Publication: Journal of Economic Education
Volume: Volume 16, No. 1
Issue: Winter 1985
Pages: pp. 37-51
Author(s): Stephen L. Jackstadt and Jerry Brennan, with Scott Thompson
Title: The Effect of Introductory Economics Courses on College Students' Conservatism
Abstract: In investigating whether the study of economics makes students more conservative, the authors develop an attitude instrument and use it with students taking courses in economics, world civilizations, and education at the University of Hawaii. They conclude that a complex of factors is responsible for the greater conservatism exhibited by some (but not all) of the economics classes investigated, and they suggest the need for more research. The study was motivated in part by Nobel Laureate George Stigler's hypothesis that the "study of economics makes one politically conservative."