Eysenck's personality factors and orientation toward authority among schoolchildren

Abstract

The relationship between Eysenck's personality factors, E (Extraversion), N (Neuroticism), P (Psychoticism) and L (Lie Scale) and general orientation toward authority was examined with 250 secondary school students; orientation was assessed by measures of attitudes towards institutional authorities and self-reported pro-authority behaviour. Significant negative correlations were found between P and the pro-authority measures, whilst nonsignificant correlations were found with E. N was negatively and significantly correlated with pro-authority behaviour, but not with pro-authority attitudes. Relatively high scores on the L scale were associated with pro-authority responses generally. Regression analyses showed that attitude to authority, P, N, and L, each made independent contributions (as indicated by significant beta coefficients) in predicting pro-authority behaviour, and together accounted for 54% of the variance. In general, these results suggest that orientation toward authority is partially explicable in terms of Eysenck's theory of criminality rather than in accordance with his views on the personality bases of either authoritarianism or conservatism.