Peace Keeping Forces: Public Opinion, Political Attitudes and Personality Variables

Samenvatting

In the last 20 yrs a relatively large number of studies on polled opinion concerning the idea of a peace force, an internat'l police force, the role of the UN, etc, has been published. The various conclusions arrived at in these studies are surveyed & analyzed on 3 levels: opinion formation, pol'al att's & personality variables. The higher strata of society show themselves more in favor of UN forces than do the lower strata. In particular, level of educ is positively r'ed with favorable opinion. The exceptions are as follows: minority groups tend to be more in favor of a UN force than lower strata traditional groups, & persons who fear loss of protection tend to be less in favor than higher strata groups. Favorable act's toward the idea of a UN force, together with a relatively high level of information, maybe considered a function of personality. 20 statements, including some cautionary devices, are formulated in order to find some directions for use when interpreting findings furnished by the opinion polls. These statements all refer to important theoretical insights in the field of pol'al att's (conservatism, world-mindedness, nat'lism), personality variables (authoritarianism, dogmatism, acquiescence) & their interrelationships. The study was delivered as a lecture at the 2nd Pugwash Internat'l Sum Sch on Arms Control & Disarmament in Pavia, Italy in Jul 1968. Modified AA.