Dogmatism Scale Research Articles

Dogmatism, age, and educational level as correlates of feminism for males and females

Male and female subjects completed a dogmatism scale and a feminism scale and provided information about their age, amount of education, and present occupation. The variables correlating with feminism depended upon the sex of the respondent. The more dogmatic individuals of both sexes supported feminism less than the less dogmatic individuals, with the effect being somewhat stronger for the males. The older female supported feminism less than the younger female. Age was unrelated to feminism for the males. The poorly educated female supported feminism less than the better-educated female, but the effect was diminished when dogmatism and age were held constant. Educational level was unrelated to feminism for males. The differences between the sexes are discussed in the context of perceptions of issues and situational ambiguity.

On different relationships between dogmatism and Machiavellianism among male and female college students.

A brief dogmatism scale and the Kiddie Machiavellianism Scale were answered by 112 male and 83 female students. The men's Mach scores were higher than the women's. The correlation between dogmatism and Mach— was not significant in either sex; in contrast, the correlation between dogmatism and Mach+ was significant for both sexes, r being significantly greater for the women than for the men. Agreement response set therefore seemed to be involved in the correlations between these scales for both sexes, though more for the women than the men. Factor by factor correlations indicated that for the men, the main other overlap between these two scales was an unflattering view of people, as hypothesized by Christie and Geis; for the women, however, the overlap between the scales was more extensive. The interpretation of this sex difference suggested the possibility that women may be more Machiavellian than their scores suggest and may even be more Machiavellian than men. though their scores typically suggest the opposite.

Approval seeking, situational pressures, and the willingness to administer shock to a victim.

Summary This article reports the results of two studies relating vulnerability to situational pressures, and intimacy of S-victim relationship to laboratory aggression. In study 1, 58 Ss completed the dogmatism scale and participated in an experiment which manipulated the S-victim intimacy. Study 2 was in two parts with 53 Ss in part 1 completing a locus of control scale, and 46 Ss in part 2 completing measures of self-esteem and approval seeking. Ss in both parts then participated in a Milgram type experiment on laboratory aggression. The results showed that dogmatism, self-esteem, and approval seeking are related to the level of shock administered to a victim in the teacher-learning paradigm (p ≤.05). Intimacy of the S-victim relationship also predicted the level of shock. The studies lend support to the importance of vulnerability to situational pressures in the prediction of laboratory aggression. The first study also indicated the greater importance of situational pressure (S-victim intimacy) than vu...

The Effect of Human Relations Training on Dogmatic Attitudes of Educational Administration Students

AbstractThe effects of human relations seminars on dogmatism scores of educational administration students were investigated. Two groups of graduate students coming largely from the Middle and Far East were used in this study. The experimental group was given a series of human relations workshops over a period of four weeks. The results provided evidence that human relations training can reduce dogmatism as measured by the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale. Also, the seminars provided an opportunity not usually found in the traditional academic program for graduate students to interact with their peers and the faculty.

An a Priori Approach for Developing Short-Forms of Tests and Inventories

The empirical item analysis techniques for developing short-forms of tests is questioned. Assumptions fundamental to Spearman-Brown theory are shown to offer an alternative. To test the assertions, a parallel short-form of Rokeach’s Dogmatism Scale was developed. The resulting inventory is compared with two other short-forms produced using empirical methods of item selection. It was found that the a priori-developed scale generated satisfactory results. The method offers numerous advantages to the researcher.

The effect of a spaced sex education course on medical students' sexual knowledge and attitudes.

This paper reviews the literature and emphasizes the rapid expansion of medical sex education, which has created a diversity of course content, curriculum timing and strategies. One variable of medical sex education programmes is whether they are massed or spaced courses. The authors conducted testing on 159 first year medical students who took a spaced sex education course. Significant changes in cognitive knowledge as well as attitudinal tolerance of others is reported. No changes were found in styles of thinking as measured by the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale.

Changes in Open-Mindedness as a Result of Social Work Education

Abstract Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale was administered to master's level social work students at the beginning, midpoint, and end of their two-year educational program to determine the impact of social work education on the vital personality ingredient, open-mindedness. Scores were also used to compare levels of performance in the practicum at the conclusion of training. Students were found to be significantly more open-minded at the conclusion of training, indicating greater student permeability than indicated by previous studies. The mean performance level of open-minded students was not significantly different from that of the closed-minded group.

Order Effects and Individual Differences in Impression Formation

Summary Order effects in impression formation were studied among 195 male and female college students. Half read descriptions of a man or woman being kind first, nasty later, while the other half read these descriptions in the reverse order. The students rated the person on the same 18 traits after each episode; they also responded to brief dogmatism and Machiavellianism scales. The first ratings for the good description were more favorable than those for the first bad one, especially on the traits most related to the episode described. The second ratings showed a recency effect. For both sequences, the women's ratings changed more than the men's. None of the ratings was systematically correlated with dogmatism or Machiavellianism. Possible reasons for the recency effect were discussed.

COMPARISON OF PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS: HIGH AND LOW ABILITY STUDENT NURSES AND YEAR OF TRAINING IN NEW ZEALAND

Seventy-five student nurses at the Southland Hospital, Invercargill, New Zealand, were assessed independently by ward and tutorial staff on a 5-point scale rating the quality of their work. Comparisons of high and low ability students were then made on scores from the following instruments: Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, Wilson-Patterson Conservatism Scale, Allport-Vernon-Lindsey Study of Values, Cattell 16 Personality Factors Test, Shostrom Personal Orientation Inventory. “t” tests of significant differences between means revealed the following profiles for the high ability student nurse: (a) Comparison based on ward staff ratings of ability: conservative, religious, dogmatic, and low on political and economic values: (b) comparison based on tutorial staff ratings of ability: relaxed, higher on social values, and tends to live in the past or future rather than the present. A comparison of the three years showed that the student nurse most likely to stay in the program had the following profile: more political, less religious, less acceptant of aggression, and higher ward rating.

Effects of dogmatism and anxiety during computer-assisted learning.

60 female college students were selected on the basis of extreme scores on the Dogmatism Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Trait Anxiety (A-Trait) Scale to work on a computer-assisted learning task of difficult mathematical problems. Contrary to expectations, high and low dogmatic subjects, when controlled for A-Trait, did not differ in the level of state anxiety (A-State) displayed during the learning task. As hypothesized, high A-Trait subjects had significantly higher levels of A-State during the experiment than low A-Trait subjects. Neither A-Trait nor dogmatism was related to errors on the task. However, a significant interactive effect of mathematical ability and A-State on performance was observed. Consistent with drive theory, high A-State resulted in more errors for subjects of low mathematical ability but had no effect on the performance of subjects of high mathematical ability.

Personality and dogmatism among selected groups of orthodox jews.

Four groups of male Orthodox Jews differing in current religious practices and educational affiliation were administered the California Psychological Inventory and the Dogmatism Scale. Matched tetrads of 30 subjects each controlled for age, social class, and generation (how long the subject's family had been in the United States) were then formed. For the analysis of scores of the California Psychological Inventory, Gough's college norms were used. Significant group differences in personality and dogmatism were found, supporting the importance of subcultural religious affiliation as a determinant of personality and dogmatism.

Human Performance in Assessing Subjective Probability Distributions

Thirty-seven graduate students of business assessed subjective probability distributions for 55 ‘uncertain quantities’, after receiving initial training in Decision Analysis and in subjective probability assessment techniques. Subjects’ responses were also obtained on the following psychological measures: The 29-item California F Scale, Rokeach’s Dogmatism scale, Gough-Sanford Rigidity scale, Pettigrew’s Category Width (C-W) and Heim’s AH5 test of general intelligence. Degree of overconfidence in assessment and category width scores showed, as expected, a negative association; r of —.41 for the total group was significant at the .05 level. Category width as a personality variable may thus be useful in understanding the overconfidence effect in probability assessment.

A Preliminary Validation of an Instrument To Measure the Degree of Counselor Restrictive-Nonrestrictive Cognitive Orientation

The present study was designed to provide a source of empirical validity for an instrument which measures the degree of cognitive functioning of a counselor along a restrictive-nonrestrictive dimension. The restrictive-nonrestrictive dimension refers to a holistic orientation as a mode for experiencing life by the receptivity toward the processing of and responding to sources of internal and external stimuli. To establish validity for the instrument, one hundred eleven counselor trainees in different phases of a training program designed to produce open and humanistic counselors were compared on the Counselor R Scale. The Rokeach Dogmatism Scale was included for analysis, since it was thought to be a component of the restrictive-nonrestrictive dimension. In the use of a 2 × 4 analysis of variance design for unequal n's, the study provided data supporting the hypothesis that counselors in different phases of their training would differ in their scores on the Counselor R Scale. As a trainee progresses through a humanistically oriented training program, he or she can be expected to move from the restrictive to the nonrestrictive ends of the measured dimension. Conclusions, implications, and future research potential were described.

Empirical application of a cognitive framework to rigidity, aspects of creativity, anxiety, and adjustment.

Philosophically it is argued psychology should be based on constructs independent of objective environmental meaning. Four such constructs are introduced and related to various measures of personality variables. Subjective anxiety and adjustment, as measured by the Maudsley Personality Inventory and Repression-Sensitization scale, are associated with a type of consistency which is based on the number of choices an individual has for finding relationships with respect to available subjective information. Personality rigidity, as measured by the Dogmatism and Authoritarianism scales, is negatively associated with the amount of subjective information available as well as how the information is grouped; in particular, both overly synthetic and overly analytic groupings were associated with high rigidity. Creativity, as measured by the Remote Associates Test, is positively associated with the amount of subjective information. The defense mechanisms, repression and sensitization, are associated with synthetic and analytic groupings of information, respectively. Contrary to past studies, evidence is given that high dogmatism may be systematically associated with either repression or sensitization.

Perceptions and behaviors of dogmatic subjects in a T-group setting.

Ss scoring 1 SD above or below the mean of the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, Form E participated. During 12 hr. of training, Ss' behaviors were recorded by observers and each S was periodically rated by his peers on his perceived level of contributions to the group process. Significant differences were found between high and low dogmatics in the behaviors exhibited during the T-groups. Low dogmatics were more self-revealing, more attentive to the here-and-now aspects of the T-group, less apt to give negative feedback, and less likely to reject the group. A significant curvilinear relation was found between peer ratings and behavior in the T-group, with Ss who were rated extremely by their peers being more self-revealing, more attentive to the here-and-now of the group, more apt to give negative feedback, and less likely to reject the group verbally.

The Dogmatism/Externality Correlation for College Students

While relevant literature in the field of personality suggests the presence of a positive relationship between Rokeach's (1960) dogmatic belief system and Rotter's (1966) external locus of control, the effect of sex differences on that relationship has yet to be determined. Studies by Clouser and Hjelle (1970) and Everly, Coronett, and Strouse' suggest that there is a positive correlational relationship between these two personality variables, yet neither study examines the effect of sex in the re!ationship. The notion that sex may, indeed, affect the suggested relationship may be inferred from the theoretical foundations of both of these personality variables. Rokeach suggests that dogmatism may be considered as the composite structure of defenses against anxiety. Similarly, Rotter suggests that high externality may be viewed as a defensive structure that seems to occur in male college students more than in female college students. Therefore, there appears to be at least theoretical support for the hypothesis that a stronger positive correlational relationship exists between dogmatism and externality for college males than for females. The random sample included 144 male and 175 female college students at the University of Maryland, College Park, Md. Each of the students was given the I-E scale and the Dogmatism Scale (Form E), in a random order. Males artained a mean of 12.8 and a SD of 3.9 for externality, while the females' mean was 10.6 and the SD 5.0 for that scale. A mean of 11.6 and SD of 4.7 was in evidence for all Ss. For the dogmatism scale, males demonstrated a mean of 3.5 and SD of .75, while females had a mean of 3.1 and SD of .71. The dogmatism mean and SD for all Ss were 3.3 and .75, respectively. Pearson product-moment correlations between scores on these scales were positive, as predicted, for both samples (males, fi < ,001, one-tailed; females, fi < .OOl, one-tailed). However, for males r was .74, which accounted for 54% of the common variation. For the women r was .29, accounting for only 8% of the variation. Therefore, as predicted, the 7 for males was stronger between dogmatism and externality than for females. Perhaps prior srudies need re-examining to take this finding into consideration.

Dogmatism and misanthropy.

In distinguishing Letween open and closed mindedness, Rokeach (1960, pp. 62-63) assumed that more closed minded individual, the more will world be seen as threatening. He continued that On other hand, world is seen to be a more friendly place by relatively open person. While this distinction has been investigated (Lee & Ehrlich, 1971), belief about others was measured by a set of items which had not been subjected to any tests of validity. In present study, Troldahl and Powell's (1965) 20-item form of Dogmatism Scale was administered along with Rosenberg's (1959) five-item Misanthropy Scale to 148 sociology students at State University College at Potsdam. A total of 135 complete and usable returns were obtained. The Pearsonian correlation coefficient between dogmatism and misanthropy was calculated and resulting value ( r = .17, df = 133, p < .O5) supports Rokeach's distinction. However, when a dogmatism scale item manifestly tapping misanthropy (Most people just don't give a 'damn' for others) was omitted from analysis, correlation ( r = .14, df = 133) failed to reach a significant magnitude. These data are therefore interpreted as failing to support Rokeach's distinction.

Dogmatism, Authority, and Hypnotic Susceptibility

Abstract This study explores the relationship between dogmatism and hypnotic susceptibility as a function of the impugned authority of the hypnotist. It was hypothesized that high dogmatic Ss would prove more susceptible than low dogmatic Ss when led to believe that the hypnotist was an authority in the field, but would be no more or less susceptible than low dogmatic Ss when the hypnotist was not perceived as an authority. One hundred ninety graduate and undergraduate students were administered Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale, a scale measuring attitudes toward hypnosis and a form indicating their willingness to serve as a subject in a “hypnosis experiment.” Two weeks later, Ss were exposed to either an authority or non-authority taped induction procedure. Analysis of mean hypnotic susceptibility scores for high and low dogmatic groups under authority and non-authority conditions confirmed the major hypothesis. Additional findings were: No significant difference in rate of volunteering among high and low dogma...

Open-Mindedness and Indiscrimination Antireligious Orientation

Allport and Ross's Religious Orientation Scale has been widely criticized for lack of conceptual clarity. The present research employs the scoring technique devised by Ralph Hood which allows for the identification and measurement of four, rather than three categories of Religious Orientation. The new fourth category is labeled indiscriminate antireligious orientation. Data were collected from adolescents (and their parents) attending Catholic parochial and Sunday schools in various parts of the United States. Using the Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, analysis showed the indiscriminately antireligious to be the most open-minded of the four categories of religious orientation, and to be significantly more open-minded than the extrinsics and the indiscriminately proreligious. Caution is urged in interpreting Hood's procedure for scoring the religious Orientation Scale, and questions are raised concerning the validity of the scale when used with Catholic subjects.

Dogmatism, dogmatism factors, and liberalism-conservatism.

Dogmatism scores, dogmatism factor scores, and two indices of liberalism-conservatism were interrelated for 78 male students, 89 female students, 108 of their fathers, and 138 of their mothers. The six major dogmatism factors found in the literature were belief in one truth, belief in a cause, alienation, virtuous self-denial, self-proselytization, and authoritarianism; the content of the items measuring the factor usually called “alienation” suggests that it may instead measure “derogation of others.” The two indices of liberalism-conservatism were scores on a questionnaire and preference in the 1972 presidential election; neither was related to dogmatism in any of the samples, but Nixon supporters had more conservative attitudes than McGovern supporters in all four samples. Both indices of liberalism-conservatism were related to belief in one truth among the students; among the parents only the questionnaire scores were, and less than among the students. This difference between the groups of parents and students suggests that attitudes toward social issues may be more normative among the parent groups, mote personal among the student groups. In all four samples, the six dogmatism factors tended to have low positive intercorrelations, and every factor correlated significantly with total dogmatism. Total scores on the 15 items measuring the six factors correlated approximately .90 with total dogmatism in all four samples; these items may therefore be a theoretically meaningful brief dogmatism scale.