THE EFFECT OF THE BELIEF IN EQUALITY ON DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP INTENT

Does the belief in equality correlate significantly with democratic le adership intentions? The belief in equality is defined as a set of ass umptions that human ability and potential are widely distributed rathe r than being concentrated in the most highly educated. A reliable and valid inventory was developed to measure the belief in equality (BE). Two separate samples were studied-one of college students (N = 201) an d the other composed of blue- and white-collar workers (N = 192). High BE participants exhibited higher democratic leadership intentions tha n did low BE participants on 6 paper-and-pencil leadership tasks (p < .0001). The equality construct was found to be relatively independent of authoritarianism.