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Working‐Class Conservatism: A Review and an Empirical Study
Author(s) -
STACEY B. G.,
GREEN R. T.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
british journal of social and clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0007-1293
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1971.tb00708.x
Subject(s) - conservatism , deference , working class , authoritarianism , psychology , social class , social psychology , class (philosophy) , empirical research , political science , law , epistemology , democracy , politics , philosophy
The characteristics of manual working‐class Conservatives are examined. Inter‐generation downward mobility is shown to make a substantial contribution to working‐class Conservatism. The embourgeoisement, social pressure and deference explanations of working‐class Conservatism are critically reviewed. A survey is reported which was carried out to explore the organization of attitudes in the working class. A factor analysis of 69 variables constituting a questionnaire completed by 302 subjects produced differences between working‐class Conservative and Labour supporters which correspond fairly well with the patterning of attitudes in a complementary survey of white‐collar subjects. The deference explanation is re‐examined on the basis of these results. Lipset's analysis of working‐class authoritarianism is also commented upon.