Need for Closure and Political Orientation Among German University Students

• Published in: The Journal of social psychology Vol. 137; no. 6; pp. 787 - 789
• Main Author: Kemmelmeier, Markus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC Taylor & Francis Group 01.12.1997; Heldref; Clark University Press; Taylor & Francis Inc
• Subjects: Authoritarianism; Behavior. Attitude; Biological and medical sciences; Closure; Cognition & reasoning; Cognitive Functioning; Cognitive Structures; Cognitive Style; College Students; Extremism; Federal Republic of Germany; Foreign Countries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Germany; Human Relations; Hypotheses; Ideology; Individual Differences; Personality; Political Affiliation; Political Attitudes; Political Issues; Political parties; Politics; Psychological Studies; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychophysiology; Resistance (Psychology); Right Wing Politics; Social Attitudes; Social psychology; Social Science Research; Sociopolitical factors; Statistical Analysis; Student Attitudes; Trend Analysis; Variance analysis; Germany; Social environment; Human; Policy; Attitude; Personal commitment; Ideology; Cognition; Student; Judgment

Tests competing hypotheses about the relationship between general political orientation and differences in cognitive functioning. Finds that a direct relationship between right-wing orientation and closed cognitive constructs best fits the data. Notes that these findings contradict other recent stud...