Note on Authoritarianism, Confinement, and Scholastic Aptitude
The Pensacola Z Scale was adopted as a measure of authoritarianism and administered to 761 men undergoing training for submarine duty and 407 naval retrainees confined for “delinquent” behavior. Significantly higher levels of authoritarianism were found among confined Ss. However, the difference was not significant when scholastic aptitude (GCT) was held constant. The results suggest that the frequently observed relationship between authoritarianism and confinement for “delinquent” behavior may be mediated by scholastic aptitude.