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![Introduction The belief that college makes one liberal has been the subject of numerous past studies, as has the belief professors themselves are liberal. Past studies, however, failed to account for parenting styles, parental worldviews and religiosity. This study examined what impact, if any, college had on worldview as well as whether the major of a student was related to their beliefs. The study concluded with an examination of noneducational factors which were significantly related to current worldview. Literature Review Methods ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Alpha Reliability Of Composite Variables 233 usable responses; 15.5% response rate Age: 59% (n=138) 17-21 Gender: 64.2% (n=149) Female Family’s Income: 59.6% (n=135) $42,000- $139,000 Parent’s Education: 58% (n=137) Associate’s or Higher Religious background 41.2% (n=96) Catholic , 16% (n=38) Other Christian Current Worldview: 79% Liberal/Strong Liberal (n=186) Religiosity:67% (n=156) “ Not Religious - Somewhat Religious ” Authoritarianism of parents: 69.9 % (n=87 ) “ Not Authoritarian - Somewhat Authoritarian” ” Major: 40% Applied Science (n=94), 27%, Social Science (n=63) Results Results Table 1 Table 2 Discussion And Conclusion Directions For Future Research References This study utilized student’s impressions of worldview, rather than actually measuring actual professor’s worldview. Future research should compare student’s impressions of professor’s worldview with the actual professor’s worldview to see if student’s perceptions match what professors actually believe. Given that the significance of the impact of authoritarian parenting on worldview, future research should look at examining the differing impacts of various parenting styles. Instead of college being generally liberalizing, some research suggests that those who study applied sciences hold conservative viewpoints (Hastie 2007). Past research has found family background to have an affect on worldview. (Scheepers & Slik 2002). Strong religiosity is positively associated with conservatism (Bahr and Marcos, 2003). Having authoritarian parents is correlated with a conservative worldview (Peterson, B. E., Smirles, K. A., & Wentworth, P. A. (1997 ). Residential students are more likely to report higher levels of liberalism (Astin 1977). Professor’s worldviews have been shown to be divided among departments (Faia 1974). Student's worldview reported to be more liberal as they advance through college (Pascarella and Tenerzini (1991). Liberal professors may influence students, but the influence may not be intentional; thus not very strong (Lottes and Kuklinoff 1991, Zipp and Fenwick 2006). Statistical Overview ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Note: none of the means were significantly different Scale: 1=Strong Conservative 5=Strong Liberal **Significant at the 0.01 level (2 tailed) Scale: 1=Strongly Agree 5=Strongly disagree The Impact Of College Education on Sociopolitical Worldview As Mediated by Major ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],This study found that students’ worldview was not significantly influenced by their major. One explanation is that the current study focused on moral conservatism, whereas Hastie (2007) included economic issues as well as moral ones. While there was a significant difference between incoming students and current students in terms of worldview, it cannot be conclusively linked to the effects of the college experience. Instead, “Current Worldview” can be accounted for by “Precollege Worldview”, “Parent Worldview”, “Professor Worldview” and “Religiosity” (F(4,228)=90.502, p<.01) , R 2 = 0.614. “ Professor Worldview” is significantly associated with “Current Worldview” (F(1,231)=10.940, p<.01), R 2 = 0.045. This does not mean, however, that professors are causing their students to be more liberal; rather it is likely that over time, age and declining religiosity are affecting worldview (Aresninan, 1970, Cornelies 2009), which may cause worldview to coincide with that of the professor, while at the same time differing significantly from one’s worldview before entering college. In conclusion, this study finds no evidence that college impacts worldview to a significant degree; rather, religiosity, views of parents and student’s past views have the largest impact, with professor worldview having a small impact. N SD Mean 8 .99103 4.13 Engineering 42 .67000 4.12 Social Science 21 .94868 4.00 Arts/Humanities 42 .74860 4.02 Applied Science 24 .69025 3.96 Business 20 .75915 3.95 Life Science Means Comparison of Worldview Across Major Religious- Very Religious Not Religious- Somewhat Religious 2.92 3.94** Premarital Sex is Immoral 2.77 3.45** Euthanasia Should Be Illegal 2.78 2.27 3.64 4.16 3.01 4.16** 3.55** 4.23** 4.56** 3.74** Contraception Should Not Be Available to All Same Sex Marriage Banned Abortion Should Be Outlawed Women Not In All Jobs Government Should Ban Pornography Means Comparison Of Worldview Across Levels of Religiosity](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/blogposter-100418210708-phpapp01/85/blogposter-1-320.jpg)
