 1974 were judged as either authoritarian or nonauthoritarian. As predicted, the proportion of authoritarian programs in a given year correlated positively with the annual unemployment rate, for that year, the change in the consumer price index from the previous year, and the proportion of Gallup Poll respondents who mentioned economic problems as most important in the U. S. A.