Construction and validation of a measure of authoritarian personality

This paper reports the results of a series of studies in which the construction and validation of a behavioral measure of authoritarianism is reported. Factor analysis of already established behavioral scales (e,g., Ray's (1976) Directiveness scale; the Buss-Durkee (1957) Hostility inventory, etc.) and items especially written for the study resulted in a Revised F scale with a reliability (Cronbach's alpha) of .79 and a rpN of -.45. The items loaded significantly on four factors, namely, Dominance/Leadership, Achievement motivation. Interpersonal conflict and Verbal hostility. Furthermore, validity studies revealed the scale to possess satisfactory validity. It is suggested that this measure be seriously considered as an alternative indicator of levels of authoritarianism.