ADOLESCENT ROLE RELATIONSHIPSJN THE, DYNAMICS OF PREJZUDIZCE‘V < Thesis for the Degree 15f Ph D.'>' , MICHIGAN erECQLLEGE: ' ‘ Dean Gedfge Epléy 1953 ' Thisistoeerttfgthstthe thesis entitled P‘. L578-‘8"3T}9? 51?? :~' “ii-‘3; |'Adolescen’t, Role Relationships warm up. in the Dynamics of Prejudice" presented btj hm '- 1'»: ‘ flyi‘lw Dean George Epley has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Lingo—Jame mm & Anthropology Major professor Date w “I”, ! . a‘n I v N In A. *l‘ \ '-" ‘V ‘ ‘ H‘ ' V H ,, ' '-:‘ ,r. x . .,‘ ‘ l . hip-V ‘vl-m ' \I 2m! 0 1:" INA, " .h‘. 5:». .‘ _, > '.*_”_.001<.01 77 With respect to Jewish Prejudice Scores, evidence has been presented to show that the understanding of adolescents possessed by parents tends to validate the categories of orientation established earlier. In relationship to varying degrees of parental understanding, the only significant differ- ences in expressed attitudes were found to be in refutation of the orientation hypotheses. Inasmuch as these differences held only for boys and not when all students were considered together, it is possible that their explanation lies in the influence of other factors operating within the youth culture. Negro Prejudice Scores. No significant differences in 1952 Negro Prejudice Scores were found, although the relation- ships of adolescents and parents were considered from three standpoints: (1) boys separately; (2) girls separately; and (3) boys and girls together. The hypothesis concerning Change in Negro Prejudice Scores was not supported by the findings of this study. The trend of the responses for the boys showed that the proportion who made a change toward tolerance increased as the extent of parental understanding increased. This was contrary to the hypothesis as posed. The linear trend in the responses of the boys, however, did not hold when they were joined with those of the girls on the four-point scale. The results obtained on a three-point scale, formed by combining "don't understand 78 at all” and "don't understand us very well” as a single category of negative reply, were nearly significant at the five-percent level of probability as indicated in Table V. TABLE V CHANGE IN NEGRO PREJUDICE SCORES BY THE DEGREE PARENTS UNDERSTAND YOUNG PEOPLE Direction Degree parents understand young people of Not at all and Fairly Very change not very well well well 70 0 Toward intolerance 9.h 25.3 lh.6 No change 65.0 h7.l 5A.h Toward tolerance 25.6 27.6 31.0 Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 No, of cases 43 87 171 x2=7.91 d.f.=)+ P >.05< .10 These findings may now be summarized with respect to the relationship between parental understanding and the expres- sion of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. In the first place, no significant differences were found which involved either the 1952 Prejudice Scores or the change in these scores of the girls in this study. Insofar as parental understanding is related to minority attitudes, this may indicate that the attitudes of girls are less crystallized and more susceptible to unpredic- table positions and shifts, not only with respect to their parents but to Jews and Negroes as well. 79 Which relationships were significant is a second feature to be noted. In the case of the Jewish Prejudice Scores, the relationships of boys and their parents were significant, but not those of boys and girls together. For the Negro Prejudice Scores, on the other hand, the significant relationship was one which involved all students together but did not hold for either sex alone. However, a trend did appear to be in the making among the boys. Lastly, whenever there were significant differences, the direction was consistent in all three instances. Increased understanding, or positive parental orientation as this has been identified, was associated with the expression of tolerance. This relationship, of course, refutes the hypotheses formulated concerning the direction of association. D. QUARRELING WITH PARENTS _ On frequent occasions, one hears the youth culture of America described as a period of "stress and strain." To the extent that this is a realistic observation, part of this strain may be due to parent-child interaction arising as an outgrowth of adolescent strivings for independence. At the same time, this striving may be accompanied by a reluctance to abandon the comparative security of earlier childhood. Ambivalent feelings toward parents may develop from the incom- patibility of this dependent-independent status. 80 The period of adolescence represents an expansion of cultural horizons for many youth. It is a time when high school attendance enlarges the circle of experiences and interpersonal contacts. Occupational aspirations and oppor- tunities for achievement open up for more and more young people as they reach the legal age for commercial and indus- trial employment. Companionship with members of the opposite sex becomes more consciously sought after. These are all areas of potential conflict between the norms that prevail in the adolescent culture and those that function among the adults in the population of the community. The exclusiveness of the frame of reference which the children shared with their parents and which contributed in large measure to the commonality of their attitudes has begun to diminish considerably. Parents are often heard admonishing their children to do this way or to do that way in contrast to the way the young people are behaving. These admonitions, often in conflict with the value system of the adolescent peer group, thereby induce some degree of reluc- tanceu or even outright rebellion against conformity on the part of adolescents. With this sort of parent-child relationship in mind, it may be assumed that young people of high-school age frequently find themselves in verbal conflict with the wishes of their parents. The frequency of these quarrels was used as another 81 criterion to determine the positive and negative orientation of adolescents toward their parents. All students were asked to respond to this question: "On about how many days over the past four weeks have you become 'good and mad' at your parents?" From the theoretical range of responses, "none" to "every day," it was possible to identify four fairly distinct categories: (1) those who had no quarrels within the month; (2) those who had quarreled only once; (3) those who had quarreled twice during the month; and (h) those who had quarreled three or more times in a month. Only one girl in four claimed to have had no quarrels with her parents during a whole month; but two boys in five professed to have had completely amicable relationships. This difference was significant at the two-per cent level of proba- bility. In general, girls seemed more willing than boys to admit to frequent quarrels with their parents. On the other hand, a higher proportion of boys, about 8 per cent in all, refused to answer this question. It was assumed that students who quarreled infrequently had different kinds of relationships with their parents than those who quarreled more often. It was also believed that infrequent quarrels indicated more favorable relationships and, thus, a kind of positive orientation toward parents. On the other hand, frequent quarreling was regarded as indicative of 82 a high degree of unpleasant relationships and, hence, a nega- tive orientation toward parents. Using frequency of quarrels as a criterion of orientation, it was hypothesized that positive parental orientation is related to the expression of intolerant attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. It was also hypothesized that positive orientation is related to change toward intolerance. Jewish Prejudice §pores. An analysis of 1952 Jewish Prejudice Scores and Change in Jewish Prejudice Scores for boys and girls alone and together produced no significant relationships. Despite a slight linear trend toward increased intolerance among the negatively oriented boys, it must be concluded that the orientation of adolescents toward their parents, on the basis of frequency of quarrels, is not related to the expression of attitudes toward Jews. Naggg Prejudice §cores. The findings with respect to the 1952 Negro Prejudice Scores were so meaningless and incon- clusive as to be unworthy of further comment. Table VI, in Appendix B, discloses that the proportion of girls who changed toward tolerance was greater in every category of frequency than the proportion of boys. The differ- ence between the change toward tolerance and the change toward intolerance was much more noticeable among the girls than among 83 the boys. None of these differences were statistically signifi- cant. As in the case of the Jewish Prejudice Scores, it must be concluded that there is no relationship between this criterion of parental orientation and the expression of Negro attitudes. E . SUMMARY This chapter was concerned with the association between various kinds of relationships that adolescents have with their parents and the expression by adolescents of attitudes toward Jews and.Negroes. Four kinds of relationships were examined from the standpoint of parents as positive and negative reference groups. The relationships in question were: (1) polar types of positive and negative orientation; (2) liking to be with parents; (3) parental understanding of adolescents; and (4) frequency Of quarreling with parents.’ For each kind of relationship, categories were established which corresponded to points along abontinuum of orientation toward parents ranging from negative on one extreme to positive on the other. ”It was known that the adult population of Maple County expressed relatively intolerant attitudes toward bOth Jews and Negroes. It was assumed that adolescents positively oriented toward their parents would tend to become more like them than those who were negatively oriented. Thus, adolescent 81; attitudes would tend to approximate those of the adults if the young people were positively oriented toward their parents; and would tend to reject the attitudes of adults if the parents served as negative reference groups. In light of this knowledge and these assumptions, the following hypotheses were formulated for testing according to each of the various types of relationships discussed: 1. That students who are positively oriented toward their parents tend to be less tolerant than stu- dents who are negatively oriented. 2. That students who are positively oriented toward their parents tend to become less tolerant than students who are negatively oriented. The first hypothesis was tested on the basis of 1952 Jewish and Negro Prejudice Scores which were derived empiri- cally from the data. The last hypothesis was tested according to Change in Jewish and Negro Prejudice Scores which were based on changes in scores taking place between l9h9 and 1952. The findings of this analysis, as presented in Table VI, may be briefly summarized as follows: '1. The polar types of positive and negative orientation toward parents were not significantly related to the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. What differences did exist were consistent with the hypotheses. 2. The extent to which adolescents liked to be with their parents generally appeared to be unrelated to the expression of attitudes toward either Jews or Negroes. 3. For boys alone, parental understanding was directly related to tolerance of Jews and lack of parental TABLE VI 85 SUMMARY OF THE RELATION BETWEEN PARENT-YOUTH ROLES *AND 1952 PREJUDICE SCORES AND CHANGE IN PREJUDICE Criteria 1952 Change in of youth's roles in Prejudice Scores Prejudgee relation to parents Jewish Negro Jewish Negro R1 D2 R1 D? R1 O? R1 D2 Polar types of posi- tive-negative orientation N N N N Like to be with father N N N N Like to be with mother N N N N Parental under- standing of adolescent Near problems .053 Pos3 N .013 Pos3 .05 P03 Frequency of quarrels N N N N 1Relationship between criterion and prejudice score or change in prejudice. N indicates no relation. When a relationship is indicated, the probability that it would occur by chance is given. 2Direction of the relationship. Pos indicates that youth with a positive orientation toward parents are more tolerant, or more likely to change toward tolerance, than youth negatively oriented toward parents. 3Relationship indicated applies only to boys. 86 understanding to intolerance. This significant relationship also applied to the change in attitudes toward Jews. Both of these relationships refuted the hypotheses presented. ‘5. “-e. A. For boys alone and all students together, the same findings were made with respect to Negroes; in this case, however, the differences were less significant. P 5. There was no significant relationship between the frequency of quarrels with parents and the expres- sion of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. If the same trends were to prevail with an increase in the size of the category, polar types of orientation might provide significant support for the hypotheses. Otherwise, the negative quality of these findings suggests their inade- quacy as sufficient explanation for the dynamics of prejudice among the adolescents in Maple County. While it would be easy to succumb to a temptation to reject these hypotheses as totally unfruitful, it must be borne in mind that the present project is in the nature of basic research into this aspect of the problem. There were no guideposts to the criteria of reference groups which were suitable for this study. The results might mean merely that the dimensions of orientation are not being adequately tapped rather than that the hypotheses themselves are unsound. Cul- tural expectations which surround the relationships of parents and their children may be too strong to secure discriminating responses using the technique employed herein. Some other rnethod may be required to counteract the influence of cultural 87 compulsion toward positive orientation in order to probe more deeptly into the "true" orientation of adolescents toward their parents. In some other social setting, such as the Cotton South, or urban centers of the North, where relations with Jews and Negroes may be more salient factors in intrafamily relation- ships, entirely different results might be obtained. Final judgment as to their merit should be withheld pending the refinement of the measuring instrument and its testing in other contexts. For the present, however, the tentative con- clusion must be that these kinds of adolescent relationships with parents are not significantly related to the expression of attitudes, or to changes in these attitudes, toward Jews and Negroes. CHAPTER V ATTITUDES AS A FUNCTION OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH PEERS Next to their parents, there is probably no other group with whom adolescents in this country have any more personal relationships than with their peers. Indeed, in the eyes of some youth, the contacts with peers may appear even more impor- tant than the experiences they have with their parents. Conflicts that occur between the value systems of peers and parents are frequently settled in favor of the former. Loomis and Beegle have pointed out that friendship groups "are very important in personality formation and, beyond the family, furnish the most important organizational basis for the secur- ity necessary to normal mental and emotional activity."1 Since the influence of the peer group looms so importantly in the life of American youth, the focus of attention in this chapter is upon some of the relationships which adolescents have with their peers. As in the previous chapter, the kinds of relationships to be investigated include: (1) the polar types of positive and negative peer orientation; (2) liking to be with peers; (3) peer understanding of adolescents; and (A) quarreling with peers. In addition, sociometric data are analyzed as to: 1Charles P. Loomis and J. Allan Beegle, Rural Social Systems (New York: Prentice-Hall, Inc.,l950), pp. 170-171 89 (1) status as friendly; (2) status as seatmate; and (3) change in sociometric status and change in prejudice. The question to be answered 13: "What association is there between these kinds of relationships and the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes?" The guiding hypothesis for this analysis is that differences in the expression of attitudes are a func- tion of differences in these kinds of relationships. A. POLAR TYPES OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ORIENTATION Adolescents who are positively oriented toward their peers assume an attitude of conformity toward the norms of this reference group in order to be included within its sphere of influence. Negatively oriented adolescents, on the other hand, tend to reject the norms of the peer group since they have no desire to submit to its influence. Differences in orientation, such as these, evoke differences in the expression of attitudes. Polar types of peer orientation were established upon the basis of responses to questions concerning liking to be with other people, and which ones were most and least liked. These two categories included only those students making the most extreme responses at each pole of the continuum of peer group orientation. The eighty-two students identified as positive polar oriented toward the peer group were those who most liked to 90 be with both fellows ggd girls their own age. The twenty-three students in the category of negative polar orientation, on the other hand, did not like to be with either fellows 23 girls their own age. Jewish Prejudice Scores. As explained earlier in Chapter II, raw prejudice scores from fifteen to eighteen were classi- fied as Vtolerant." The mean score of lh.95 for all students in 19h9, as shown in Figure 5 on page 66, indicates that the students of Maple County expressed moderately tolerant atti- tudes toward Jews. Therefore, it was hypothesized that students who are positively oriented toward their peers tend to be more tolerant than those who are negatively oriented. It was found that both polar types of peer orientation had higher, or more tolerant, mean scores in 1952 than the student body as a whole. However, since the negatively orien- ted students were more tolerant than those positively oriented, the hypothesis was not supported by the data. The lower mean score of the positively oriented students showed them to be more like the student body as a whole than were the negatively oriented ones. It will be recalled that a similar result was noted with respect to positive and negative orientation toward parents. This finding indicates the existence of some noncon- formity to the norms of the majority school group on the part of the negatively oriented students. 91 It was hypothesized that students positively oriented toward their peers tend to change more toward tolerance than students who are negatively oriented. The mean raw Jewish Prejudice Score for all students in 1952 was higher than it was in l9h9 which was a general indication that the entire student body had become more tolerant of Jews. It was observed that the negatively oriented students were more likely to change toward tolerance; whereas those positively oriented were more likely to remain unchanged. The chi-square test, however, showed these differences could be due to chance. Therefore, it must be concluded that polar orientation toward peers is not related to the expression of prejudice toward Jews, nor to , change in prejudice.- Ngggg Prejudice Scores. Figure 6, on page 69, shows that the raw mean Negro Prejudice Score for all students in l9h9 was 13.92. This mean score was within the limits of the category defined in Chapter II as "intermediate." It was also very significantly (P‘C.OOl) less tolerant than the raw mean Jewish Prejudice Score for all students in 19kg. For these reasons, it was necessary to reverse the hypothesis formulated concerning the Jews. Therefore, it was hypothesized that positively oriented students tend to be less tolerant toward Negroes than students who are negatively oriented toward their peers. 92 Both the positive and the negative polar types of peer orientation were more tolerant of Negroes than the student body in general. As in the case of the Jewish Prejudice Scores, the positively oriented students were less tolerant than those who were negatively oriented. Although this supported the hypothesis, the difference between means of the polar categories was not statistically significant. Once again, it was observed that the attitudes of positively oriented students were closer to those expressed by the core of the student peer group than were the attitudes of negatively oriented students. This was further evidence that negative orientation toward the peer reference group tends to reflect less conformity to its norms than does positive orientation. Students positively oriented toward their peers were hypothesized as changing more toward intolerance of Negroes than negatively oriented students. This, too, was the opposite of the hypothesis formulated concerning change in Jewish attitudeS. The attitudes expressed in 1952 by the majority of the students were still classified as "intermediate." Half of the students in each polar category did not change their attitudes from l9h9 to 1952. A larger proportion of positively oriented students than negatively oriented students changed toward tolerance. Although this supported the hypothesis, 93 the chi-square test showed the difference between polar categories was not significant (P).20). In this section, it has been shown that the expression of attitudes toward Jews was somewhat more tolerant than the expression of attitudes toward Negroes. This difference in adolescent attitudes made it necessary to formulate contrasting hypotheses with respect to the relationships students have with the reference group of peers. Negatively oriented students were found to be more tolerant of both Jews and Negroes than positively oriented students. While this was not in accord with the hypothesis concerning the expression of attitudes toward Jews, it was in agreement with the one pertaining to Negroes. Among those who changed their attitudes, more negatively oriented students became tolerant of Jews and more positively oriented ones became tolerant of Negroes. Despite these mixed results, there were no significant relationships between polar orientation and the expression of minority attitudes. alt was found, however, that students who were negative. polar oriented toward their peers were significantly (P<<.Ol) more tolerant of Negroes than students who were negative polar oriented toward their teachers. Since there was only one student who was negatively oriented toward both his peers and his teachers, these polar types of negative categories may be considered as two distinct subgroups of the youth culture of Maple County. There is strong cultural compulsion within the youth culture for young people to express loyalty to the peer group. In view of these cultural expectations, students who 91+ B. LIKING TO BE WITH PEERS It was indicated in the previous section that compara- tively few students could be designated as being negative polar oriented toward peers. Therefore, this section presents the results of analyzing the responses of all students to the question: "How do you usually feel most of the time about being with . . . [fellows and girls your own age)?" The responses were on a four-point scale as follows: (1) don't like to be with; (2) makes no difference; (3) sort of like to be with; and (4) like very much to be with. The first response was assumed to represent negative orientation toward peers as a reference group. The fourth response was assumed to indicate positive orientation. The other responses were regarded as ‘being intermediary between negative and positive orientation toward the reference group. have been identified as negative polar oriented toward their peers constitute, in reality, a very extreme group. Such nega- tive orientation toward peers permits the expression of a greater degree of tolerance of Negroes than is the norm for all peers as a reference group. On the other hand, teachers as community agents for the development of the American ideals epitomized in the American's Creed presumably stand for equality and tolerance of minority groups. As a result, negative orienta- tion toward teachers requires the rejection of the tolerant attitudes identified with teachers as teachers and not as indi- viduals. This seems to be an explanation of the very signifi- cant difference in the expression of attitudes toward Negroes between the students who are negatively oriented toward their peers and those who are negatively oriented toward their teachers. This explanation is only tentative and presumptive but it does provide a hypothesis to be tested by some future research. 95 On the basis of these responses, the students in Maple County high schools were very significantly (P‘<.001) more positively oriented toward girls their own age than toward fellows their own age. Table VII, in Appendix B, shows that nearly two-thirds of all students liked very much to be with girls their own age. Only about half of them expressed such positive sentiments about the fellows their own age. Hardly anyone was willing to say that he didn't like to be with one or the other. Six fellows out of ten liked very much to be with other fellows, while five out of ten liked very much to be with girls their own age. As far as the fellows were con- cerned, there was no appreciable difference in the preference for one sex over the other. Girls, on the other hand, were extremely more favorable toward being with girls their own age than with fellows. While four girls in ten liked very much to be with fellows, there were eight in ten who liked very much to be with girls. Jewish Prejudice Scores. As indicated earlier, it was hypothesized that students who are positively oriented toward their peers tend to be more tolerant than those who are nega- tively oriented. Specifically, for this criterion of peer group orientation, students who like very much to be with other young people tend to be more tolerant than those students who do not like to be with persons their own age. Analysis of the 96 1952 Jewish Prejudice Scores failed to reveal any significant relationship between this criterion of orientation toward peers as a reference group and the expression of attitudes toward Jews. Change in Jewish attitudes was more noticeable in relation to orientation toward fellows than toward girls. But even here, as Table VIII in Appendix B shows, over half of the students in each of the four categories of responses concerning being with fellows did not change their attitudes from l9h9 to 1952. The chi-square test indicated a high probability (P'>.50) that changes in attitudes according to this criterion of peer orientation were due to chance. Ngggg Prejudice Scores. It was pointed out earlier that the raw mean Negro Prejudice Score for all students in l9h9 was classified as "intermediate." For analytical purposes, this classification was regarded as being more intolerant than tolerant and not as a neutral position. Accordingly, the hypothesis relative to Negro attitudes had to be restated. Thus, it was hypothesized that students who are positively oriented toward their peers tend to be less tolerant of Negroes than those who are negatively oriented. Students who didn't like to be with other young people were more tolerant than the students who liked very much to be with persons their own age. This difference was in the direction indicated by the hypothesis but was not great enough to yield significant results. 97 In view of the less tolerant attitudes expressed toward Negroes, it was hypothesized that students who like to be with other young people tend to change more toward intolerance than those who do not. This hypothesis received some general support insofar as the two extreme categories were concerned. However, the size of the category who did not like to be with other young people was too small for the difference to be meaningful. It must be concluded, after this examination of the data, that they do not demonstrate any significant association between this kind of peer-group orientation and the expression of attitudes toward either Jews or Negroes. C. PEER UNDERSTANDING OF ADOLESCENTS A third criterion used to measure orientation toward the reference group of peers was the degree to which young people felt their peers understood them and the problems of adolescents. The degree was based upon student responses to the question: "How well do you think [young people your own age] . . . understand young people like you?" The responses were scaled along four points of increasing understanding: (1) not at all; (2) not very well; (3) fairly well; and (A) very well. I As might be expected, in view of cultural expectations concerning the in-group loyalty of adolescents, slightly more 98 than half of all students stated that adolescents "understand very well" their own special problems. Nearly two-thirds of the positive polar oriented students,but less than half of the negative polar oriented ones, agreed with this view. At the other extreme, about one in five of the negatively oriented, in contrast to only one in twenty of the positively oriented, felt that other young people did not understand them. The difference between these two polar types of peer orientation, shown in Table IX in Appendix B, was significant at the five- per cent level of probability. It was assumed that as understanding increases, orienta- tion toward peers tends to become more positive. Consequently, students who think that young people understand them very well are positively oriented toward their peers. At the same time, those who think that young people do not understand them at all are negatively oriented. Jewish Prejudice Scores. The first hypothesis to be examined with respect to Jewish Prejudice Scores was that posi- tive orientation toward peers, as determined by the greater understanding of adolescents, tends to be associated with tolerant attitudes toward Jews. In each of the four categories of understanding, about two-thirds of the students expressed tolerant attitudes toward Jews. The prejudice scores did not differ significantly in terms of relatively greater or lesser understanding. [[ All?! 99 The hypothesis concerning change in attitudes was similar to that formulated about the 1952 Jewish Prejudice Scores: greater understanding tends to be associated with change toward tolerance. The chi-square test indicated that the categorical differences in change were very probably (P’>.90) due to chance. On the basis of this analysis, one must conclude that there is no significant relationship between the expression of attitudes toward Jews, or change in these attitudes, and the degree to which students think that other adolescents understand them and their problems. [Ngggg Prejudice Scores. For the reasons indicated above, the hypotheses concerning Negro Prejudice Scores were the reverse of those posed for the Jewish Prejudice Scores. Tolerant attitudes toward Negroes were hypothesized to be asso- ciated with negative peer-group orientation. In other words, those students who think other young people do not understand them express tolerant attitudes toward Negroes. A comparable hypothesis concerning change in attitudes was formulated to [the effect that lack of understanding, or negative orientation, is related to change toward tolerance. An analySis of the 1952 Negro Prejudice Scores and of the Change in Negro Prejudice Scores yielded no significant findings. It must be inferred A from these results that there is no relationship between dif- ferences in the extent of peer understanding and differences in attitudes expressed toward Negroes. 100 _D. QUARRELING WITH PEERS Casual observation shows that young people often engage in verbal disagreements or quarreling with others of their own age. ‘Youth frequently express views and opinions which clash with those held by bosom companions. When tempers flare and argument results in a "falling out" among friends, the break in interpersonal relationships is most likely to be only temporary. The breach is usually healed a day or so later; and the old friendship flourishes once again. There are times, though, when intimate ties of long standing are permanently severed. The virtues of one's former companion are forgotten; instead, his real or imagined defects may be magnified beyond retraction. If carried to extremes, the schism may become permanent. A certain amount of quarreling among peers is presumably the normal state of affairs among teen-agers. Yet, when this quarreling with other young people becomes a persistent charac- teristic of behavior, it manifests its deleterious effects upon the individual's interpersonal relationships in general. That is, if and when a person becomes known by others for his bick- ering, pugnacity, uncompromising attitude, or unfriendliness, his experiences with these other young people may begin to deteriorate to a considerable degree. It was decided, there- fore, to use the frequency of serious quarreling with other lOl youths as an index of positive-negative orientation toward peers. It was assumed that young people who quarreled frequently with their peers would have rather different kinds of relation- ships with them than would those adolescents who quarreled only seldom, if at all. To determine the frequency of quarreling, all students were asked to indicate how many times they had become "good and mad" at someone their own age during the past four weeks. Twenty-six per cent of all students answered that they had had no quarrels at all; another 23 per cent said they had had only one such quarrel; and 17 per cent had had two. Thus, two-thirds of all students professed to relatively infrequent quarreling of the type wherein one became "good and mad" at another person. The proportion of students who had infrequent quarrels with their peers was quite comparable to that found in the case of quarreling between young people and their parents. Girls did not differ noticeably from boys in frequency of their quarrels with other young people. This was in contrast to intrafamily quarreling where it was shown that girls quarreled with their parents much more often than did boys. Jewish Prejudice Segres. Positively oriented students who seldom, if ever, quarreled with their peers were hypothesized to be more tolerant toward Jews than the negatively oriented who often quarreled. In reference to the relationship to change in 102 attitudes toward Jews, the hypothesis was that students who quarreled infrequently would become more tolerant than those who quarreled frequently. No support was found for either of these hypotheses. It may be presumed that frequency of quarrels with peers is not related to either the expression of attitudes toward Jews or to change in the expression of such attitudes. Ngggg Prejudice Scores. In connection with Negro atti- tudes, it was hypothesized that those who seldom quarrel with their peers tend to express greater intolerance, and to change more toward intolerance, than those who quarrel frequently. The lack of significant differences leads one to infer that there is no relationship between the frequency of quarrels that adolescents have with their peers and the expression of atti- tudes toward Negroes. E. SOCIOMETRIC STATUS AS FRIENDLY The gociometric test. Another methodological approach to determination of orientation toward peers is the use of the sociometric test. "A sociometric test is a means for determining the degree to which individuals are accepted in a group, for discovering the relationships which exist among these individuals, . 3 and for disclosing the structure of the group itself." Loomis 3Mary L. Northway, A.Primer gfj§ociometry (Toronto: Uni- versity of Toronto Press, 19525, p. l. Sociometry was established 103 and Pepinsky point out that the sociometric test offers a foundation for the objective measurement of the degree to which an individual is accepted, rejected, or isolated by his social peers on the basis of how he is oriented toward them and they 4 toward him. The degree of acceptance is called an individual's sociometric status. The sociometric technique involves asking each individual in a group to state with whom among the members of a group he prefers to associate for specific activities or in particular situations. From the responses secured, the choices received by each individual are added to give him a sociometric score. In both 19A9 and 1952, the youth in selected grades of Maple County schools were asked a series of questions in a sociometric test regarding their orientation toward the peers who were their classmates. These questions were: 1. Who are the most friendly boys or girls among your classmates? 2. Who are the least friendly boys or girls among your classmates? 'by'J.L. Moreno in 1934 with the publication of his book Egg Shall Survive? (Beacon, New York: Beacon House). This book Inarked the culmination of a long preparatory period during ‘which Moreno and others had used the approach in social psy- chology and sociology. For a recent critique concerning the development of the field of sociometry in general, see Charles .P. Loomis and Harold B. Pepinsky, "Sociometry 193 -l9h7: Theory and Methods," Sociometgy, XI (19%).: 262-28 A Ibid., p. 206. 10A 3. If you have lots of visitors in school for a program, and you had to double up or put the seats close together to make room for the visitor, what person in your class would you most like to have Sit next to you? A. What person in your class would you least like to have sit next to you? Four different categories of relationships were deter- mined on the basis of the number of times a person was named as most or least friendly by his classmates. Of the 332 stu- dents in the study in 1952, 21 per cent of the students were never named as most friendly, while 40 per cent were never named as least friendly. Sixty-two per cent were named from one to four times as most friendly and A? per cent were named the same number of times as least friendly. Seventeen per cent were named five or more times as most friendly, and 13 per cent were named as often as least friendly.S Students who were named five or more times as most friendly were identified as ”highly chosen.” Students who were named five or more times as least friendly were identified as "rejected." Students who were never named as either most or least friendly were identi- fied as "isolated." All other students were placed in a residual category identified as "intermediate." Students in any one category were assumed to have differ- ent kinds of relationships with their peers than those who were 5In 1952, one Johnstown freshman boy was named eleven times as most friendly and twelve times as least friendly by his classmates. 105 identified as being in some other category. It was also assumed that highly chosen students tend to be more positively oriented toward their peers than other young people. Students who are rejected were assumed to be more negatively oriented toward their peers. The isolated students were assumed to be nearer to the negative pole of orientation than to the posi- tive pole on the grounds that the expression of indifference toward another young person in the youth culture of America is tantamount to rejection. The residual category, on the other hand, was placed nearer to the pole of positive orientation since other students did make some response to their presence in the school and classroom. It seems appropriate to make a few preliminary statements relative to some of the more pertinent relationships between this and the other criteria of orientation. Highly chosen students liked to be with their peers more than students who were isolated. Highly chosen girls quite noticeably liked to be with other girls rather than with fellows. Rejected students expressed less liking to be with fellows their own age than did students who were isolated. More than twice as many of the bJennings suggests that the isolated "neither desire this status in respect to their peers, or [sic] become recon- ciled and in time inured to it." Helen Hall Jennings, Leader- ship and Isolation (New York: Longmans, Green and Company, Second edition, 1950), p. 79. 106 rejected girls liked to be with girls their own age as liked to be with fellows. Approximately 60 per cent of the highly chosen students thought that young people understood them very well. Eighty per cent of the rejected girls felt the same way, but only NO per cent of the rejected boys agreed with them. About 76 per cent of the highly chosen students belonged to some high school athletic organization. By way of contrast, 55 per cent of the rejected, and only 33 per cent of the isolated students participated in such activities. Farnham believes that athletics is the school activity which provides the greatest sense of belonging within the culture of the American school.7 The evidence reported here seems to support her point of view. Isolated students were more likely to take part in dramatics and similar school activities than to participate in sport programs. One-fifth of the highly chosen students belonged to four high school organizations; one-fifth of the rejected students were members of only two; and one-fourth of the isolated belonged to none at all. The greater activity on the part of the highly chosen could certainly be a factor in their being accorded this status in contrast to that given to the isolated students. 7Marynia F. Farnham, The Adglescent (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1952), p. 89. 107 Finally, it may be noted that, whereas 25 per cent of the students in the positive polar category of peer orientation were highly chosen, only A per cent of those in the negative polar category were highly chosen. On the other hand, 17 per cent of those in the negative polar group were rejected in contrast to only 9 per cent among the positive polar oriented students. Jewish Prejudice Scores. Two hypotheses were formulated with reference to Jewish Prejudice Scores. They were: (1) that positive orientation toward the peer group, as determined by sociometric status as friendly, is related to the expression of tolerance; and (2) that positive orientation is related to change toward tolerance. Tables X and XI, in Appendix B, Show the distribution of the 1952 Jewish Prejudice Scores and Change in Jewish Prejudice Scores according to sociometric status as friendly in 1952. Table XI shows a linear trend in the change toward intolerance, but the differences between categories were not statistically significant. Ngggg Prejudice Scores. For reasons indicated earlier, the hypotheses concerning Negro attitudes were restated in the foruu (1) that negative orientation toward the peer group, as determined by sociometric status as friendly, is related to the expression.of tolerance; and (2) that negative orientation 108 is related to change toward tolerance. The distributions of 1952 Negro Prejudice Scores and Change in Negro Prejudice Scores according to sociometric status as friendly are shown in Tables XII and XIII in Appendix B. As measured by the analysis of variance and chi-square, the differences between categories were not statistically significant. In summation of this section, one may say that there was no demonstrably significant relationship between the expression of attitudes toward Jews or Negroes and the frequency with which students were named as most or least friendly by their classmates. F. SOCIOMETRIC STATUS AS SEATMATE The sociometric test. It is one of the characteristics of sociometric testing that the responses to differing sets of questions provide diverse patterns of choice. That is, the patterns fluctuate with the kinds of situations presented in the test design. Therefore, the sociometric test of accep- tance-rejection on the basis of responses to the two questions concerning seatmates represents a different criterion of orien- tation toward peers thanthat based on status as friendly. Nevertheless, the same categories were established for this criterion as for the status as friendly. There was a slight adjustment in the limits of some categories due to the conditions imposed by the differences in questions. For 109 example, students could name as many of their classmates as they wished as either most or least friendly. Only one student, however, could be named as preferred or rejected seatmate. This limited the total number of times any student could be named in either category. It also increased the number of students who were never named in response to either question. Six per cent of the 332 students in the study in 1952 were named three or more times in response to the question: "If you have lots of visitors in school for a program, and you had to double up or put the seats close together to make room for the visitor, what person in your class would you gggt like to have sit next to you?" These persons were identified as "highly chosen." Nine per cent of all students were named three or more times in response to the other question: "What person in your class would you lgggt like to have sit next to you?" These persons were identified as "rejected." One-third of all students, never named in response to either question, were classified as "isolated." Slightly more than half of the students, named once or twice in response to both questions, were identified as "intermediates." None of the highly chosen seatmates were in the polar category of negative orientation toward peers. Only two of the rejected seatmates were in the polar category of positive orientation. On the other hand, 35 per cent of the students 110 who were negatively oriented toward their peers, and 30 per cent of those who were positively oriented, were in the isolated category. The assumptions concerning the orientation of students toward their peers on the basis of these sociometric classifi- cations were the same as those stated above in connection with status as friendly. The hypotheses concerning the relationship of sociometric status as seatmate and the expression of atti- tudes toward Jews and Negroes were also the same. Jewish Prejudice Scoreg. Table XIV in Appendix B shows that the mean Jewish Prejudice Scores of highly chosen and inter— mediate students were higher than the mean scores of isolated and rejected students. This suggested possible support for the hypothesis that positive orientation toward relatively tolerant peers is related to the expression of tolerance. Change in Jewish Prejudice Scores by 1952 sociometric status as seatmate is shown in Table XV of Appendix B. The analysis of variance and chi-square tests indicated that all of the differences 'between the categories shown in these two tables could be due to chance. Negro Prejudice Scores. Table XVI in Appendix B discloses that the most tolerant students were highly chosen as seatmates. It also reveals that the isolated students were the least tolerant «of the four sociometric categories. While implying opposition 111 to the hypothesis, tests indicated that the differences were not significant. Categorical differences in change in atti- tudes toward Negroes presented in Table XVII were not signifi- cant as measured by chi-square. To summarize this section, one can only repeat what was said above in connection with status as friendly. There was no demonstrably significant relationship between the expression of attitudes toward Jews or Negroes and the frequency with which students were chosen or rejected as seatmates by their classmates. G. CHANGE IN SOCIOMETRIC STATUS AND CHANGE IN ATTITUDES Change jg soglgmetric status. Much has been written in the leterature of sociometry relative to the stability of patterns of acceptance-rejection derived from an analysis of the responses to sociometric questions. In one place, Jennings reports that the same group retested every eight weeks for a period of over two years disclosed an apparent stability in the structure of choices. Criswell9 found a relatively stable sociometric pattern among school children retested after an 8Helen H. Jennings, "Structure of Leadership," Sociom- _et___1r a I (1937): 99-1143. 9Joan Criswell, "Social structure Revealed in a Sociometric Retest," Sociometrx, II (1939): 69-75. 112 interval of six weeks. Bonney10 obtained reliability coeffi- cients as great as .8h for lower elementary grade pupils retested after a year. Despite this kind of evidence, Jennings cautions that "it is to be expected that the results will change markedly over long periods. If correlations between occasions consid- erably distant were extremely high, it might be presumptive evidence even that the findings were invalid‘that the test had not 'caught' the flux of psychological reactions between individ- uals which are ever in process of development."11 There is, then, nothing especially new about a study which reports on the constancy of choice patterns. What does appear to be a unique contribution of this research project, however, is the attempt to determine the relationship of change in sociometric status to change in the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. So far as could be determined from available sources, no previous study had ever explored this facet of the dynamics of prejudice. 1OM.E. Bonney, "The Constancy of Sociometric Scores and Their Relationship to Teacher Judgments of Social-Success and to Personality Self-Ratings," Sociometgy, VI (19A3): hog-flan. However, Loomis and Pepinsky, pp. pip., p. 277, challenge the accuracy of his calculations which derived correlation coeffi- cients from the use of percentages. 11 Helen Hall Jennings, Leadership and Isolation, pp. - Cite, p. 29. 113 Table XVIII in Appendix B shows that nearly 57 per cent of all students retained the same relative status as friendly in 1952 that they had in l9h9. The proportion of boys who did not change their status was very significantly higher (P“.001) than the proportion of girls. In all other cases, however, the girls exceeded the boys. That is, more girls than boys became highly chosen, rejected, isolated, or moved into the residual intermediate category. This could be the result of awakened sex interest on the part of the maturing boys. It was pointed out earlier that girls liked to be with other girls their own age rather than with boys, whereas this feeling was not so strong among the boys. Among those who changed their status as friendly, the proportion of boys who became highly chosen was the same as the proportion who became rejected. Slightly more girls changed toward rejection than changed toward highly chosen, but these were insignificant differences. Several factors made it likely that the change in the choice-pattern based on seatmate preference would differ from that involving friendliness. The scheduling of classes to fit administrative plans and policies would require some readjust- ment of choices from 19h9 to 1952. Individual differences in the selection of courses in accordance with personal educational aspirations would cause further readjustments. Finally, the seatmate questions permitted naming only one student; but the 11A questions on friendliness allowed students to name as many persons as they wished. On these grounds alone, if for no others, one would expect to find less stability in the choice structure. Even so, nearly half of all students remained in their same relative positions as preferred seatmates after three years. There was almost no difference between the changes taking place with respect to boys and that occurring among the girls in any of the categories shown in Table XVIII. Jewish Prejudice Scorep. Nearly 66 per cent of those who changed their status as friendly did not change their atti- tudes toward Jews from l9h9 to 1952. Of the remainder whose status changed, 13 per cent became less tolerant and 21 per cent became more tolerant. About 58 per cent of those whose status was unchanged made no change in their attitudes. An additional 17 per cent of this group became less tolerant, while 25 per cent became more tolerant. The chi-square test indicated that differences as great as these could occur by chance 30 times in 100. An analysis of the change in status as seatmate revealed the same general pattern. The differences were even less significant than in the case of change in status as friendly. As far as these students were concerned, a change in status as friendly or as seatmate was not related to change in attitudes toward Jews. 115 Negro Prejudice Scores. The change in attitudes toward Negroes followed the same inconclusive course that was taken with respect to Jews. Over half of the students changed neither their status as friendly nor their attitudes. Nearly 60 per cent of those whose status did change still retained their former attitudes. When attitudes did change, the direction was toward more tolerance. An analysis of change in status as seatmate produced an almost identical picture. It was highly probable that whatever differences did exist could be attributed to chance. It must be concluded that there was no significant relationship between change in the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes and change in status as measured by these two sociometric tests. Despite this negative conclusion, there is still need to pursue this approach further. It is well known that the categories established by the use of this technique are always done so in reference to some criterion. For example, students identified as isolated by either of the two sets of questions employed herein would not necessarily be similarly classified if another question were asked. Consequently, it is possible that use of different criteria by the posing of diverse situations might achieve more positive results. 116 It must be pointed out, too, that although over half of all students received the same relative status when they were retested three years later,this does not necessarily imply the same high level of stability in individual choice patterns. A student might have been highly chosen in both l9h9 and 1952, and yet be chosen by different people in each year. In fact, a concurrent but independent analysis of individual patterns revealed comparatively little stability in the extreme cate- gories of highly chosen and rejected. Stars in 19h9 might still retain their status as stars in 1952 but within a dif- ferent constellation of choosers. Further study of patterns of individual preferences may still be essential in order to understand and to deal wisely with prejudice. H. SUMMARY In this chapter, attention was focused on the associa- tion believed to exist between various relationships which adolescents have with other young people and their expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. _ The relationships investigated included: (1) polar types of positive and negative orientation; (2) liking to be with peers; (3) peer understanding of adolescents; and (A) quarrel- ing with peers}. In addition, three other kinds of relationships were examined: (1) sociometric status as friendly; (2) sociometric 117 status as seatmate; and (3) change in sociometric status and change in attitudes. For the purpose of analysis, peers were regarded as constituting a reference group toward whom adoles- cents could be oriented along a continuum ranging from negative to positive poles. Data collected in 19h9 indicated that the youth of Maple County expressed more tolerant attitudes toward Jews than toward Negroes. It was assumed that students positively oriented toward their peers tend to resemble them more than do those who are negatively oriented. It was further assumed that change in attitudes would tend to be toward those of the positive reference group and away from those Of the negative reference group. Two sets of hypotheses had to be formulated for testing each of the above relationships because of the forementioned difference in attitudes expressed toward Jews and Negroes. The hypotheses may be stated as follows: 1. That students who are positively oriented toward their peers tend to be more tolerant, and change more toward tolerance, of Jews than students who are negatively oriented. 2. That students who are positively oriented toward their peers tend to be less tolerant, and change more toward intolerance, of Negroes than students who are negatively oriented. 118 The results of analyzing the data concerning these hypotheses are presented in Table VII and summarized below. 1. The polar types of positive and negative orientation toward peers were not significantly related to the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. What differences did exist showed negatively oriented students to be more tolerant. 2. Although girls liked to be with girls their own age very significantly more than with boys, the extent to which these adolescents liked to be with their peers seemed to be unrelated to the expression of minority attitudes. 3. The understanding of the problems of young people by adolescents was significantly greater among students in the polar category of positive orienta- tion than among those negatively oriented; but there was apparently no relationship between this under- standing and the expression or change in the expression of minority attitudes. A. There was no significant relationship between the frequency of quarrels with parents and the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. S. Sociometric status as friendly was not significantly related to the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. 6. Sociometric status as classmate was not significantly related to the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. 7. Sociometric status as friendly was significantly more stable among boys than girls; but there was no signif- icant relationship between change in sociometric status as friendly or seatmate and change in attitudes. On the basis of the available data, the only conclusion one can reach is that the hypotheses relative to the relation- ship between orientation toward peers and the expression or change in attitudes toward minority groups were not substantiated. 119 TABLE VII SUMMARY OF THE RELATION BETWEEN PEER GROUP ROLES AND 1952 PREJUDICE SCORES AND CHANGE IN PREJUDICE Criteria 1952 Change in of youth's roles in Prejudice Scores pp: Prejudice relation to peers Jeszh Negro Jewish Negro R1 D2 R1 D2 R1 D2 R1 D2 Polar types of posi- tive-negative orientation N N N N Like to be with fellows my age N N N N Like to be with girls my age N N . N N Peer understanding of adolescent problems N N N N Frequency of quarrels N N N N Sociometric status as friendly N N N N Sociometric status ‘ as seatmate N N N N Change in status as friendly N N N N Change in status as seatmate N N N N 1 Relationship between criterion and prejudice score or change in prejudice. N indicates no relation. 2 Direction of the relationship. 120 Despite the seeming lack of fruitfulness of this approach so far, it must be borne in mind that this study represented a pristine effort into the application of role analysis to the dynamics of prejudice. When one is striking a new trail, the presence of even slight success must be regarded as making some contribution. Given more salient attitudes and a refined measuring instrument, this author is confident that this approach would bear fruit and be useful in increasing the knowledge now possessed concerning the problem of prejudice. CHAPTER VI ATTITUDES AS A FUNCTION OF RELATIONSHIPS WITH TEACHERS By the time the young child is old enough to enter school, he has undoubtedly learned a large number of the- attitudes and beliefs, the knowledge and prejudices, preva- lent within his family group. These shared elements of a common culture are the major source of a child's attitudes. But as the child expands his horizon of social activities and perception, in and out of school, other influences come into play. Since the school occupies only a part of the child's waking hours, some authors have tended to minimize its influ- ence in attitude reformation.l The basis for this presumption stems from an early study by Hartshorne and May.2i These authors found that the moral judgments of a large number of children correlated .55 with those Of their parents, .35 with their friends or peers, but only .03 with their teachers. The assumption was made, apparently, that the findings of this one study with respect to a particular set of attitudes 1For example, Arnold Green reports that the influence of the play group exceeds that of the classroom in Sociologx: gp Analysis 2; Life jg Modern Society (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1952), p. E62. 2H. Hartshorne and M.A. May, "Testing the Knowledge . of Right and Wrong," Religious Education, XXI (1926), 539-554. 122 necessarily held when other attitudes and other situations were concerned. ‘The evidence which has been presented earlier in this study showed that a substantial number of children changed their attitudes considerably over an interval of three years. The implications of this change, therefore, lead one to question the constancy of the moral judgments reported above. Actually, the school exerts its influence on students in manifold ways, some of which are directly observable and others which are not. The ordinary school and classroom, such as are typical of those in Maple County, tend to disconcert students greatly. For one thing, when the child enters the school, he must learn to subordinate much of his self to the exacting demands of a social institution. When all of the frustrations which are implicit in submission to a disciplined atmosphere are combined, it is relatively easy to understand the reluctance of students to cooperate wholeheartedly with the school's educational program developed ostensibly in their behalf. Most people can conjure up a stereotype of the teacher in an environment similar to that sketched above which carica- turizes the personality of the teacher. There are two major aspects to this stereotype. On the one hand, the teacher is a disgruntled, thwarted individual ruling over a small domain of small concerns of small children, a creature hardly fit to 123 live in ordinary society. On the other hand, the teacher is endowed with attributes of wholesomeness and altruism far in excess of those possessed by his fellow beings. .In the event that the ever-present but latent resent- ment of the student concerning the restrictive school routine erupts into the open, the teacher must be able to play the role of domination. The teacher's role of institutional leader requires the maintenance of a high degree of social distance or aloofness between himself and his students. The concept of social distance implies that a person may be physically near another person while still psychically and socially inaccessible. Despite these contradictory stereotypes and this environ- ment of dominance-submission, the school has become almost as much a depository of ideals as the church. Like the minister, the teacher "possesses a high degree of social sacredness. He must be a little better than other men . . ."3 One of these ideals is tolerance of the minority groups in our midst. The actual personal views of teachers tend to approximate the level of tolerance prevalent within the community of which they are members. Nevertheless, teachers as teachers, rather than as 3Willard Waller, "The Teacher's Role," in Joseph S. Roucek, and others, Sociolegical Foundations 9: Education (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, l9h27, pp. ZOE-222; p. 217 cited. For a recent study of public attitudes toward teachers, see Frederic W. Terrien, "Who Thinks What about Educators?" Tpp.American Journalef Sociolo , LIX (1953 ) e 150‘1580 124 individuals, are assumed by their students to represent tolerant points of view. This chapter considers some of the relationships which adolescents have with teachers. It also examines the associa- tion between differences in these relationships and differences .in the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. Assum- ing that teachers represent tolerance in the minds of their students, it was hypothesized that positive orientation toward teachers tends to be associated with the expression Of tolerance and negative orientation with the expression of prejudice. A. POLAR TYPES OF POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ORIENTATION There is cultural compulsion for young people to profess a high degree of in-group loyalty to their peers and to their parents. Students are not under similar compulsion to express favorable attitudes toward their teachers. There is a greater latitude of expression permitted when they are involved. If anything, the expression of relatively unfavorable opinions with regard to teachers seems to be a normal tendency among adolescents. Close association with teachers often results in being identified as a "teacher's pet" and thus the butt of peer disapproval. For these reasons, the criteria of negative polar orien- tation toward teachers were more exacting than in the case of 125 either parents or peers. This category included the twenty- five students who said either that they did not like to be with pppp men and women teachers or that they "least" liked to be with them. On the other hand, the category of positive polar orientation was composed of twenty-seven students who liked "very much" to be with both men and women teachers. Jewish Prejudice Scores. The distribution of mean raw Jewish Prejudice Scores, shown in Figure 5, on page 66, indicates that students who were negative polar oriented were considerably less tolerant than those who were positive polar oriented toward teachers. On the other hand, the latter were closer to the mean for all students in 1952. This was consistent with the findings relative to the positions occupied by students who were positively oriented toward their parents and peers. Students oriented negatively toward their teachers were the least tolerant of any of the six categories identified as polar types of Orientation. An analysis of the differences in mean Jewish Prejudice Scores shown in Table I in Appendix B yielded no statistically significant results. An analysis of Change in Jewish Prejudice Scores according to polar orienta- tion toward teachers revealed that differences between categories could be due to chance ‘ (P) .50). Negrp Prejudice Scores. The mean raw Negro Prejudice Score for students positive polar oriented toward their teachers, 126 shown in Figure 6 on page 69, was closer to the mean score of all students than was the score of negative polar oriented students. Figure 6 also shows that the latter group was less tolerant of Negroes than those who were positively oriented. These findings agreed with those discussed in the chapters dealing with parent and peer relationships. As in the case of the Jewish Prejudice Scores reported above, students nega- tively oriented toward their teachers were the least tolerant of any of the six types of polar orientation. An analysis of the mean Negro Prejudice Scores shown in Table II in Appendix B produced three significant results. Students who were negative polar oriented toward their teachers were significantly (P'<.05) less tolerant of Negroes than the student body as a whOle in 1952. The former group was also significantly (P‘(.02) less tolerant than those negative polar oriented toward their parents. Students negative polar oriented toward teachers were likewise significantly (P‘<.Ol) less tolerant than those negative polar oriented toward their peers. Undoubtedly, this category included students who expressed extreme attitudes toward Negroes in comparison to students in other polar categories of orientation. Students positive polar oriented toward teachers are shown in Table VIII to change significantly (P’>.02) more toward tolerance of Negroes than students negative polar oriented. 127 TABLE VIII CHANGE IN NEGRO PREJUDICE SCORES BY POLAR ORIENTATION TOWARD TEACHERS 4— Negative Polar POSIPIve Polar Direction of change Orientation Orientation Number Per cent Number Per cent Toward intolerance 7 38.9 3 13.0 No change 9 50.0 11 h7.9 Toward tolerance 2' 11.1 9 39.1 Totals 38 100.0 23 10040 x2=7.05 2 d.f. P).02<.05 Due to the small size of the cells involved, the signif- icance of this difference should not be overemphasized. Its importance would be increased if the same trends were to con- tinue as the polar categories were enlarged. The findings with respect to the 1952 Negro Prejudice Scores and to the Change in Negro Prejudice Scores supported the hypotheses offered above. The fact that negative polar orientation toward teachers was significantly related to the expression of prejudice toward Negroes places teachers in strategic positions for the implemen- tation of programs designed to change existing attitudes. It appears possible, therefore, that steps taken to improve teacher- pupil relationships by reducing the latent or overt hostility 128 which students seem to express normally against teachers pp; §p_ might, concomitantly, serve to reduce intergroup tensions between Negroes and whites. It should be recognized, however, that the efficacy of such steps might not prove equally satisfactory under all cir- cumstances or in all communities. Probably, since each situa- tion is unique in itself, this would require a program which would be unique also. In other words, a "Johnstown Plan" might be ineffectual if it were imposed l2,£2£2 on some other town. Nevertheless, the determination and application of basic underlying principles for the improvement of relationships between students and teachers should go far to speed up the overall process of improvement in majority-minority relation- ships. B. LIKING TO BE WITH TEACHERS Nearly 70 per cent of all Maple County students in this study expressed relatively indifferent attitudes about liking to be with either men or women teachers as can be seen by reference to Table XIX in Appendix B. There may be many reasons for such expression of sentiment, such as: (l) the role of the teacher requires the maintenance of a certain amount of social distance between teacher and student; (2) differences in age with attendant differences in interests may mitigate against 129 closer attachments; (3) the lack of opportunity for the devel- opment of such relationships outside of the classroom; and (A) a desire on the part of students to avoid close identifica- tion with teachers which would incur the disapproval of other members of the peer group. The student body as a whole was slightly more pesitively oriented toward men teachers than toward women teachers. This could be a reflection of differ- ences in the personalities of the individual teachers which the students either had in their classrooms or knew about in the respective schools. Boys tended to like being with men teachers more than with women teachers just as the girls liked to be with women teachers more than they liked to be with men teachers. Men teachers were most liked by the senior boys from the country while they were most disliked by the freshmen girls who lived in town. On the other hand, women teachers were liked most by senior girls who lived in the country and were disliked most by freshmen boys from the country. Although these differences were not statistically significant, further analysis of this criterion of orientation toward teachers will deal with student relationships with men and women teachers separately. Jewish Prejudice Scores. Boys who did not like to be with men teachers were significantly (P‘<.05) less tolerant of Jews than boys who were either relatively indifferent or 130 positively oriented toward them. There were no significant differences in the attitudes of girls on the basis of this criterion of orientation toward men teachers. When all stu- dents were considered together, those who did not like to be with men teachers were significantly less tolerant, at the one- per cent level of probability, thamkhose who "sort of liked" to be with them. This is shown in Table IX. It may be noted that the trend was slightly curvilinear. TABLE IX 1952 JEWISH PREJUDICE SCORES BY THE EXTENT STUDENTS LIKE TO BE WITH MEN TEACHERS 1952 Don't like Makes Sort of Like very Jewish Prejudice to be no like to much to Scores witp; difference be with. be with % % % % Intolerant 1 .0 3.0 2.8 9.3 Intermediate hh.0 27.3 25. 33efi Tolerant h4.0 69e7 71e S7e Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 No. of cases 25 132 71 5h Means 2.32 24913 2.69 2,h8 Summary of analysis of variance: Total sum of squares 95.31 Between group sum of squares 3.85 P(F3 278:3.88)<.Ol Within group sum of squares 91.46 ’ 131 Students who were most negatively oriented toward women teachers were least tolerant, while those who were most posi- tively oriented were the most tolerant. As indicated in Table X, analysis of variance applied to 1952 Jewish Prejudice Scores for the four categories of liking to be with women teachers revealed that these differences were nearly significant at the five-per cent level of probability. TABLE X 1952 JEWISH PREJUDICE SCORES BY THE EXTENT STUDENTS LIKE TO BE WITH WOMEN TEACHERS 1952 Don't like Makes Sort of Like very Jewish Prejudice to be no like to much to Scores with difference be with be with % % 9% % Intolerant 18.3 3.7 3.1 2.g Intermediate 3 e7 25e9 21.2 25e TOlorant 50.0 70.“- Se 72e1 Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 No. of cases 30 135 6A R3 Means gg37 g,67 2,63_ 2,10 Summary of analysis of variance: Total sum of squares 87. 0 Between group sum of squares 2.6 P(F3 268=2.56)>.05 9 Within group sum of squares 85.0h 132 Differences in change in attitudes toward Jews was not significantly related to this criterion of orientation toward either men or women teachers. However, change in attitudes was more noticeable in relation to orientation toward women teachers. Furthermore, the trend of change was in the direc- tion hypothesized for each category even though the differences were too small to be significant. Npgpp Prejudice Scores. Differences between the 1952 Negro Prejudice Scores of boys who did not like to be with men teachers and those who were more positively oriented were signif- icant at the one-per cent level of probability. Girls displayed no such differences in their scores. However, as Table XI shows, students who did not like to be with men teachers were signifi- cantly less tolerant than students who "sort of liked" to be with them. The trend here was also slightly curvilinear although not as pronounced as in the case of the Jewish Prejudice Scores. An analysis of Prejudice Scores in relation to orienta- tion toward women teachers showed comparable results. Boys who did not like to be with women teachers were significantly (P‘7.Ol) less tolerant than other boys. Again, the girls did not differ materially. When the scores of all students were combined, the most negatively oriented students were the least tolerant as shown in Table XII. TABLE XI 133 1952 NEGRO PREJUDICE SCORES BY THE EXTENT STUDENTS LIKE TO BE WITH MEN TEACHERS 1952 Don't like Makes Sort of Like very Negro Prejudice to be no like to much to Scores with difference be with be with % % 95 % Intolerant 28.6 10.5 fi.3 12.2 Intermediate h2.8 32.2 g .7 M3.9 Tolerant 28.6 57.3 0.0 h3.9 Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 No. of cases 28 152 75 57 Means 2,00 2,h1, 2355 2.32__ Summary of analysis of variance: Total sum of squares th.8h Between group sum of squares 7.09 P(F3,308:5.2h)<.01 Within group sum of squares 138.75 TABLE XII 1952 NEGRO PREJUDICE SCORES BY THE EXTENT STUDENTS LIKE TO BE WITH WOMEN TEACHERS 1952 Don't like Makes Sort of Like very Negro Prejudice to be no like to much to Scores with difference be with be with % 76 % % Intolerant 31. 7.6 10. 8.3 Intermediate 3h.h 33.1 No.9 Ml.7 T016rant Bueu- 59.3 (+8e5 50.0 Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 No. of cases 32 157 66 R8 Means 2,03 2,52 2,38 ,gluz Summary of analysis of variance: Total sum of squares 13 .77 Between group sum of squares .fi? P(F3 299:h.71)<}01 133. O ’ Within group sum of squares 131+ There was no apparent relationship between orientation toward men teachers and change in attitudes toward Negroes. The proportion of students negatively oriented toward women teachers who became less tolerant was slightly greater than the proportion who became more tolerant. The proportion of students positively oriented who became more tolerant was much greater than the proportion who became less tolerant. The chi-square test revealed that differences between cate- gories of liking to be with women teachers and changes in expressed attitudes toward Negroes were significant at about the two-per cent level of probability. These differences are shown in Table XIII. TABLE XIII CHANGE IN NEGRO PREJUDICE SCORES BY THE EXTENT STUDENTS LIKE TO BE WITH WOMEN TEACHERS t LI _“ Direction Don't like Makes Sort of Like var; of to be no like to much to chaqge wp;h dlffeyence be %ith be £ith Toward intolerance 38. 1i.6 16.9 10.9 No change 51.7 5 .5 53.9 50.0 Toward tolerance 10.3 29 9 29.2 39.1 Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 No. of cases 29, 15h 65 H6 X2=13.93 d.f.=6 P).02<.O5 135 In summation of this criterion of orientation, it may be said that significant relationships were found to exist between 1952 Jewish and Negro Prejudice Scores and the degree to which students liked to be with men teachers. Significant differences in Negro Prejudice Scores, and nearly significant differences in Jewish Prejudice Scores, were found with respect to liking to be with women teachers. Differences in liking to be with women teachers were also related significantly to changes in attitudes toward Negroes. While not all of the relationships were statistically significant, they were in the direction which supported the hypotheses examined. That is, students who were negatively oriented toward teachers, as measured by not liking to be with them, tended to become less tolerant than students who were positively oriented. Also, students who were positively oriented, as measured by some degree of liking to be with teachers, tended to become more tolerant than students who were negatively oriented. The differences between student relationships with teachers and the expression of student attitudes toward Jews were not as great as those concerning Negroes. One reason for this may be found in the lesser crystallization of the stereotyped imagery of Jews that existed in Maple County in comparison to the more definite image that prevailed with respect to Negroes. 136 C. TEACHER UNDERSTANDING OF ADOLESCENTS Part of a teacher's professional training is usually devoted to the development of insight into the particular emotional and social problems which are likely to confront her students. In addition, many schools carry on programs of guidance which are specially designed to cope with these problems as they emerge. Presumably, students through daily contacts increase their awareness of the extent to which teachers possess this insight and understanding and react toward them accordingly. Students who felt that teachers understood the problems of young people were assumed to be positively oriented toward them. Conversely, those students who felt that teachers lacked understanding of the problems which adolescents must face were assumed to be negatively oriented. Table XX, in Appendix B, discloses that only 22 per cent of the students identified as positive polar oriented toward teachers thought they did not understand young people; while A8 per cent of the students in the negative polar category felt the same. The difference in understanding between polar categories of orientation was nearly significant at the five- per cent level of probability. Jewish Prejudice_§ggpg§, A significant association was found when Jewish Prejudice Scores of the students of Maple 137 County were analyzed in relation to the degree their parents understood young people. This was discussed in Chapter IV, where it was pointed out that the association refuted the hypotheses. An examination of these same scores with respect to the understanding of teachers also revealed differences significant at the one-per cent level of probability. This time, however, the findings were in substantiation of the hypotheses. In other words, as shown in Table XIV which follows, the expression of tolerance toward Jews increased as the degree of teacher understanding increased. TABLE XIV 1952 JEWISH PREJUDICE SCORES BY THE DEGREE TEACHERS UNDERSTAND YOUNG PEOPLE 1952 Degree teachers understand young people Jewish Prejudice Not Not Fairly , Very Scores at all very_well well, well % % % % Intolerant 15.h g.i 3.8 2.8 Intermediate 9.2 2 . 28. 25.0 Tolerant 15.4 66.1 67. 72.2 Totals 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 No. of cases 13 53 183 36 Means _§.00 2e58 _;.6h 2.69 Summary of analysis of variance: Total sum of squares 95.93 Between group sum of squares 5 2 P(F3,28IF5.50)<.01 Within group sum of squares 90.71 138 Students who were negatively oriented, as determined by a feeling that teachers lacked student understanding, were the least tolerant. Positively oriented students who felt very well understood by teachers were the most tolerant. These same findings prevailed for both boys and girls when their Jewish Prejudice Scores were analyzed separately. Differences in degree of teacher understanding, however, were not signifi- cantly related to change in attitudes toward Jews. Ngggg Prejudice Segres. Teacher understanding was one criterion of orientation which did not indicate significant differences in either the expression of attitudes toward Negroes or changes in these attitudes. There was practically no difference between the mean Negro Prejudice Scores of those who felt that teachers had no understanding of young people and those who felt that teachers understood young people very welle D. QUARRELING WITH TEACHERS Quarreling with teachers does not occur in the same fashion as quarreling with parents or classmates. For one thing, the social role of teachers is usually one of domi- nance and discipline. Accordingly, the occasion for quarrel- ing with teachers frequently occurs in relation to some alleged or actual breach of school discipline. Under such circumstances, 139 the student is probably more likely to suppress the resentment which might be openly displayed if parents or classmates were involved. Disagreements between students and teachers arising in the course of classroom recitations over points of fact are not to be considered as quarrels under most circumstances. Therefore, the opportunities for quarreling arise somewhat less frequently with teachers than with parents or peers. All students were asked to respond to the question: "On about how many days over the past four weeks have you become 'good and mad' at your teachers?" About three students in ten had no quarrels, while about one in ten had had five or more. There was no difference between girls and boys in the frequency with which they quarreled with their teachers. It was assumed that infrequent quarrels indicated positive orientation, and that frequent quarrels were a sign of negative orientation toward teachers. Jewish Prejudice Scores. Seventy-six students had never quarreled with their teachers during the previous month. Only one of them had an intolerant Jewish Prejudice Score. However, only three out of the ninety-two students who had quarreled frequently, three or more times, were intolerant. This is evidence of the lack of any significant difference between categories of frequency in quarreling. The mean Jewish Preju- dice Score indicated that those who never quarreled were most 140 tolerant. At the same time, students who quarreled most often showed the greatest change toward tolerance. Npgpg Prejudice Scores. The mean Negro Prejudice Score of students who quarreled with their teachers three or more times per month indicated that they were less tolerant than students who quarreled infrequently. There was no consistent or significant relationship between the frequency of quarrels and the expression of attitudes toward Negroes. Methodologically, this criterion needs further sharpening before it can produce significant results. The general atmos- phere of the public school environment is such that the relation- ship investigated under the rubric of quarreling was found to be less meaningful than similar relationships with parents and peers. This was the only relationship between teachers and students that produced no significant differences at any point. For that reason, its fruitfulness for future investi- gation seems doubtful. E. SUMMARY The focus of attention in this chapter has been upon some of the relationships that young people have with their teachers and the effect of these relationships upon the expres- sion of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. 141 In this chapter, students were regarded as occupying various positions on a continuum from negative to positive orientation toward teachers. Four criteria of student-teacher relationships were selected for examination. These relation- ships involved: (1) polar types of positive and negative orientation toward teachers; (20 the degree to which students like to be with men or women teachers; (3) the degree to which students feel that teachers understand young people and their problems; and (h) the frequency with which students quarrel with their teachers. A belief in the "brotherhood of man" and in "equality" 4 is part of the American value system. Teachers as the duly selected agents charged by the community with the transmission and inculcation of the American heritage were assumed to represent these values in their classrooms. RegardleSs of the degree to which teachers as individuals might express tolerant or intolerant attitudes, it was presumed that as a reference group, students would view them as symbols of tolerance. On this basis, positive orientation toward the reference group would mean acceptance of the values of that group. Negative orientation toward the reference group, on the other hand, would imply a rejection of its values. uFor a concise but comprehensive statement of the Amer- ican value system, see Robin M. Williams, Jr., American Societ : §,SocioloEical Interpretation (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1951§, pp. 372- e 1112 Accordingly, the following hypotheses concerning student- teacher relationships were formulated: l. 2. That students who are positively oriented toward their teachers tend to be more tolerant than students who are negatively oriented. That students who are positively oriented toward their teachers tend to change more toward tolerance than students who are negatively oriented. Testing these hypotheses on the basis of 1952 Jewish and Negro Prejudice Scores and on the basis of change in these scores disclosed several significant findings. These results are summarized in Table XV and detailed below. 1. 2. Students who were negative polar oriented toward teachers were significantly less tolerant of Negroes than students who were positively oriented. Students who were positive polar oriented toward teachers changed significantly more toward tolerance of Negroes than students who were negatively oriented. Students who did not like to be with men teachers. were significantly less tolerant of Jews and Negroes than those who were positively oriented. Students who did not like to be with women teachers were significantly less tolerant of Negroes, and nearly significantly less tolerant of Jews, than students who were more positively oriented. Students who liked very much to be with women teachers became significantly more tolerant of Negroes than students who were negatively oriented. Students who thought teachers understood young people were significantly more tolerant of Jews than stu- dents who were negatively oriented. Teacher understanding was not significantly related to attitudes toward Negroes nor to changes in these attitudes. 143 8. Frequency of quarrels with teachers was not signif- icantly related to the expression of attitudes toward either Jews or Negroes nor to changes in these attitudes. Discovery of these significant relationships has impli- cations for those who are interested in seeing current majority- minority attitudes and relationships changed. The laissez- fgigg gradualists who believe that human relationships will improve of their own accord if left alone may find comfort in the fact that none of the Maple County schools carried on any conscious or deliberate attempts to increase tolerance of Jews or Negroes during the three years covered by this study. On the other hand, those who advocate more rapid alteration of the status gup may argue that if this amount of change can be effected without a program consider how much faster changes would occur if a comprehensive program were attempted. Another implication of these findings is that expolitation of the factors responsible for positive orientation toward teachers as a reference group might at the same time contribute to changes in attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. Three of the significant relationships involved attitudes toward Jews and five involved Negroes. This would seem to indicate that a program designed to change the existing attitudes toward Negroes would not necessarily be equally effective in changing attitudes toward Jews. This means that two separate programs may have to be established if change in attitudes toward both groups is the objective. TABLE XV SUMMARY OF THE RELATION BETWEEN STUDENT-TEACHER ROLES AND 1952 PREJUDICE SCORES AND CHANGE IN PREJUDICE Criteria 1952‘ Change in of youth's roles in Prejudice Scores Prejudice relation to teachers Jewish Negro Jewish Negro R1 D2 R1 D2 R1 D2 R1 D2 Polar types of posi- tive-negative orientation N .01 P03 N .02 P03 Like to be with men teachers .01 P03 .01 P08 N N Like to be with Near women teachers .05 P03 .01 P03 N .02 Pos Teacher under- standing of adolescent problems .01 P08 N N N Frequency of quarrels N N N N 1Relationship between criterion and prejudice score or change in prejudice. N indicates no relation. When a relationship is indicated, the probability that it would occur by chance is given. 2Direction of the relationship. Pos indicates that youth with a positive orientation toward teachers are more tolerant, or more likely to change toward tolerance, than youth negatively oriented toward teachers. 1&5 From a methodological standpoint, these findings disclose a useful tool for analysis in the concept of orientation toward reference groups. When the expectations of the youth culture relative to a given reference group are less bound up with positive sentiments, as in the case of relationships with teachers, it seems that paper-pencil questionnaires of the type used herein might be productive of fruitful research. On the other hand, in those cases where cultural expectations require the expression of more positive sentiments, as in situations involving parents and peers, somewhat more intensive techniques might be necessary. CHAPTER VII SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS This report has served a threefold purpose. In the first place, it has described the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes by the adolescent population of a selected community in the Midwest. At the same time, it has described the change that occurred in these attitudes during the period from 19kg to 1952. In the second place, it has analyzed some adolescent relationships with parents, peers, and teachers which were believed to be associated with sub- cultural differences in the expression of these attitudes. And, in the third place, it has presented an instrument for the measurement of orientation toward these reference groups which might be fruitful in other aspects of role analysis as well as in the study of prejudice. Throughout the study, analysis has been guided by this working hypothesis: Differences in the expression of attitudes toward minority groups are a function of differences in role orientation among the members of a given group. The community selected for this study was carefully chosen to be typical of the rural cornbelt area of the United States. After the community had been chosen, data were collected by means of questionnaires administered to all sixth, ninth, and twelfth grade students present in the public schools I: I‘llfll‘lév {Ill 1A7 of the community on a given day in 19h9. Three years later, additional data were secured by similar but expanded question- naires given to all ninth and twelfth grade students present in the high schools of the community on a particular day. There were 332 students for whom data from both questionnaires were available. These students constituted the adolescent subculture of Maple County which was the focus of attention in this study. The method employed to describe the prevalent climate of opinion in both 1949 and 1952 entailed the use of Jewish Prejudice Scores and Negro Prejudice Scores. These scores represented summations of the responses made to pertinent attitude statements contained in the questionnaires. The responses were so coded that the higher the score, the greater the degree of tolerance that was expressed. Raw prejudice scores were converted into "intolerant," "intermediate," and "tolerant" scores for ease in handling. In subsequent analysis, the analysis of variance technique was applied to the means of these prejudice scores for the purpose of determining the significance of subcultural differences. A comparison of 1949 and 1952 prejudice scores for the same student made it possible to compute the extent of change in expressed attitudes during the three-year interval. On this basis, students were identified as "changing toward intol- II I! I. erance, making no change, and "changing toward tolerance" 148 of Jews and Negroes. The chi-square technique was used for assessing the statistical significance of subcultural differences. In analyzing differences in the prejudice scores for 19h9 and 1952, the dependent variables were the expressions of minority-group attitudes as manifested by the Jewish and Negro Prejudice Scores. In analyzing change in the expression of such attitudes, the dependent variables were the respective Change in Prejudice Scores. In both cases, the independent variables were certain specific relationships which young people had with their parents, peers, and teachers. These relationships were classified empirically into categories which represented points along a continuum ranging from nega- tive to positive orientation toward each of the three reference groups. A. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Attitudes toward gggg. About 92 per cent of the 332 students for whom questionnaires were available in both 19h9 and 1952 responded to all six Jewish statements in both years. In 19h9, less than 8 per cent of these students expressed intolerant attitudes; 32 per cent were intermediate; and 60 per cent professed tolerant attitudes toward Jews. The adults in Maple County expressed attitudes which were definitely less tolerant than those held by these young people. 1&9 By 1952, less than 5 per cent of the same students were intolerant; 30 per cent were intermediate; and over 65 per cent expressed tolerance for Jews. The changes in attitudes toward Jews are summarized in Table XVI. Over 42 per cent of the students changed their attitudes. One-fourth of the tolerant students became less tolerant. In marked con- trast, 85 per cent of the intolerant students increased in tolerancegone-third of them moving all the way from intolerant in 1949 to tolerant in 1952. Only 2 per cent of the tolerant students changed all the way to intolerant during the same period. Although the student body as a whole became more toler- ant of Jews, the image of Jews possessed by most students in 1952 was still somewhat nebulous and not too clearly crystal- lized. Consequently, despite the pervasiveness of a general cultural sentiment of tolerance toward Jews, certain subcul- tural differences were found with respect to various of the relationships which adolescents had with other people. Attitudes toward Negroes. Only 8h per cent of the 332 students in this study responded to all six Negro statements in both of the questionnaires. In 1949, over 15 per cent were classified as intolerant; 38 per cent as intermediate; and nearly #7 per cent as tolerant. The general level of sentiment expressed toward Negroes was less tolerant than that expressed 150 TABLE XVI CHANGES IN PREJUDICE SCORES FROM lghg TO 1952 AMONG STUDENTS RESPONDING TO ALL REPEATED ITELS ON BOTH DATES $352 Prejudice Scores Classifica- 19A9 No Changsd fromjl9h9 Total 1952 tion of Preju- change To To To that Preju- scores dice from intol- inter- tol- made dice Scores 19h9 erant mediate erant change Scores Jewish "“"’ % % % % % % % Intolerant 7.8 1 .g 0.0 52.u 3g.& 8i.7 N.8 Intermediate 2.2 3 . 8.0 0.0 5 . 6 .8 29.6 TOlerant 0.0 7 07 1.8 23.5 0.0 25.3 65.6 Totals 100.0 57.A 3.7 18.1 20.8 N2.6 100.0 No. of cases 270 .l55_ 10 Ag 56 115 270 Negro Intolerant 15.6 27.0 0.0 56.3 16.7 7 .O .8 Intermediate g.8 hh.0 7.6 0.0 h8.h 5 .O 32.5 Tolerant fl .6 70.8 5.h 23.8 0.0 29.2 53.7 Totals 100.0 53.8 5.5 19.9 20.8 86.2 100.0 No, of cases 307 #165 17_ 61 6h ' 1&2 307g 151 toward Jews. Nevertheless, these young people were still more tolerant, on the whole, than was the adult group in general. As a unit, the student body became more tolerant of Negroes between l9h9 and 1952. In the latter year, less than 10 per cent were intolerant; 38 per cent were intermediate and almost 5h per cent were tolerant. Table XVI also shows that over hb per cent of all students changed their attitudes toward Negroes. Nearly 30 per cent of the tolerant students became less tolerant; whereas, 73 per cent of the intolerant students became more tolerant. About one-sixth of the latter group changed all the way to tolerant by 1952. Over 5 per cent of the tolerant students became completely intolerant during the three-year interval. It is possible, of course, that these results were func- tions of the particular sets of statements posed in the ques- tionnaires. That is, the statements relative to one minority might have been more effective discriminatory devices than the statements presented concerning the other minority. Neverthe- less, it cannot be assumed, either, that these differences resulted entirely as a consequence of deficiencies in the measuring instrument. Criteria 9; role orientation. The role orientations of the young people in this study were derived from two sources: (1) their self-image of the kinds of relationships which they 152 had with their parents, peers, and teachers: and (2) their choice, rejection, and isolation by classmates on the basis of responses to two sets of sociometric questions. The data for deduction of the self-images were obtained from responses to questions 3A to #0 in the 1952 questionnaire as presented in Appendix A. These questions may be paraphrased as follows: 1. 2. 3. naire, 1. 2. 3. How do you usually feel most of the time about being with your father and mother? How do you usually feel most of the time about being with fellows and girls your own age? How do you usually feel most of the time about being with men and women teachers? Which two do you most like to be with and which two do you least like to be with? How well do you think your parents, young people your own age, and your teachers understand young people like you and their problems? On about how many days over the past four weeks have you become 'good and mad" at your parents, somebody your age, some teacher? The sociometric questions, 22 to 25 in the 1952 question- may be summarized as follows: Who are the most friendly boys or girls among your classmates? Who are the least friendly boys or girls among your classmates? If you have lots of visitors in school for a pro- gram, and you had to double up or put the seats class together to make room for the visitor, what person in your class would you most like to have sit next to you? 153 A. What person in your class yould you least like to have sit next to you? Relationships with parents and the expression g: pggiu- gigg. The presence of significant differences between the expression of attitudes by adults and adolescents in 1949 indi- cated that parent-youth relationships might be possible factors influencing the attitudes of young people. It was hypothesized that youth positively oriented toward their parents tend to express less tolerance, and become less tolerant, toward minor- ity groups than those who are negatively oriented toward their parents. Table XVII summarizes the findings with respect to the relationship between parent-youth roles and the expression of attitudes toward Jews and Negroes. There was slight evidence that this role orientation was related to the expression of prejudice in 1952, or to changes in prejudice from l9u9 to 1952. It was found that positively oriented boys whose parents understood young people were significantly (P