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The relationship of gender, sex role, and law-and-order attitudes to nuclear opinions
Journal article   Peer reviewed

The relationship of gender, sex role, and law-and-order attitudes to nuclear opinions

C.C. Peterson, J.A. Lawrence and I. Dawes
Sex Roles, Vol.22(5-6), pp.283-292
1990
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Abstract

Australian students' attitudes to nuclear weapons were considered in relation to sex-role identification and political orientations. By including a measure of sex-role orientation, we hoped to clarify earlier confusion surrounding gender as a predictor of nuclear views. Our hypothesis was that men and women with feminine sex-role orientations would display the strongest antinuclear feelings. Also, we predicted that an authoritarian political stance advocating strict law-and-order on the domestic front would predict support for nuclear weapons in international defense. The subjects were 46 male and 62 female first-year university students. The measure of nuclear attitudes was a 23-item inventory (NARQ) which had previously been extensively refined and validated for Australian populations (Jennings & Lawrence, 1986). The BSRI (Bem, 1974) measured sex-role orientation. An Australian law-and-order scale was also developed for this research. Latent trait models for rating data were applied to NARQ and law-and-order scales. The results revealed sex differences on approximately one-third of the nuclear opinion items, with men expressing stronger support for nuclear weapons in every case. Authoritarian law-and-order attitudes likewise predicted support for nuclear weapons in both men and women. A stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that BSRI masculinity and law-and order made separate, statistically significant, contributions to overall variation in nuclear views. These results were considered in relation both to previous research and to practical implications for political behavior.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Citation topics
6 Social Sciences
6.27 Political Science
6.27.2328 Nuclear Security
Web Of Science research areas
Psychology, Developmental
Psychology, Social
Women's Studies
ESI research areas
Psychiatry/Psychology
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