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PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTS, DICTATORS AND THE WORLD PRESS

Gerety, Christine A
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin960909595

Abstract Details

2000, PhD, University of Cincinnati, Arts and Sciences : Psychology.
This cross-national project examined whether the world press uses social science constructs to portray aspiring dictators and dictators in power, specifically Vladimir Zhirinovsky of Russia, Jean-Marie Le Pen of France, and Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. Computer-aided content analysis was used to assess the world press' use of four social science constructs, paranoia, authoritarianism, irredentism and anti-Semitism in profiles about the three dictators in question as well as comparison world leaders. A contextualist approach was employed for this study, allowing examination of construct use across a variety of contexts including differences in electoral threat, military power, dictatorial status and investment opportunities. The sample consisted of 358 profiles of world leaders published in 19 major English language world press journals. Two word lists for each construct, one compiled by lay readers and one generated by an expert judge for a given construct, and the Gough Adjective Check List were used for computer-aided content analysis of the articles. A series of t-tests and cross-case comparisons was used to compare the use of constructs. Results indicate that the constructs were used more for dictators in general than for non-dictatorial world leaders, and were used more to describe an aspiring dictator when he poses a greater electoral threat than when he poses a lesser electoral threat. The size of the military threat posed by the nation of the aspiring dictator was not found to be related to the frequency of use of the constructs. The varying magnitude of several international incidents involving a dictator in power did not affect the frequency of construct use. The data indicate that construct use occurs more for the two aspiring European dictators, Zhirinovsky and Le Pen, than for an Asian dictator in power, Lee. There was some evidence that the presence of exceptional investment opportunities in Singapore affected the use of the constructs. Neither the Gough Adjective Check List nor its relevant Subscales were found to differentiate between Zhirinovsky, Le Pen, Lee versus Non-Dictator Controls, nor between Dictator Controls and Non-Dictator Controls, suggesting that the four social science constructs, which performed better, have some discriminant validity.
William Meyers (Advisor)
225 p.
Authoritarianism; Anti-Semitism; Irredentism; Paranoia; Contextualism

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Citations

  • Gerety, C. A. (2000). PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTS, DICTATORS AND THE WORLD PRESS [Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin960909595

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Gerety, Christine. PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTS, DICTATORS AND THE WORLD PRESS. 2000. University of Cincinnati, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin960909595.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Gerety, Christine. "PSYCHOLOGICAL CONSTRUCTS, DICTATORS AND THE WORLD PRESS." Doctoral dissertation, University of Cincinnati, 2000. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin960909595

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

ucin960909595
© 2000, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.