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Powerlessness, Social‐Political Action, Social‐Political Views: Their Interrelation among College Students 1
Author(s) -
Silvern Louise E.,
Nakamura Charles Y.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.618
H-Index - 122
eISSN - 1540-4560
pISSN - 0022-4537
DOI - 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1971.tb00682.x
Subject(s) - politics , externality , action (physics) , scale (ratio) , political action , social psychology , meaning (existential) , psychology , left wing politics , sociology , political science , economics , law , geography , physics , quantum mechanics , psychotherapist , cartography , microeconomics
Powerlessness, as measured by externality on the I‐E Scale, was investigated as an individual difference between college students who take social‐political action and those who do not. Questionnaires, including Rotter's I‐E Scale, measures of social‐political activity, and measures of social‐political views were administered to UCLA undergraduates. For males, externality was positively correlated with social‐political activity, particularly protest activity, and with left‐wing views. These correlations primarily reflected the externality of left‐wing activists and the internality of non‐left‐wing nonactivists. For females, I‐E scores were unrelated to views or to action. Implications for the meaning of the I‐E Scale and the nature of student activism were discussed.