AUTHORITARIANISM AND ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ENVIRONMENT

Two studies of authoritarianism and environmental attitudes were under taken. The first, a field study, found the opponents of a proposed riv erside power plant to be less authoritarian and more environmentally c oncerned than supporters of the plant's establishment. Overall, right- wing authoritarianism (RWA) correlated -.51 with environmental concern . The second study replicated this finding within a college sample, us ing a validated measure of environmental concern, the New Environmenta l Paradigm (NEP) scale. NEP correlated -.54 with RWA. It is concluded that the relationship between authoritarianism and environmental conce rn is presently strong. Prospective explanations for this relationship revolve around the theoretical nature of authoritarianism.