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Crisis Situations and Ideological Revaluation.
- Source :
- Public Opinion Quarterly; Spring55, Vol. 19 Issue 1, p53-67, 15p
- Publication Year :
- 1955
-
Abstract
- The article focuses on crisis situations and ideological revaluations. Students of social change and practitioners attempting to predict human behavior have long been interested in changes in systems of belief. In this article the author describes the kinds of situations which have produced ideological changes as well as the mechanisms involved in these revaluations. It has repeatedly been noted that systems of belief tend to be conservative, in the sense of having their status and identity maintained by means of various psychological mechanisms such as suppression of incompatible cues, weighing of conflicting evidence, or rationalization. The present paper is concerned with circumstances under which these supporting mechanisms become totally or partially ineffective, leaving the individual with an invalidated or inoperative ideology. This type of condition is here referred to as a crisis situation. This paper has attempts to spell out the mechanisms involved in this process and their operation, with the premise that clear thinking about the ideology of individuals is a sine qua non for an understanding of the "why" and "how" of social movements.
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 0033362X
- Volume :
- 19
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- Public Opinion Quarterly
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 11936322
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1086/266542