PSYCHOTICISM AND ATTITUDE TOWARD AUTHORITY AMONG PREADOLESCENT BOYS

Studies of the relationship between attitudes to authority and factors assessed by the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) among young p eople have hitherto been examined only with adolescent subjects, for w hom it has been suggested that rebellion against parental and societal authority occurs as a response to developmental factors not present a mong younger children. It was nevertheless predicted on the basis of E ysenckian theory that personality correlates would be found among pre- adolescent children similar to those reported for older children; in p articular, attitude to institutional authority would be negatively cor related with psychoticism. Male primary school children (N = 90) with a mean age of 11 years completed the Junior Eysenck Personality Questi onnaire and also a reliable measure of attitude to authority. As predi cted, a significant negative correlation (partial r = -0.57, after con trolling for age and social desirability) was found between the attitu de to authority measure and Psychoticism. There were no significant re lationships with either Extraversion or Neuroticism.