Students' Perceptions of Robert Bork, Anthony Kennedy, and the Ideal Supreme Court Justice

Abstract

The present investigation was conducted to expand the use of the Activity Vector Analysis technique to include measurement of the public personalities of two nominees to the United States Supreme Court, Robert Bork and Anthony Kennedy, together with an assessment of what is perceived to be the ideal personality of a Supreme Court Justice. Subjects were 323 students in introductory psychology courses at Southeastern Massachusetts University and the Community College of Rhode Island. Two significant clusters were found in subjects' perceptions of Robert Bork (AVA Pattern Shape 8318) and the Ideal Supreme Court Justice (AVA Pattern Shape 9326). A third cluster was found in students' perceptions of Anthony Kennedy (AVA Pattern Shape 7418). Although intercorrelations among the patterns were high, Bork and Kennedy were viewed unfavorably with respect to the Ideal on the factor that measures foresight and planning ability. Neither Bork nor Kennedy was viewed to possess the latent ability to manifest a very high level of moral responsibility towards others.