Youths' outlook on the future: A past-present comparison

Gillespie and Allport's descriptive data (1955) on attitudes and values of youth 20 years ago afforded a comparison with a presentday sample of 320 undergraduates at The Univeristy of Texas at Austin. Items for the original questionnaire (Youth's Outlook on the Future) were combined with other measures (Locus of Control, Dogmatism, and Conservatism scales) for the purpose of replicating the original study and expanding the scope of the comparison. A breakdown of the present group into activists and nonactivists yielded significant differences within the present sample as well as between samples. In general, the trend appeared to be toward less conservatism and traditionalism in moving from past to present nonactivist to present activist. Within the present sample, activists were also more oriented toward the present while nonactivists were more oriented toward success and prestige in the future.