Authoritarian Attitudes and Presidential Voting Preferences

Abstract

For many years politicians have known what researchers have recently documented: that political candidates differ in the images they present to the voters. Many a vote is given to a candidate because his image fits .the voter's personality dynamics. Sanford (1951) has demonstrated the relationship between voters' personality needs and the stimulus properties of candidates. Milton (1952) has shown that this attraction between candidate and voter applies to sharing ideologies; in the 1952 presidential nominating campaign those persons who reflecred the authoritarian viewpoint were more likely to support candidates whose'ideology was perceived to be similar, e.g., MacArthur and Taft. But as years pass, candidates change, which makes exact replication of research impossible. On the other hand, the variety of possible candidates in the 1960 campaign gave some justification for a study of voter personality and the public image of contemporary candidates, using college students. Since Senator Humphrey and Governor Stevenson had made liberal and equalitarian stands on such issues as relations with Russia and civil rights, it was expected that their supporters would be less authoritarian, less prejudiced, and less conservative than supporters of other candidates. Although Governor Faubus could not be considered a candidate with widespread national support, he was mentioned early in 1960 as a possible nominee of a splinter group of Southern Democrats. The desires on the part of the Faubus supporters for maintenance of Southern traditions, for segregation, and for States' rights are reminiscent of the attitudes which make up the Author~tar~:~n Personality (Adorno, et d., 1950), and thus such persons should possess strong tendencies toward authoritarianism. Supporters of other possible Democratic nominees (Senators Johnson, Kennedy, and Symington) were expected to lie between the above extremes. It was more difficult to predict relationships for possible Republican nominees because of the unclear images of both Governor and Vice President Nixon. Rockefeller, because of his positive stand on such issues as public housing and increased foreign aid, might have been seen as more liberal and hence attract less authoritarian supporters. But to many the name Rockefeller is primarily associated with moneyed conservatism. In light of the discussions of the old Nixon and the new Nixon, the Vice-President's image also might have varied greatly. It was, thus, expected that on the average the authoritarianism of supporters of the two possible Republican candidates would not differ greatly. They were expected to be rather moderate as compared with supporters of Humphrey and Faubus. 'An earlier form of this paper was presented at American Psychological Association Con