Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/59349

Title

The determinants of Australians' attitudes toward the Gulf War

Author(s)

Heskin, Ken;  Power, Veronica

Abstract

Social identity theory was used to investigate the determinants of the current attitudes of 356 Australian (Melbournian) subjects toward the Gulf War. The dependent variables included a scale measuring belligerence, a scale measuring perceived justification for the Gulf War, and a short scale measuring how extensively the outcome of the war was perceived as an environmental issue. Independent variables included the concept "Australia," measured by a semantic differential scale; conservatism and liberalism, measured by Kerlinger's (1984) Social Attitudes Scale; and gender. Multiple regression analysis provided some support for social identity theory. Conservatism and liberalism, however, were the strongest predictors of attitudes toward the war. Men expressed more support for the war than women did. Participants' conservatism and liberalism were predictive of how extensively they perceived the outcome of the war as an environmental issue.

Publication type

Journal article

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Department of Psychology

Source

The Journal of Social Psychology, Vol. 134, no. 3 (Jun 1994), pp. 317-330

Publication year

1994

Keyword(s)

20th century history;  Australia;  Australians;  Factor analysis;  Gender differences;  Persian Gulf War, 1991;  Questionnaires;  Social identity theory;  Social surveys;  War

Publisher

Heldref Publications

ISSN

0022-4545

Copyright

Copyright © 1994 Heldref Publications.

Peer reviewed