Activities

This scale incorporates items developed by Robert Altemeyer at the University of Manitoba. On each scale respondents circle a single number to indicate their level of agreement with a particular statement.

• Things would go better if people talked less and worked harder
       do not agree at all   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   agree completely
   
• It is better to live in a society in which the laws are vigorously enforced than to give people too much freedom
       do not agree at all   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   agree completely
   
• People should always comply with the decisions of the majority
       do not agree at all   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   agree completely
        
• You have to give up an idea when important people think otherwise
      do not agree at all   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   agree completely
        
• There are two kinds of people: strong and weak
       do not agree at all   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   agree completely
        
• What we need are strong leaders that the people can trust
       do not agree at all   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   agree completely
   
• Our social problems would be solved if, in one way or another, we we could get rid of weak and dishonest people
       do not agree at all   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   agree completely
        
• People should always keep to the rules
       do not agree at all   1   2   3   4   5   6   7   agree completely

To calculate a mean authoritarianism scores on the above 8 scales are first added up and then the sum is divided by 8.

The mean score of participants we selected for the study was 2.81. The mean score of other applicants was 2.93. The authoritarianism scores of Prisoners and Guards on Days 1, 3 and 7 of the BBC Prison Study are presented in the resources section of this Website.