Anti-Authoritarianism and Political Activism

Abstract

A relationship between anti-authoritarianism and self-reported overt actions expressing resistance against authorities (demonstrations, boycotts etc.) has been proposed. In a 1985 survey of a national random sample of the Dutch population using a shortened F scale, the relationship did not appear to be particularly strong (0,34), but was nevertheless highly significant and consistent. For some subsamples such as anti-authoritarians, students and the highly educated the relationship was much stronger. Authoritarianism contributed independently to an explanation of resistance behaviour, next to education and political preference. Some 25% of the sample reported having participated in one or more acts of resistance over the previous five years. Some 63% behaved in consistency with their anti-authoritarian or authoritarian predisposition. The results are interpreted as supporting the theory of Adorno et al.