While the majority of the “syndromes” set forth by Burnham have remained constant during the past half century, in a surprising number of instances conservatives and liberals have changed places (the positions described in numbers 7, 8, 12, and 13), and in others their differences are not as significant as when Burnham catalogued them (the positions described in numbers 1, 3, 4, and 5).
Note: In including this scale with Bob Altemeyer’s permission, I agreed not to include the full procedure for scoring. In one of our exchanges he told me that “because people tend to believe their own psychological test scores far, far more than they should, my profession discourages letting people know what they have scored on a test.” He also noted that “when people know they are answering an authoritarianism measure, that can affect how they respond—which is another reason for treating individual scores with a grain of salt.” Nonetheless, a reader can get a good sense of where he or she might fall in the world of RWAs from a review of the following questions. This scale is one of several developed by Altemeyer. His current scale has just twenty questions, and he has found it as effective as this thirty-two-question scale.
1. The established authorities generally turn out to be right about things, while the radicals and protesters are usually just “loudmouths” showing off their ignorance.
2. Women should have to promise to obey their husbands when they get married.
3. Our country desperately needs a mighty leader who will do what has to be done to destroy the radical new ways and sinfulness that are ruining us.
4. Gays and lesbians are just as healthy and moral as anybody else.
5. It is always better to trust the judgment of the proper authorities in government and religion than to listen to the noisy rabble-rousers in our society, who are trying to create doubt in people’s minds.
6. Atheists and others who have rebelled against the established religions are no doubt every bit as good and virtuous as those who attend church regularly.
7. The only way our country can get through the crisis ahead is to get back to our traditional values, put some tough leaders in power, and silence the troublemakers spreading bad ideas.
8. There is absolutely nothing wrong with nudist camps.
9. Our country needs free thinkers who will have the courage to defy traditional ways, even if this upsets many people.
10. Our country will be destroyed someday if we do not smash the perversions eating away at our moral fiber and traditional beliefs.
11. Everyone should have their own lifestyle, religious beliefs, and sexual preferences, even if it makes them different from everyone else.