AIDS, Authoritarianism, and Scientific Ignorance: A Comment on Witt

Witt shows that scores on the F scale predict negative affect towards AIDS. He interprets this in the light of the authoritarian personality theory of Adorno, Frenkel-Brunswik, Levinson, and Sanford (1950) despite the discredited nature of that theory. An alternative explanation of the findings in the light of the view that the F scale measures primarily an old-fashioned orientation is offered.