U.S. and Canadian Attitudes Toward International Interactions: A Cross-National Test of the Double-Standard Hypothesis

In the early 1960s Oskamp (1965) found that American university students displayed a double standard toward similar or identical actions of the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Our research replicates and extends Oskamp’s study. Using some of Oskamp’s original statements that are still applicable to U.S. and Soviet actions (as well as adding several to update U.S.-Soviet relations), parallel questionnaires were distributed to American and French-Canadian university students. Both groups displayed a double standard, although this was more pronounced for Americans than for Canadians. The effects of gender, education, and partisan affiliation are also examined, but generally found to be insignificant.