De autoritaire persoonlijkheid en zijn participatie in levensbeschouwelijke groeperingen

Samenvatting

In A. Lange's research on denominational groups (DE AUTORITAIRE PERSOONLIJKHEID EN ZIJN GODSDIENSTIGE WERELD [The Authoritarian Personality and the Religious World], Assen, the Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 1971) he formulated the proposition that in every organization & group, the most authoritarian & dogmatic figures, by virtue of their high degree of involvement, regardless of the nature of the ideology, would arise & exercise control. In this research the marginality theory based on the above assumption is tested against the 'content theory' which states that the stronger influence & greater participation of the more authoritarian figures appear only in those groups whose ideology is of an authoritarian character. Using data gathered from questionnaires the 2 theories were tested for the relation between authoritarianism & participation in 2 groups with contrasting ideologies. The results clearly support the content theory. Implications & methodological questions are also discussed. 4 Tables. Modified HA.