The determinants of Australians' attitudes toward the Gulf War

Social identity theory was used to investigate the determinants of the current attitudes of 356 Australian (Melbournian) subjects toward the Gulf War. The dependent variables included a scale measuring belligerence, a scale measuring perceived justification for the Gulf War, and a short scale measuring how extensively the outcome of the war was perceived as an environmental issue. Independent variables included the concept "Australia," measured by a semantic differential scale; conservatism and liberalism, measured by Kerlinger's (1984) Social Attitudes Scale; and gender. Multiple regression analysis provided some support for social identity theory. Conservatism and liberalism, however, were the strongest predictors of attitudes toward the war. Men expressed more support for the war than women did. Participants' conservatism and liberalism were predictive of how extensively they perceived the outcome of the war as an environmental issue.