The Conservatism Scale: In Search of a Replicable Factor Structure

Abstract

Responses of three independent groups of subjects to the Wilson-Patterson Conservatism Scale were submitted to principal components analyses followed by varimax rotation. Inspection of the unrotated factor loadings provided evidence for the presence of a general factor in all three groups, supporting the contention of the scale's authors (Wilson & Patterson, 1968). Detailed analyses of the present and previously published results revealed a consistent underlying theme of fundamental religious conservatism. Examination of loadings obtained from two-, three-, and four-factor rotations, using the FACTOREP procedure for factor comparison, failed to identify any other consistently replicable factor structure, a result consistent with conclusions based on an examination of previously published research.