A Study of the Relationship between Anomie and Authoritarianism with Inclination towards Deviance (Case Study: Ahvaz Shahid Chamran University Students)

This study aims to investigate the effects of anomie and authoritarianism, in the context of socio-economic status, on Ahvaz Shahid Chamran University student's inclinations towards engaging in deviant behavior. Drawing on Merton's theory of anomie and Lippset's theory of authoritarianism, six hypotheses and a theoretical model were tested. The research method was survey and research sample included 480 students who were enrolled in Ahvaz Chamran University. Data were collected using self-rated questionnaires that asked demographic as well as socioeconomic questions on both objective and subjective aspects of SES. There were also questions concerning the feeling of anomie, authoritarianism, and inclinations towards engaging in deviant behavior. The results showed that all correlation coefficients between variables were statistically significant and that all six hypotheses were supported. Also, standard regression coefficients showed that all of the paths indicated by the theoretical model with objective socio-economic status were justified and those with subjective socio-economic status were not. The results also indicated that anomie, authoritarianism, and inclinations towards engaging in deviant behavior are in fact major social problems of the Iranian society and that their mutual effects within an economic and class context should be taken into account.