Opinionating Scale
Rokeach‚ 1956
British version form- Ce
Opinionated Rejection – Left
1. It is quite stupid to say that the Bevanites follow the Communist line.
2. A person must be pretty stupid if he still believes in differences between races.
3. There are two kinds of people who opposed the Labour Government post-war programme: the selfish and the stupid.
4. A person must be pretty shortsighted if he thinks that the Conservatives represent the best interest of the British people.
5. It is the people who believe everything they read i n the papers who are convinced that Russia is pursuing a ruthless policy of imperialist aggression.
6. It is mainly those who support the viewpoint put out by the landlord who believe that rents should be increased.
7. A person must be pretty gullible if he really believes that the Communists have actually infiltrated into the teaching profession.
8. It’s mostly those who want a third World War who want to rearm Western Germany.
9. It is very foolish to advocate government support of religious education.
10.Only a simple-minded fool would think that the present Colonial Secretary is interested in Freedom.
Opinionated Acceptance – Left
11.It’s perfectly clear to any thinking person that the execution of the Rosenbergs has done the United States more harm than good.
12.Any person with even a brain in his head knows that it would be dangerous to let our country be run by men like Lord Beaverbrook.
13.The truth of the matter is this: It is big business which wants to continue the cold war.
14.Make no mistake about it; The best way to achieve security is for the government to guarantee full employment.
15.It’s perfectly clear to all decent people that all this fuss about communism does more harm than good.
16.Thoughtful persons know that the Tories are not really interested in democracy.
17.It’s perfectly clear to any thinking person that the way to solve our financial problems is by soak-the-rich taxation.
18.It’s all too true that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.
19.History clearly shows that It is the private enterprise system which is at the root of depression and wars.
20.Anyone who truly understands America will tell you that the sooner we stop following in their footsteps the better off we will be.
Opinionated Rejection – Right
21.It is simply incredible that anyone should believe that Dr. Jagan had the interest of the people of British Guiana at heart.
22.A person must be very ignorant if he thinks that Churchill is going to let big business run this country.
23.It’s the Communists and fellow travellers who are always bringing up the issue of freedom for the Colonies.
24.It’s the fellow travellers or Communists who are always going on about the right to strike.
25.It is foolish to think that the Labour party is really the party of the common man.
26.You just can’t help but feel sorry for the person who believes that the world could exist without a Creator.
27.It’s usually the trouble-makers who talk about state ownership.
28.Only a misguided idealist would believe that the Soviet union is for peace.
29.It’s mostly the noisy radicals who try to tell us that we will be better off under socialism.
30.It’s the agitators and Left – wingers who want to get Red China into the United Nations right away.
Opinionated Acceptance – Right
31.Any intelligent person can plainly see that the real reason Britain is spending so much for defense is to stop aggression.
32.Plain common sense tell s you that nationalization of industry has gone far enough.
33.Anyone who is really for democracy knows very well that the only way for Britain to avoid revolution and civil war is to support American foreign policy.
34.History will clearly show that Churchill’s victory over the Labour Party in 1951 was a step forward for the British people.
35.The American re-armament program is clear and positive proof that they are willing to make sacrifices to preserve their freedom.
36.This much is certain: The only way is to wipe out the Mau Mau terrorists.
37.It’s already crystal clear that the United Nations is a failure.
38.A study of British history clearly shows that it is the British merchant who has contributed most to our society.
39.Even a person of average intelligence knows that to defend ourselves against aggression we should welcome any kind of help including Franco’s.
40.Anyone who knows what’s going on will tell you that the Foreign office diplomats who disappeared in 1952 were traitors to their country.
Form C – American Version
Opinionated Rejection – Left
1. It’s just plain stupid to say that it was Franklin Roosevelt who got us into the war.
2. A person must be pretty stupid if he still believes in differences between races.
3. There are two kinds of people who fought Truman’s Fair Deal Program: the selfish and the stupid.
4. A person must be pretty short-sighted if he believes that college professors should be forced to take special loyalty oaths.
5. It’s the people who believe everything they read in the papers who are convinced that Russia is pursuing a ruthless policy of imperialist aggression.
6. It’s mainly those who believe the propaganda put out by the real estate interests who are against a federal slum clearance program.
7. A person must be pretty gullible if he really believes that the Communists have actually infiltrated into government and education.
8. It’s mostly those who are itching for a fight who want a universal military training law.
9. It is very foolish to advocate government support of religion.
10.Only a simple-minded fool would think that Senator McCarthy is a defender of American democracy.
Opinionated Acceptance – Left
11.It’s perfectly clear that the decision to execute the Rosenbergs has done us more harm than good.
12.Any person with even a brain in his head knows that it would be dangerous to let our country be run by men like General MacArthur.
13.The truth of the matter is this; It is big business which wants to continue the cold war.
14.Make no mistake about it; The best way to achieve security is for the government to guarantee jobs for all .
15.It’s perfectly clear to all decent Americans that Congressional committees which investigate communism do more harm than good.
16.Thoughtful persons know that the American Legion is not really interested in democracy.
17.It’s perfectly clear to all thinking persons that the way to solve our financial problem is by a soak-the-rich program.
18.It’s all too true that the rich are getting rich e r and the poor are getting poorer.
19.History clearly shows that It is the private enterprise system which is at the root of depressions and wars.
20.Anyone who’s old enough to remember the Hoover days will tell you that It’s a lucky thing Hoover was never re-elected.
Opinionated Rejection – Right
21.It’s simply incredible that anyone should believe that socialized medicine will actually help solve our health problems.
22.A person must be pretty ignorant i f he thinks that Eisenhower is going to let the “big boys” run this country.
23.It’s the fellow travellers or Reds who keep yelling all the time about labor’s right to strike.
24.It’s the radicals and labor racketeers who yell the loudest about labor’s right to strike.
25.It is foolish to think that the Democratic Party i s really the party of the common man.
26.You just can’t help but feel sorry for the person who believes that the world could exist without a Creator.
27.It’s usually the trouble-makers who talk about government ownership of public utilities.
28.Only a misguided idealist would believe that the United States is an imperialist warmonger.
29.It’s mostly the noisy liberals who try to tell us that we will be better off under socialism.
30.It’s the agitators and left-wingers who are trying to get Red China in to the United Nations.
Opinionated Acceptance – Right
31.Any intelligent person can plainly see that the real reason America is rearming is to stop aggression.
32.Plain common sense tells you that prejudice can be removed by education‚ not legislation.
33.Anyone who is really for democracy knows very well that the only way for America to head off revolution and civil war In backward countries i s to send military aid.
34.History will clearly show that Churchill’s victory over the Labour Party in 1951 was a step forward for the British people.
35.The American rearmament program is clear and positive proof that we are willing to sacrifice to preserve our freedom.
36.This much is certain; The only way to defeat tyranny in China is to support Chiang Kai-Shek.
37.It’s already crystal – clear that the United Nations is a failure.
38.A study of American history clearly shows that it is the American businessman who has contributed most to our society.
39.Even a person of average intelligence knows that to defend ourselves against aggression we should welcome all help — including Franco’s Spain.
40.Anyone who knows what’s going on will tell you that Alger Hiss was a traitor who betrayed his country.
opinionated rejected – right opinionation‚ opinionated rejected’ left opinionation‚ opinionated acceptance-right opinionation‚ andopinionated acceptance-left opinionation.
1 to 7 agree-disagree
This instrument can be found at: https://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/dis/infoserv/isrpub/pdf/Measuresofsocialpsychologicalattitudes_2928_.PDF
Rokeach‚ M. (1956). Political and religious dogmatism: an alternative to the authoritarian personality. Psychological Monographs‚ 43(18)‚ 1-43.
Ralph W. Hood. (1968). An Empirical test of the Validity of Rokeach’s Opinionation Scale. The Journal of Psychology‚ 69(1)‚ 47-52.
Robinson‚ John P.‚ Shaver‚ Phillip R. (1969). Measures of Political Attitudes. Institute for Social Research‚ University of Michigan/. Ann Arbor‚ Michigan