A factor-analytic study of the double standard in attitudes toward U.S. and Russian actions

Abstract

Attitudes of 320 college freshmen toward 50 identical actions taken recently by the U.S. and Soviet Russia were factor analyzed. For both U.S. and Russian items, a similar first factor of warlike or hostile actions emerged, but the three smaller factors for the two nations showed little overlap. As predicted, a double standard was clearly evident, the U.S. actions almost always being rated favorably while the identical Russian actions were usually evaluated unfavorably. The double standard was most extreme for warlike and competitive actions, relatively small for conciliatory behavior, and almost absent on items involving free dissemination of information. A two-sided presentation of information produced more neutral attitudes, particularly less favorable attitudes toward U.S. warlike actions and disapproving actions toward other nations.