Research on Student Activism
ROBERT S. BERNS M.D.1,
DAPHNE E. BUGENTAL PH.D.2, , and
GERALDINE P. BERNS M.A.3
1 Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles and Psychiatrist, Student Health Service, and Consultant in Psychiatry to Student Services, UCLA
2 Assistant Research Psychologist and Lecturer, Department of Psychology, University of California at Los Angeles
3 Private practice as a paraprofessional counselor in Los Angeles, Calif.
The personality structure of activists was compared with those of activist-sympathizers and conservatives on a university campus. The activists were most clearly distinguished from the other two groups in their manifestation of unconscious ambivalence toward their fathers and in their conflict over middleclass values. It was also found that conservative students manifested a somewhat parallel ambivalence toward their mothers and had more difficulty in relating to the opposite sex.
