CENTRALITY IN WORKERS BELIEF SYSTEMS ABOUT UNIONS

In this article it is contended that the centrality (or salience) of b eliefs is an important but overlooked feature of belief systems about unions. This theme is pursued through a study of the centrality of bel iefs about unions in a sample of Hamilton, Ontario workers. Each parti cipant sorted 48 separate statements about unions, identifying those s tatements with which she/he most agreed and most disagreed. These data are analyzed in two distinct ways. First, the article outlines genera l tendencies in the centrality of beliefs for the entire sample. Howev er, people differ in what they think is most important about unions. T herefore, the article also identifies the central beliefs for six typi cal ways of thinking about unions.