The Effect of Union Protest Behavior on Attitudes Toward Unions: An Experimental Analysis

Abstract

Student attitudes toward unions were measured at the beginning of a semester. Approximately 90 days later, students were shown a video of union protestors shouting down teachers who had called a press conference to announce they had filed a lawsuit against the union. Following the video, student attitudes toward unions were measured again. The results suggest that union behavior perceived as negative does have a deleterious effect on observer attitudes toward unions. This effect occurs even for observers whose parents were union members.