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Belief in Freedom of Speech and Press
Author(s) -
Wilson W. Cody
Publication year - 1975
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.1540-4560.1975.tb00760.x
Subject(s) - freedom of the press , test (biology) , face (sociological concept) , psychology , social psychology , variety (cybernetics) , politics , empirical research , free speech , sociology , political science , law , statistics , social science , mathematics , paleontology , biology
Data regarding belief in freedom of speech and press collected in early 1970 in face‐to‐face interviews with 2486 respondents in a national probability sample of adults test several hypotheses derived from previous empirical research. The general findings were: (a) a minority of adults in the U.S. fully accept the principle of free speech and press; (b) belief in free speech and press is related to a variety of demographic variables; (c) people who label themselves as liberal, who are high consumers of written mass media, and who are more active in the political process are more likely to endorse freedom of speech and press; and (d) patterns of relationship between belief in freedom of speech and press and other social psychological and demographic variables are rather stable over time.