I've just heard about a national study that may have some relevance here.  It concerns children's need to belong to an "authoritative" vs. "authoritarian" community, but since the report claims that this need is hard-wired and universal, the need surely persists into adulthood.

In other words, what we would like to see at USM is a real institution of higher learning ("authoritative"), not an wannabe institution ruled by fiat ("authoritarian").

See the study at http://www.americanvalues.org/html/hardwired.html.