Social Attitudes Test

by **Resora** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 6:46 am

http://www.panojohnson.com/automatons/rwa-scale.xhtml

I've been a fan of Altemeyer's work for a few years now. He is a (now retired) psychologist who spent over 40 years working at the University of Manitoba studying social phenomenon, and this scale, the RWA scale, is an expansion on the much more famous F-scale that was introduced in the landmark study by Adorno et al. in 1950.

The link is to an online version of the RWA scale, a short quiz that shouldn't take more than 5 minutes to complete. It will measure your views on a handful of social issues. While nothing we'll be doing here will near scientific quality, I would appreciate it if you guys, in addition to posting your scores, briefly mentioned a handful of additional details: your age, a couple of words describing your partisan affiliation and political orientation, the amount of education you have completed, and anything else you think might be relevant.

What connection (if any) do you believe your score has with your background, your political views, and your social groups?

I'll post my results and thoughts after a little bit, to allow the discussion to develop without my interference.

To understand your results: click here

by **Divair** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 6:48 am

20.
I have no clue what that means.

by **Keyboard Warriors** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 6:53 am

I scored 62, I'm Australian, I'm a middle class male, I'm a third year engineering student, I voted for the ALP at the last election.

by **The Silence of Night** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 6:53 am

63. Is that good? 18, Democratic Socialist, I'm a senior in highschool.

by **Edward Richtofen** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:01 am

32, explain!

by **Great Nepal** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:03 am

24; 4% from most lowest... so that makes me Left wing libertarian. I guess close enough (left referring to society not economy)...

by **Shibe Island** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:03 am

72.
Hmmmm....

by **Resora** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:04 am

This is where I'm summarizing the scale and the reasoning behind the scale. (I'll put a link to this post in the OP) I just wanted some distance between the OP and the explanation to prevent affecting the results.

Altemeyer is a psychologist who spent his career measuring authoritarianism, or more specifically, people who support authoritarianism. Supporters of authoritarianism have been of particular interest to social scientists for a number of reasons, but in particular, because they are the ultimate source of an authoritarian leader's power. Altemeyer's theory is that the authoritarian follower has three main traits;

1) Submissiveness to the established authority. They believe the rulers are right, give them the benefit of the doubt, and don't challenge authority.
2) Aggressiveness towards targets sanctioned by the authority. If the authority says "homosexuals are bad", they pick on homosexuals. If they say "drug users are bad", they pick on drug users. If they say "political radicals are bad", they pick on political radicals. This selective aggression towards sanctioned enemies is so ingrained in the authoritarian, he actually found that the authoritarian was willing to target other authoritarians exactly like himself if the authority said to do so.
3) Extreme conventionalism. The authoritarian tends to be heavily religious and very socially conservative, and dislikes anything that challenges the social status quo.

Now to your results. You may have noticed at the bottom of the webpage it explained that scores can range from 20 to 180. The lower your score, the less strongly authoritarian your results were, and inversely, the higher your score the more authoritarian your answers. Generally speaking, any score below 60 is considered low, and a score above 140 is considered high. The average person gets a score between 80 and 90, generally.

For more details, Altemeyer published a free ebook in very accessible english, which you can find here. I highly suggest a read if you're interested.

by **Great Nepal** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:05 am

Edward Richtofen wrote:32, explain!

Scale is from 20 to 180 (damn weird scale I know) and it measures Right-wing authoritarianism; higher on the scale you are more right-wing authoritarian you are and average in US is apparently 90. Wiki.
Edit: As explained by Alyakia, this isn't necessarily politics but preference towards following convention or not.

by **Nadkor** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:06 am

30. Not a surprise

by **Edward Richtofen** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:07 am

Great Nepal wrote:
Edward Richtofen wrote:32, explain!

Scale is from 20 to 180 (damn weird scale I know) and it measures Right-wing authoritarianism; higher on the scale you are more right-wing authoritarian you are and average in US is apparently 90. Wiki.

Danke!

by **Alyakia** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:07 am

Great Nepal wrote:
Edward Richtofen wrote:32, explain!

Scale is from 20 to 180 (damn weird scale I know) and it measures Right-wing authoritarianism; higher on the scale you are more right-wing authoritarian you are and average in US is apparently 90. Wiki.

"The phrase right wing in right-wing authoritarianism does not necessarily refer to someone's politics, but to psychological preferences and personality. It means that the person tends to follow the established conventions and authorities in society. In theory, the authorities could have either right-wing or left-wing political views"

now that you've opened the box i'm just going to massively emphasize this before someone comes and starts complaining

by **Great Nepal** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:08 am

Alyakia wrote:
Great Nepal wrote:Scale is from 20 to 180 (damn weird scale I know) and it measures Right-wing authoritarianism; higher on the scale you are more right-wing authoritarian you are and average in US is apparently 90. Wiki.

"The phrase right wing in right-wing authoritarianism does not necessarily refer to someone's politics, but to psychological preferences and personality. It means that the person tends to follow the established conventions and authorities in society. In theory, the authorities could have either right-wing or left-wing political views"

now that you've opened the box i'm just going to massively emphasize this before someone comes and starts complaining

I am going to clarify that on same post, thanks didn't notice that...

by **Vanhania** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:10 am

by **AiliailiA** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:10 am

I know this is going to suck. But I'm a sucker ... taking your test now.

by **Solaray** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:12 am

79. Okay then, what exactly does that mean?

by **Resora** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:13 am

Great Nepal wrote:24; 4% from most lowest... so that makes me Left wing libertarian. I guess close enough (left referring to society not economy)...

No, it just makes you low RWA. Right and left wing, in this context, refers only to one's views on the established authority. Anybody that supports the established authority is a right-wing by this standard, even if the established authority is left-wing economically. A left-wing authoritarian would theoretically be someone who is absolutely devoted to an un-established authority.

Another psychologist actually tested this scale in the USSR back in 1989 when it was opened up to foreign social scientists, and the findings revealed that the most ardent supporters of the Soviet government and those with the most strongly anti-west viewpoints were high RWA. Which is funny, because the most RWA people in the west tended to be strongly anti-Soviet, which means the most vocal types during the cold war were basically yelling at people exactly like them on the other side of the Iron Curtain.

by **Yitzchak Winternitz** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:13 am

79! yeah!!

by **Great Nepal** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:16 am

Average in US: 90.
Average in NS (so far): 48.3
...Yea, North Korea isn't giving us visas any time soon.

by **The united states of Saints** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:16 am

I scored 107 guess that means I'm a bit of an authoritarian being 54% within the range of the scale. I'm only a freshman in high school but I'm sure my score will change later after I take the test again when I'm a senior and my views and beliefs will change .

by **Hebalobia** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:20 am

Yup, a 29. That's 6% from the bottom.

Probably has something to do with being a child of the 60s and an atheist.

Education = BA in Mathematics from the City University of New York Class of June 1969.

by **AiliailiA** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:29 am

I enabled both scripts the page wanted. I didn't get a score. Is this some kind of stupid joke?

by **Resora** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:31 am

Ailiailia wrote:I enabled both scripts the page wanted. I didn't get a score. Is this some kind of stupid joke?

Nothing pops up. Your score just quietly shows up at the bottom of the test, beneath the "reset" button.

by **Pope Joan** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:34 am

Your score on the RWA scale is 68.

Scores will range from 20 to 180. Yours falls at 30% within that range.

I believe in individual freedom but would not want to totally ignore some of the good which exists within tradition. In other words, just because something is traditional (like the value of hard work) does not make it evil.

by **Frisivisia** » Mon Mar 17, 2014 7:40 am

41. I guess I'm a radical?

Maybe if I'd answered questions harder.

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