IMPACT OF THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. PATTERNS OF PUBLIC RESPONSE
Abstract
The report examines the impact of a critical event on the American public and attempts to assess the substance and dynamic of the public's response to the resulting crisis situation with special emphasis on rsponses associated with civil defense measures. The event involved was the Cuban missile cisis of 1962 which produced a period of severe international tension. In a 1963 sample, Americans were asked if they had engaged in any of six crisis related activities during the Cuban crisis. These activities comprised efforts to respond in some meaningful fashion to the threat posed by the crisis. Patterns of response were examined, both for overall distributions among the six ativities and for paired sets of activities. Individuals in the sample were classified by their degree of participation in the various activities. Those who had engaged in 'Any Activity' were compared with those who had not, and those who had engaged in each of the six separate activities were compaed with each other, the sub-totals and the fifteen sets of paired activities as well. These comparisons were made with regard to personal characteristics that served to locate individuals in the overall social structure and also with regard to personal attitudes deemed to be of relevance for crisis response. Differences in crisis response were found and they established summary patterns that are of theoretical interst.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 01, 1966
- Accession Number
- AD0635150
Entities
People
- Robert H. Mast
Organizations
- University of Pittsburgh