Right -wing authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism as related to universal -diverse orientation

Scope and method of study. Right-wing authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism were related to universal-diverse orientation in this study. Right-wing authoritarianism, a covariation of three attitudinal clusters (authoritarian submission, authoritarian aggression, and conventionalism) was measured by the Right-Wing Authoritarianism Scale. Religious fundamentalism, a religious form of right-wing authoritarianism, was measured by the Religious Fundamentalism Scale. Universal-diverse orientation, an attitude of awareness and acceptance of the differences and similarities among people, was measured by the Miville-Guzman Universality-Diversity Scale. Three factors of universal-diverse orientation (diversity of contact, comfort with differences, and relativistic appreciation) were also examined in this study. The three scales and a demographic information sheet were administered to varied group of 325 students enrolled in undergraduate classes at a large Southwestern university. Data analysis included multiple regression analyses as well as the calculation of Pearson correlation coefficients and t-tests.;Findings and conclusions. Results indicated good reliability for all three scales. As predicted, Pearson correlations indicated significant negative relationships for right-wing authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism with universal-diverse orientation. Significant relationships were also found for right-wing authoritarianism and religious fundamentalism with the three factors of universal-diverse orientation. Regression analyses revealed that right-wing authoritarianism significantly contributed to the variance in universal-diverse orientation, as well as the three factors of universal-diverse orientation, whereas religious fundamentalism did not significantly contribute to the variance in universal-diverse orientation or its factors. Females scored higher than males on all three scales and two of the three subscales. Multiple regression analyses and t-tests indicated significant gender differences (females scoring higher than males) for universal-diverse orientation and the relativistic appreciation factor of universal-diverse orientation. No significant gender differences were found with the other scales and subscales. Results were consistent with previous research on right-wing authoritarianism, religious fundamentalism, and prejudice.