ABSTRACT
This chapter examines attitudes toward political violence that were obtained from a national sample of almost 1,200 adults, 18 years of age or older. The major objective is to predict the political behavior of individuals. This behavior is considered the outcome of an interaction between the contemporary social environment and the psychological characteristics of the individual. The theory focuses on the effect of a cognitive and behavioral reduction in the number of alternatives for political action upon attitudes toward authority. Identification is not the only defense mechanism. Behavioral withdrawal is also an important outcome. The reasons for alienation rather than identification are not clear. Operationalizing systemic punishment is extremely difficult in general, and especially so when it is applied to a survey that has already been conducted. The problem of studying the responsiveness of both those that identify with and those that oppose authoritarian political action is a difficult one.
