Linguistic and Semantic Factors in the Psychodynamics of War

Summary

The present study reports questionnaire data obtained from undergraduate students enrolled in introductory psychology (50 males, 52 females) with regard to opinions concerning President Nixon's possible involvement in the Watergate scandal of 1973. In addition, Ss completed Byrne's Repression-Sensitization Scale and the Hogan-Dickstein Moral Judgment Scale. As predicted from cognitive consistency theory, Ss who had voted for Nixon in the 1972 Presidential election minimized the likelihood of Nixon's possible guilt more so than did those who no longer supported him (p < .05). Furthermore, repression-sensitization and moral judgment maturity were found to be related (both p < .05) to formation of Watergate-related attitudes.