Correlates of International Attitudes.

The rate of development of theoretical and applied science in a given area is likely to depend on the social utility of understanding the phenomena with which it deals. The beneficiary of this utility is perhaps not the total society but a potent subgroup within it. These methodological advances have been accompanied by elaborations of theories about determinants of the relevant behavior, and the cumulative result has undoubtedly been an advancement of understanding. In this article the author has discussed some classes of determinants of international attitudes which have been suggested in public opinion studies concerning the United Nations. It has also indicated in some cases the sorts of data or research procedures that might shed light on the nature of the relationships which such factors bear to international attitudes. But the author says that it is difficult to subject a non-volunteer respondent to the lengthy assessment procedures required to gain information about unconscious personality processes.