Students' Reactions to Watergate.

The primary argument of this paper is that student political attitudes are a function of historical and politcal inputs acting on their attitudinal structure. Around 1970 the proportion of students supporting leftist causes reached a peak and began declining. Attitude surveys among students at the University of Oregon in 1970 and at Arizona State University in 1973 indicated this change in student attitudes while representing the inherent differences between the two schools. If the structure of student attitudes remains constant, the political effects of Watergate will increase student support for leftist causes. A new factor, and one that may change the attitudinal structure somewhat, is the declining level of disagreement between parents and students. Since disagreement with parents is closely related with support for demonstrations, declining disagreement with parents suggests that an increase in support among students for leftist causes may not be associated with the traditional forms of student activism. (Author/DE)