PROBLEM
This paper reports a factor analytic study of ideological composition among normal adults with a proven history of vocational adaptability and relatively high levels of self-actualization as measured by career achievement. Empirical experience indicates that certain kinds of ideological indoctrination such as courses in leadership, how to be aggressive in business, how to be a good salesman, and other selfhelp methods of becoming self-actualized, may operate to maximize capacity by improving control skills and maximizing motivational status.
An additional purpose of this research was to obtain evidence of the validity of the Rand-Branden Objectivist theory concerning ideological factors contributing to vocational adaptability and self-actualization. It is hypothesized that this group of vocationally successful adults will be characterized by the syndrome of "The Able Man" as postulated from the Rand-Branden approach (I).
METHOD Sub 'ects. The Ss consisted of 278 adults obtained through the cooperation of Walter $. Clarke and Associates, management consultants of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Ss were all gainfully employed executives of client companies serviced by the Walter V. Clarke organization who were taking seminars in business leadership and management problems. The vocational status of the Ss ranged from supervisory foremen through high level executives, with the average being in the middle executive range. The group ranged between 25 and 60 in age, averaged better than 12 years of education, and included only males. By virtue of their vocational status and being selected for further leadership training by their employer companies, this group may be described aa consisting of vocationally adaptable, highly self-actualized people.
Procedure. The Ideological Survey (IS) was administered informally as opportunity presented by members of the Walter V. Clarke organization to seminar participants consisting of employees of client companies. The purposes of the test were not explained and it was generally well accepted by the Ss who regarded it as part of their training experiences. None of the Ss had received any familiarization with the Rand-Branden Objectivist position and as far as the authors knew, none of the Ss knew anything about the purpose of this investigation.
The IS consists of 200 items sampling key ideas derived from the Objectivist philosophy (individualism) vs. collectivism. The Ss were instructed to mark each item True if they agreed with it, False if they disagreed, or to omit the item if they could not answer. Participation was voluntary and no adverse reactions to the test were reported.
Results
Varimax rotation was carried out until 50 factors were identified including all with an eigen value of 1.0 or over. Five factors had a sufficient number of items loading over .30 to be meaningful. The remaining factors consisted of single items *The authors are indebted to Douglas A. Stevens of the Southern Research Support Center, Veterans Administration, Little Rock, Arkansas for hls su port in