Citation

Zellman GL, Sears DO. J. Soc. Iss. 1971; 27(2): 109-136.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1971, Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1540-4560.1971.tb00656.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The origins of children's attitudes toward freedom of dissent were investigated using questionnaire data from 1384 children in grades 5 through 9. Political socialization of attitudes toward free speech apparently does occur during late childhood and early adolescence. Most children acquire support for the abstract principle of free speech in slogan form, without learning its concrete implications. Support for free speech in concrete instances is dictated largely by the child's attitude toward the dissenting out-group in question and only rarely by the general principle of free expression. There are indications that the child's confidence in his ability to think divergently contributes to tolerance, presumably by reducing the personal threat posed by deviant out-groups.

Language: en