The Open and Closed Mind: Investigations Into the Nature of Belief Systems and Personality Systems

Here--in the tradition of such works as ESCAPE FROM FREEDOM and THE AUTHORITARIAN PERSONALITY--is a volume which probes deeply into the nature of prejudice and dogmatic thinking, and, in so doing, sheds light on the processes by which man constructs and organizes his systems of belief.Based on intensive studies conducted by Milton Rokeach and his colleagues over a period of nearly nine years, THE OPEN AND CLOSED MIND demonstrates the connections between an individual's patterns of belief and his underlying personality structure.Challenging the assumptions that prevail in many quarters, Dr. Rokeach adduces a considerable body of experimental evidence to show that authoritarian thinking--far from being confined to extremists and fanatics of the Right and Left--is widespread even among those who consider themselves "open-minded," "uncommitted" or "middle-of-the-roaders.""THE OPEN AND CLOSED MIND," writes Donald T. Campbell, Professor of Psychology at Northwestern University, "Is the most important recent contribution to the psychological study of ideology. It is a striking original contribution to technical social psychology and at the same time both comprehensible and interesting to the nonspecialist."