Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the media literacy levels, perceptions of democracy and authoritarian personality traits of university students. The sampling of the study consists of 397 students in the Faculty of Education in Çanakkale 18 Mart University (Turkey). The Critical Media Literacy Scale, Perceptions of Democracy Scale and Authoritarianism Scale is used as a data collection tool and it was practised to the sampling group of 2008-2009 autumn term. At the end of the data analyses it’s found out that there is a significant relationship between the total points of the students Critical Media Literacy Scale and Perceptions of Democracy Scale and Authoritarianism Scale. There are significant differences between the average points of Critical Media Literacy Scale and Authoritarianism Scale in terms of watching TV and reading newspaper habits and grade variable and there is not a significant difference between the average points of the Critical Media Literacy Scale and Authoritarianism Scale in terms of the gender variable. Also there is a significant difference between the average points of the Critical Media Literacy Scale and Democracy Perception Scale in terms of the gender variable.