Mn 3..., .. .. ono-.« ,.£O"N ... o .-.. [nuts-1 ‘0’ .w. -' Y“ ft 1.1 ‘- a :1-L;... c ‘ Vanni-£3.31"! State 13 a Univcrrlty —w—v— *— -—-—v 'I («45. m an"? no 'Vvv This is to certify that the thesis entitled COPING AND DEFENDING IN COLLEGE STUDENTS OF TWO SOCIAL CLASSES presented by Ronald E. Hopson has been accepted towards fulfillment * . of the requirements for ' M.A. 415381-831“ Psychology (ii 2% éflé (1/ Major prof I Date M 0-7 639 A- 4- '- ~— —-— RETURNING MATERIALS: 1V1ESI_] “Place‘in book 'drop to LIBRARIES ‘ 'remove this checkout from .—c—-L your record. FINES will be charged if book is returned after the date stamped below. COPING AND DEFENDING IN COLLEGE STUDENTS OF TWO SOCIAL CLASSES By Ronald E. Hopson A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS 1982 ABSTRACT COPING AND DEFENDING IN COLLEGE STUDENTS OF TWO SOCIAL CLASSES By Ronald E. Hopson This study was designed to delineate the relationship between socioeconomic status during childhood and current psychological func- tioning. The California Personality Inventory (CPI) and selected items from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were used to measure coping and defending for each individual. The scoring criteria conformed to that set forth by Haan (1977). The Hollingshead two—factor index of social class position was employed to determine socioeconomic class standings. The results of 33 lower class students--six men, and 27 women and 32 middle class students-- ll men and 2l women, were compared. T-tests indicated that lower class subjects scored significantly higher than middle class subjects on the defending scale. The middle class students evidenced greater use of coping mechanisms than the lower class student. The limita- tions of assessing dynamic processes via static laboratory methods, and those aspects of the middle class and lower class environments which promote ceping or defending were discussed. Approved: Albert I. Rabin, Chairperson Martha Karson Donald Olmsted (Sociology) Date: Fall, 198l To my parents, Robert and Anna, and to my daughter, Karis. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To God be all the gratitude and praise for the things He has done. It is quite difficult to express appreciation to all the peOple who have touched my life during this project. Though you are not mentioned by name, you are greatly appreciated. Dr. Albert Rabin clearly demonstrated the reason he is vener— ated among his peers and students. For your patience and guidance, I am grateful. Thank you Dr. Karson for remaining on the "team." Dr. Olmsted exemplified that which is good within a system which so often dehumanizes the individual. For your interest, genuineness, and willingness to participate late in the process, I am indebted. James Weathers, Dave Novak, and Joyce Landrum were of invalu- able assistance during the data collection and analysis. Thank you Hilton for your assistance and encouragement. My East Lansing "family," Sunny, Lammy, and Jason were con- sistent encouragement to me. Denise Weatherspoon has been faithful in prayerful support. Your consistency is greatly appreciated. My spiritual "dad" Rev. Wilfred Jordan recognized a need, reached out, and demonstrated the love of Christ. May God continue to lead you in green pastures and beside tranquil waters. Dr. Hugh Jones provided direction and support to me through- out my graduate career. Barbara Burney put aside selfish gain and legitimate need and provided support and encouragement to me. Thank you for being a great mother. Mom and Dad Davis, and the family, your love has meant more to me than you will ever know. Thank you for believing in me. Marion Thomas' patience, support and assistance was crucial to my completing this task. My God grant you all of His best. Day-belle, what can I say--I love you! Danny, you're a brother and a true friend. Bernard, you live Philemon 7. Thank you for being real, and for refreshing the heart of your brother. My father, Robert C. Hopson Sr., infused me with his love for others. He lived a life worthy of his calling and is now at home with Jesus. I wish I could speak to you in the flesh, but since I cannot, I will say it in my spirit. Thank you daddy. My mother, Anna, taught me lessons of eternal value. Momma, for the life which you gave me, thelove, the support and the patience which you have shown, I am eternally grateful. I love you. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES AND DIAGRAMS INTRODUCTION REVIEW OF LITERATURE . Significance of the Problem Social Class Considerations The Lower Class . The Middle Class . . . . Consequences of Class Experiences Theories of Motivation Compensatory Mechanisms . Theories of Ego Functioning Hypotheses . . . METHOD Instrument Procedure RESULTS Hypothesis l Hypothesis 2 . . Additional Findings DISCUSSION Implications for Further Research APPENDICES A. Items of the Coping Scale . 8. Occupational Scale . C. Questionnaire REFERENCES Page vi N—J—l—l omUW-‘CDU'I-Dw w 30 32 33 36 36 37 4o 44 48 49 55 83 LIST OF TABLES Table Page 1. Taxonomy of Ego Processes . . . . . . . . . . 23 2. Distribution of Subjects by Class, Age, and Sex . . . 3l 3. Means, Variance, Standard Deviations, T-Value and Significance Level for Coping and Defending Scores by Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 4. Means, Standard Deviations, T-Value and Significance Level for Coping and Defending Scores by Sex . . . . 38 5. Intercorrelation Matrix of All Variables . . . . . 40 LIST OF DIAGRAM Diagram 1. Sociological Origin of Defense Processes in Lower Class Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 vi INTRODUCTION The current state of theories of personality development and value formation lack clear delineation of the effect the socio- economic environment may have upon the developing individual. Many people may feel that an attempt to delineate the legion factors which may impinge upon an individual from the environment is virtually an impossible task. However, one is reminded of the prominence of such concepts as psychic energy, dynamism, cathexes, etc., in current theories of personality and the equally formidable task of clearly defining these ideas. Therefore, the decisions to search for the effect of environmental circumstances on individuals should not be based on the relative likelihood of attaining to the "truth," but rather the hope that some reasonable notions may be advanced concerning this relationship which may aid us in prevention and intervention. The problem as generally stated is far too awesome for one research project to address. This resesrch will focus upon the environmental conditions as determined by socioeconomic class stand- ing, and their relationship to coping and defensive functioning in academic achievers. The term human environment in this context is taken to include those non-ecological life circumstances which directly effect the psychological functioning of the individual and require some adapta- tion or adjustment of the individual to these circumstances. REVIEW OF LITERATURE Significance of the Problem The effects of the environment on psychological functioning and development has been of much concern to social scientists (Levine, l973; John, l963; Keller, I963). Theoretical formulations from psychoanalytic theory to contemporary theories of personality have placed varying emphasis on factors in the environment and their effect on the individual's psychological functioning and develOpment (Adler, l969; Bandura, l978). Current trends in the investigation of the relationship between life circumstances and personality have focused on the epidemiology of mental disorders in the general popu- lation. The person's interaction with his environment begins before birth. The expectant woman has need of certain kinds of nutrients in order to insure the proper physical development of the child (Gussow, l975). Prenatal experiences of the mother may also directly affect the child emotionally and psychologically. Mothers who are under constant stress during gestation may secrete various chemicals which will predispose the child to certain temperamental charis- tics which may not be harmonious with the environment in which the child is raised. Though the emphasis on prenatal care has been on the importance of physical aspects of the mother's health, there is growing emphasis on the psychological health of the mother. As the 3 child develops after birth, interaction with and effects of the environment become increasingly complex. Social Class Considerations A primary determinant in this country of the kind of environment a person will live in is their social class position. The American class system has evolved primarily along two interdependent dimen- sions: occupation and education (Barber, l968; Krauss, 1968). Those persons who hold positions with sufficient remuneration to afford higher education for their children ordinarily send their children to college (Sanford, l962). When these students graduate, they usually secure jobs which will provide sufficient income for them to live comfortably by American standards, and send their children to college. Those persons who are not sufficiently compensated have little resources to insure higher education for their children. If these students do not seek whatever financial assistance may be available to them (outside the family), they will not be able to pursue an education which will lead to the likelihood of their obtain- ing a secure, well-paying job. These persons, therefore, usually join the working and poor classes which remain for generations in the lower socioeconomic or marginal segment of society. Thus, we see a cycle of those that have, retaining and gaining, and those that have not, remaining and losing. Social class as defined by Sorokin is A. . . the coalescence of occupational and economic bonds plus the bond of belonging to the same basic stratum. . . ." (Sorokin, 1961, p. 87). Research on social classes conceives of this society as divided into four classes: (1) lower class--unskilled manual laborers; (2) working class--manual laborers in semi-skilled and skilled occupations; (3) middle class--white collarworkers and professionals; and (4) elite class--differentiated from the middle class in terms of wealUwandlineage (Kohn, 1977). The vast majority of persons in this country are either of the lower, working, or middle class. The conditions of life (environment) are distinctively different among the classes (Bendix & Lipset, l966). The Lower Class According to some researchers, the lower class home is char- acterized by overcrowding and impoverished conditions. The over- crowded home is not cluttered with play objects, but with persons. There is less variety of stimuli in the home, particularly that which is similar to stimuli at school (i.e., books, pictures, etc.) (Deutsch, 1968). Money for food and clothing is a basic problem and children's playthings are few; educational tools are also less available to the lower class child. There is less labeling of objects for the child and less teaching of the subtle differences between stimuli. Thus, the lower class child has in his stimulus field both less repetition of important concepts (for the purpose of learning) and less direction of his attention to the relevant properties of stimuli (Deutsch, l968). The child may be cared for by many pe0ple, and greater emphasis is placed on meeting his basic physical needs. There is less verbal interaction and play among the parents and the child and siblings of the kind which will prepare the child for school life (Jensen, 1968). Children in lower class homes are reinforced less, in tradi- tional ways, for behavior indicating developmental progress than are children in middle class homes. There is greater emphasis on meet- ing the basic material needs of the family, and emotional aspects of development may be often overlooked. The parents in lower class homes are usually less educated than those of the middle class homes, and therefore offer less encourage- ment to their children toward higher educational and occupational achievement (Whiteman & Deutsch, 1968). Along with this, the par- ents have lower expectations of their child's ultimate attainment, both educationally and occupationally, than middle class parents; however, this may not be the case in the Black lower class family (Scanzoni, 1971). The parents' occupation is also typically of the kind that limits or even disallows the exercise of self-direction. Thus, the parent is usually working under the scruntinizing eye of his super- visor who directs every step of the task the worker is to perform (Kohn, 1977). These tasks are usually not intellectually challeng- ing, and are often boring (assembly'khuework). The parent, conse- quently, does not feel in control of his environment, but feels that he is subject to some external forces in the world, forces that are inaccessible to him (Sennett & Cobb, 1972). The conditions of the lower class urban schools are worse than the middle class schools. The student/teacher ratio is much higher, and facilities/equipment often less adequate. Due to lower tax bases in urban centers as Opposed to suburban areas, lower class schools are unable to provide adequate educational supports such as reading and language labs (Conant, 1961). School equipment tends to be outdated, and teachers who usually are from the middle class group, may experience greater frustration due to the impoverished conditions, which will sometimes affect their job performance. Con- sequently, achievement standards are lower in lower class schools (Katz, 1968). This often leads to the notion that some teachers in lower class environments expect less academic achievement from some of their students and this expectation becomes a self-fulfilling pr0phecy (Davidson & Greenberg, 1967; Clark, 1965). Gottlieb (1964) and Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968), found that not only were those children who were expected to achieve, and did achieve, favorably viewed by their teachers, but those children fin“ whom they held less expectations, who had some degree of academic achievement, were regarded less favorably than their aforementioned peers! Perhaps one of the best known aspects of life in the lower class community is the occurrence of crime and delinquency among its members which directly effect the physical safety of all the members of the community. The broader society observes the plight of the lower class communities and persons and sees social disorgani- zation and deviance. The living conditions of these persons are conducive to deviance according to the social disorganization theor- ists Traub and Little (1975). For poorer areas, families may move more frequently due to financial problems, thereby rendering any feeling of community commitment virtually impossible (Conant, 1961). Organized gangs man the streets in large urban ghettos wreaking havoc on persons and properties within the community. Often, the primary reference group for the lower class child is the "gang.“ These groups take on greater importance than the family in establishing the value system of the child because members of the gangs collectively establish the norms of behavior expected of the youngster (Suttles, 1968). Even among the larger society, the peer group exercises a significant influence on individual values (Davis & Hess, 1963). Within the lower class, there may be an even greater degree of importance ascribed to the peer group than in the middle class, and in light of their life conditions, the lower class child- ren may internalize norms of behavior which are not conducive to achieving the goals of the middle class society. Thus, we see a great many environmental conditions of the lower class person repre- ent a direct counterforce to academic achievement. The middle class environment, however, offers a different set of circumstances. The Middle Class The middle class home is characterized by spacious, materially, relatively comfortable living. There is generally sufficient living space to accommodate movement and exploration without getting in another family member's way. The parents are usually college- educated and many hold professional degrees (Conant, 1961). If par- ents are college-educated, they usually hold higher status and higher paying jobs than their lower class counterparts. There is greater verbal interaction and play of the kind which the child will later encounter in school in the middle class home. Children are encour- aged to talk earlier than in lower class homes, and there is more involvement on the part of the adults in this process. Communication in the middle class home is usually more flexible, detailed and abstract (Jensen, 1968). Preoccupation with the basic physical needs of the child is less necessary, and greater emphasis may be given to the emotional and cognitive aspects of life in the home. Though the parents may be preoccupied with professional and social organizations, there is generally an abundance of objects in the home which provides stimuli that will aid in developing the child's verbal and perceptual capabilities (Deutsch, 1968). Because of the greater involvement of middle class children with objects rather than people early in life, however, these children may develop less interpersonal sensitivity than the lower class child. Parents, particularly fathers, hold jobs which allow self- direction and independent thinking; thus, the children are exposed to people who may experience and exercise greater control over their lives than their lower class counterparts. Middle class parents provide much encouragement and support for educational pursuits, both verbally and behaviorally (Scanzoni, 1971), and more frequently reward their children in tangible ways for behaving in a socially desirable manner. These parents have higher aspirations and expectation levels for their children than lower class parents. 10 This discussion of life in the middle class may lead one to feel that the writer views the middle class experience as utopia, which is certainly not the case. The middle class is, however, the definer of normality and desirability in the larger society, there- fore, the norms which are created by middle class experiences and aspirations have become the ideal against which those of the lower class assess their life circumstances. One need not look far to find conflict and crises in the middle class milieu--this is not the issue--the issue is the extent to which the experiences in living are particularly antithetical to academic achievement. The middle class environment provides the child with sufficiently challenging opportunities for the child to aspire to and attain higher educational objectives than the lower class child. The emphasis here is on the congruence between the experiences of the middle class child, and the way of living which is required in order to obtain higher educa- tion and be considered "successful" in the larger society. Considering the vastly different experiences of the lower class, there may surely be particular impairments to which the lower class person may be subject, to which the middle class person may not be as vulnerable. More specifically, I shall explore the particular impairments that may result in the intellectual and psychological realm of the person's life, and the possible effects of these impair- ments on the childs' motivation for intellectual and academic pur- suits. ll Consequences of Class Experiences Restricted communication in the lower class can result in slower development of intelligible speech by the child. The lack of reinforcement of socially acceptable speech patterns when they begin to develop means the child may develop syntactically different patterns of speaking. Non-standard verbal development in general results in slower learning of traditional English skills, therefore, lowered performance in traditional language arts subjects (Jensen, 1968). Every failure in school contributes to the impairment of the child's self-confidence, thus educational settings may acquire nega- tive valence. This can become a vicious circle with less developed abilities leading to lowered achievements, leading to less opportunity to develop abilities. The class differentiated value system which underlies our stratified society leads the lower class person to "adapt their values to their deprived circumstances" (Rodman, 1963). However, ". . . another culture very different from one's own cannot be com- pletely acquired in adulthood, if in the term culture, we include not only the institutionalized forms of public behavior (customs) but also the more private patterns of thought and emotion that accompany these behavioral forms in their indigenous context . . ." (Levine, 1973). Consequently, while recognizing and valuing the prescriptions of the larger societial norms (defined by the middle class), the lower class person develops some alternative values that may not be highly valued in the larger society. These are formed 12 because of the lower class persons' recognition that although cer- tain levels of educational and occupational attainment are desirable, they may indeed be unattainable for him, thus alternative attain- able values are developed. The lower class person, in order to avoid on-going internal discomfort, will adjust his values to include that which is attainable within the constraints of this environment, and this society. The lack of encouragement may prevent children from using the abilities they possess. These children form low expectations of themselves, possibly because of their introjected parental values and expectations which are non-conducive to traditional high achieve- ment. "Stretched" values of the parents and the community allow these children to perform satisfactorily at lower levels than their abilities would permit. This weakens their commitment to higher educational goals (Rodman, 1963). Intelligence tests correlate highly with school achievement and because lower class children usually are not school achievers, they score markedly lower on tradi- tional intelligence tests. As a result, these children are often labeled as slow learners, thus lending credence to the self- fulfilling prophecy situation previously discussed. 1 Indeed, the implication of lower class conditions in regard to educational achievement are far-reaching. The child learns that the locus of causation of events in his life is not internal, conse- quently, he will not derive a high level of satisfaction arising from his own personal striving. Satisfaction attributed to personal effort l3 (positive affect), is the result of learned preferences and stand- ards of performance (McClelland, 1976; DeCharms, 1968). Thus, for the individual who does not attribute results to his own personal efforts, reward producing behaviors, because they are not viewed as rewarding, may not be as frequently emitted. Since the indi- vidual does not see the locus of causation within himself, he does not emit the behaviors which are indeed the source of the positive results, the results do not occur as frequently, and motivation to achieve in these pursuits is lessened. When people experience deprivation, particularly of basic needs, the behavior and perception of these individuals is motivated pri- marily to remediate this deficit. These people of the lower class may experience threats of deprivation of their basic needs such as food and shelter, behaviors consequently are directed toward obtain- ing these things, and any higher satisfactions, such as academic achievement, may not be accorded the same attention (Maslow, 1970). Further, it must be understood that people's aspirations are formed from that which is presented as realistically available to them. The lower class person quite accurately perceives the traditional middle class standards of living (i.e., large house, two cars, recreational vehicle, college eduation) as largely unavailable to him. He may continue to aspire to attain these things; however, that which he is realistically able to perceive as available to him will also be satis- fying achievements, though these achievements may be well below the individual's capacity. l4 Hebb (1968) experimented with sensory deprivation and found that after subjects had experienced visual, auditory, tactile and tem- poral sense deprivation, they experience hallucinations and for some time afterwards, reported feelings of listlessness, apathy, and an absence of motivation to perform basic duties, thereby providing empirical support for the foregoing discussion. Similarly, depri- vation of educational stimuli in the lower class home may result in impaired intellectual functioning. Differences in environmental factors among first grade children with various reading levels were also found by Esther Milner (1951). She notes that children from homes with many reading materials and other objects contributory to traditional educational attainment, tended to score higher on reading tests. Persons from a deprived background have probably been subject to some form of sensory deprivation which could adversely effect their academic performance. It is difficult to explain all of these factors which are essential to the development of academic achieve- ment motivation. Consequently, one may never determine exactly how much of what kind of environment is necessary for optimum motiva- tional development. One may safely assume, however, that life in the lower class home does not solely provide adequate basis for development of academic achievement motivation. We have observed how environmental conditions may force the individual to abandon, or relegate to a lower priority, certain values which are promoted within the larger society, however, this 15 is not the final decree. Many pe0ple from these environments develop high achievement motivation and attain high levels of achieve- ment (Smith et al., 1978). What are some influences which aid these persons in "overcoming" their environmental constraints? First, I shall consider some theories of achievement motivation in search of an explantion for this phenomenon. Subsequently, I shall focus on what psychological processes develop which may compensate for environmental deficiencies. Theories of Motivation The leading contemporary motivation theorists, David McClelland, emphasizes past and present situational factors as the primary determinant of achievement motivation. The achievement motive develops out of growing expectations. The child is presented with an object or opportunity; his previous experience will determine his expectations, and positive or negative affect results from the con- firmation or non-confirmation of these expectations. A motive is defined as the learned result of pairing cues with affect or pairing cues with the conditions which produce affect (unconditioned stimuli), (McClelland et al., 1953). If there is too frequent confirmation of expectations, the person loses interest, attention is withdrawn, and the development of motivation is impaired. Consequently, there must be some discrepancy between expectations and outcomes. As the child develops, we can see that he must be presented with increasingly complex situations in order to derive pleasure from mastery of experiences. As already discussed, increasingly complex stimuli are 16 largely not available to the lower class persons, thus the develop- mental progression, according to this theoretical perspective, may soon be curtailed. This process does not proceed ad-infinitum; in his paradigm McClelland (1976) cites three limiting factors: (1) native intelli- gence restricts the upper range of complexity of experiences which may be mastered; (2) negative affect may result from the large dis- crepancies between expectations and outcomes, the situation would require an aversive quality prompting withdrawal of interest and cessation of motivational development; and (3) finally, the parents and environmental circumstances must contrive to provide opportu- nities of increasing complexity. The more varied or irregular the circumstances in which mastery occurs, the more generalized the motive will become. Thus, children who are provided mastery expe- riences in many settings will develop a stronger, more generalized achievement motive than those experiencing success in few situations. Families that emphasize excellence in a wide variety of pursuits and expose the child to a variety of environmental stimuli will facili- tate the development of achievement motivation. McClelland feels that stronger achievement motives also require some structuring of performance standards. This situation is usually provided by the parents and surrounding community (Scanzoni, 1971). When this structure is not present or is weak as in the lower class home, stronger educational achievement motives may not develop (Rosen, 1959). 17 According to this theoretical stance, there must be other factors, especially in the case of the lower class achiever, which serve to aid development of the achievement motive in the absence of support and encouragement from the external environment. Kelly (1958) and DeCharms (1968) move from a concept of moti- vation as a have or have not and to what extent issue toward the idea of flexible, alternative seeking persons who continually assess their circumstances and modify their own perceptions of the environ- ment. Motivation no longer carries the implication of a type of global functioning with a measurable "9" factor, but is specific to the particular goal of the individual. Thus motivation becomes more situation specific, and may be present for some activity, such as acquiring chess game playing skills, yet absent for other activi- ties requiring similar highly cognitive skills, such as logical reasoning from premise to conclusion, when presented with deductive reasoning tasks hischool. Behavior is contingent upon the person's construct system according to Kelly. The person makes choices contingent upon the alternatives he sees open for himself. The person's processes (ways of behaving and viewing the world), are determined by the manner in which he anticipates events. The person chooses for him- self that alternative which further extends, yet is consonant with, his already existing system. Kelly's system has direct implications for the lower class academic achiever. Although in an environment which de-emphasizes the importance, or more accurately, the practi- cality of academic achievement or Opposes the expression of it (this 18 opposition resulting from various economic and social barriers to Opportunities), some persons choose to pursue these kinds of goals. As have been noted, the lower class individual does not experience himself as the agent with control of his environment, thus those positive events which the lower class person may experience he often feels have come to him as a result of luck or chance (Sennett & Cobb, 1972). The lower class individual's perception of his environment does not facilitate the development of behaviors which may result in educational achievement. Whether considered from McClelland's psychodynamic vieWpoint or Kelly's cognitive viewpoint, there must be some intervening vari- ables and particular modes of functioning, such as is the case for the lower class achiever, which serves to facilitate traditional achievement oriented behaviors. These crucial variables demand some investigation. The task of ascertaining those factors which are most important in propelling a lower class person to academic achievement is monu- mental. The author recognizes the myriad inexplicable incidents in the life of any lower class academic achiever which may have been the touchstone which may be present in some form for many of these persons. Compensatory Mechanisms Scanzoni (1971) labeled the most crucial variable in aiding children's achievement "parental functionality." Despite the fact that parents are of the lower socioeconomic class, it is important 19 to achievers from this environment to have parents who behaved in a manner indicating the importance of education. The parents must not only give "lip service" to this idea, but behaviorally indicate personal concern for the educational attainment of the child. This is reflected by such things as concern about the child's grades. These parents also attempt to minimize the child's investment in his peer group, often in lower class communities--a gang, by encour- aging long-range goal-oriented thinking. Whatever the condition of deprivation of the parents, they are convinced their children can escape the situation. The mother is most effective in one-parent households in terms of encouraging traditional achievement (Heiss, 1975). Lower status women are considered more achievement oriented than their male counterparts, therefore, it is logical that female-dominant homes would have a positive influence on the achievement of the children. Hunt and Hunt (1975) found that not only was father absence not detrimental to success orientation, but among the black lower class, there were gains in sex role identification among boys whose fathers were not in the home. They suggest that if fathers are unable to provide sufficient tangible support, they may actually become a source of negative identification for the children, particularly sons. The lower class child not raised in an environment where parents encourage academic achievement may seek non-family members as role models. Andrew Billingsley (1968) suggests the influence of non- family members on the success of persons from the lower class. 20 Billingsley refers to "screens of opportunity" or persons who provide moral, spiritual, psychological and sometimes economic support to the child at crucial points in his development. The external posi- tive influence may even reach beyond the community and symbolically involve persons of national prominence. One is reminded of the tremendous influence of such persons as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the self-concept of millions of underprivileged Americans. According to Davidson and Greenberg (1967), an underlying common- ality among achievers from a deprived background is their strong self-perception and ability to view and respond to the world more accurately than lower class non-achievers. They are able to draw on their own inner resources, and cope more effectively with feelings of hostility and aggression. Lower status achievers also are able to give well-organized and accurately perceived responses and effec- tively integrate their inner impulses and outer reality. Here, as well as in previous discussion, we find indications of psychological processes which may be uniquely employed among lower class persons. What are the particular psychological processes which grow out of the previously mentioned compensatory experiences, that these lower class achievers employ to overcome the "road-blocks" of their environment? Theories of Ego Functioning The entity which is responsible for the organization of our intra- and interpersonal world, and from which psychological processes are expressed, has been commonly referred to as the ego (Brenner, 21 1974; Loevinger, 1976; Haan, 1977). The term ego was first employed by Sigmund Freud to designate that part of the human mentality which is responsible for organizing the perception of stimuli and regulating the expression of impulses (Fenichel, 1945). The ego arises from the inborn capacity of the individual to per- ceive and comprehend environmental demands. The primary function of the ego, therefore, is adaptive. Loevinger (1976) cites Hartmann's view that the individual and the environment place reciprocal demands on each other, and the individual, via the ego, subsequently effects changes in himself or his environment. As the individual develops and becomes more independent, this adaptive capacity increases and the individual is able to temporarily withdraw from the environment, organize and process relevant information, and return to the environment with the appropriate actions in mind. Here again, we see the emphasis on environmental conditions and the effect they have on the psychological processes of the individual. However, Hartmann went further than Freud in his emphasis on environ- mental determinants, postulating that the ego arises from the innate mechanisms responsible for ordering the interactions with the envir- onment. We also see in Hartmann's formulation the rudiments of a process view of the ego. Hartmann emphasized the activity which the ego is responsible for in its organizing function; whereas Freud emphasized the state of the ego at various levels of development. Hartmann emphasized the increasingly complex process in which the ego could engage as the individual developed. Finally, the functions 22 of the ego can be viewed as necessary coping mechanisms for the individual. Norma Haan (1977) has advanced a process view of the ego which facilitates the conceputalization of varying kinds of human behavior. Haan views the ego processes work as interchange with internal and external situations with the ultimate goal of assimilating "new" information about (oneself) and (ones) environment and accommodating to these assimilations by construing actions that attain and re-attain an unremitting sense of "dynamic equilibrum" (Hann, 1977, p. 33). These processes serve as vehicles through which the person's cogni- tive, moral and social modes of functioning may be expressed. Haan (1963, 1969) and Kroeber (1963) have delineated a taxonomic classifi- cation expressed in a coping, defending, or fragmenting (psychotic) mode (see Table 1). While maintaining the Freudian focus of the ego as the origin of defense mechanisms, Haan also sees ego processes as sometimes purposeful, flexible, and adhering to subjective reality (Haan, 1963). People are capable of non-defensive problem solving which reflects their successful negotiations with the environment. Processes may also be ritualistic, irrational and privatistic, fragmenting; however, even this kind of functioning reflects the attempt by the individual to preserve his status in relation to his environment. "The person will cope if he can, defend if he must, and fragment if he is forced, but whichever mode he uses,it is still in the service of his attempt to maintain organization"(Haan, 1963, p. 42). 23 uwmmcsm .cowum~__mcomgmnmo :owmmmgamm cowmmmgaam ucwmgummm .o cowpmcgmupm m—nmamca cowmeLow co_aummm cowpzpwumnam cowpmegowmcmgh .m cowumazuuomca m>wpuwme< ucmsmumpam_o co_umEWPn:m :o_mgm>wa .m mcowamF=mmm mm_:aEHuw>wuum$m< cowpmxwe .covuomcumwo mecmo cowumcucmocoo mmmcmgmzm m>wpumpmm .N mcowuuczu mcwmzood-cowucmuu< cowummcmqsoomo cowmmmgmmm omoucowmmmemmm cowmgm>mg wave .0 chowmspmo cowgomwoga xcpmasm xpm>wpwmcmm .m cowum~PFPDoEEH assoc zpwamwnEm mo mocmgmpop uncommon umxmpmo .v mcowuoczd m>w9amumgu=H-m>wxw_wmm cowumpznmwcou cowpmechowpmm mwszmcm qu_mo4 cowpmuwponeam ucmnmcmmz .m mamwmopom: .mumpcm ago: mcw~wpm2pomPFmch xuwpmzpumP—mpcfi “coagomumo .N Emvumgocou cowumFomH zpw>wuomwno cowumcws_gomvo ._ mcowuoczm m>wpwcmou :o_umucm5mmgd mmcmwmo mcwaou mommmooga owcmcow mommmuoga cam do zsocoxMF ._ mgm25 Middle Male 8 O 11 Female 19 O 21 Lower Male 2 2 6 Female 18 6 3 27 positions with the major industry in the state, owned small businesses, or were skilled craftsmen or technical workers. The location of the samples was determined by availability of subjects. The university sample did not yield sufficient numbers of lower class students, consequently subjects were recruited from the community college. The community college population consists of high school graduates from the area who primarily are students who either (1) do not have the economic resources to attend the local university, (2) do not meet the academic criteria for admittance to the local university, or (3) wish to secure technical or vocational training which may be obtained for substantially less cost at the community college. The introductory psychology course at the uni- versity is one of the basic courses required by the university from which incoming undergraduate students may choose as part of their general education curriculum. The course is an elective at the community college. 32 Instrument The CPI (California Personality Inventory) and selected items from the MMPI (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory) were combined to create an ego process inventory. The scoring system was developed by Haan (1977) and was used because of its utility in independently assessing both coping and defending processes within the same individual (see Appendix A). The CPI is generally considered an instrument for assessing "non-pathological" function- ing. The scales for each ego mechanism, and the summary measures of interest in this study, were developed by obtaining ratings by clinical psychologists participating in the original standardization study, of each subjects' utilization of the process. These ratings were then correlated with each item on the original inventory by the staff working with Dr. Haan. Scales were then generated for each item successively by adding the highest correlated items in order of descending significance, one at a time. These scales were then cross-validated and the test with the highest cross-validity was selected as the first stage test. Items were then added to the core test to maximize the variance and cross-validities were again computed to determine the best test for each process; this was determined to be the final test. The coping scale for females consist of 34 items and for males 35 items. The defense scale contains 36 items for males and 35 for females. The scales are scored by totaling the number of questions 33 endorsed true or false for each scale (e.g., a male respondent could obtain a maximum score of 35 on the coping scale. If the respondent endorsed 21 items in the direction of the criterion, they would then receive a score of 21). The Hollingshead two-factor index of social position is widely used for the determination of social class and is also useful for group administration. Social class position is determined by rank- ing the occupation and education of the parent. The two-factor index assigns a factor weight of seven for occupation, and a factor weight of four for education (see Appendix B). To obtain a scale score, the factor weight is multiplied by the sacle ranking. The resulting score is then assigned a social class rank according to the following breakdown (for purposes of the study, classes IV and V were combined and compared with class II). Social Class Ranges of Scores I Upper Class 11-17 II Middle Class 18-31 III Lower Middle Class 32-47 IV Lower Class 48-63 V Lowest Class 64-77 (Marginal society) Procedure The Haan inventory and social position questionnaire were administered by the writer to the university sample: the community college sample was recruited by the instructor. 34 Subjects from the university sample are encouraged to partici- pate in some departmental research as part of the introduction psy- chology course requirement. Sign-up sheets are posted in classrooms and students sign up for projects which "sound" interesting or offer a sufficient number of credits to satisfy the course requirements. Sheets were removed when sufficient numbers of subjects sign up; the subjects were then notified by telephone of the time, date, and placecfiithe testing. The Hollingshead questionnaire was distributed first, when subjects completed the Hollingshead questionnaire, they were given the Haan inventory. Instructions were printed and dis- tributed with the questionnaire as well as verbally given in the testing situation (see Appendix C). The community college sample were instructed to complete the questionnaire and return it to a specific location; they would be given extra credit for their partici— pation in the project. Code numbers were placed on each answer sheet and the social position questionnaire to identify respondents' scores, social position, and other demographic variables. Subjects were informed that aggregate results would be available, however, individual results would not be available. Scoring for determina- tion of all relevant variables was done by hand. Hollingshead (1957) was used to determine class position (see Appendices B, C). Coping and defense scores were obtained by scoring designated questions and determining the number endorsed true and false (see Appendix A). Thus, each subject received a score indicating class level and coping/defense functioning. In addition to age, sex, and class 35 standing, population of hometown and GPA information were also obtained. T-tests were used to determine the significance of mean differences between coping and defense scores by class and sex. Correlations were computed to measure the strength and direction of relationships among the dependent variables--coping and defense—- and all independent variables. These correlations also provide additional descriptive information about the sample. RESULTS Hypothesis 1 Hypothesis 1 that college students raised in the lower socio- economic class environment will evidence significantly stronger use of c0ping mechanisms, as reflected in a greater coping score, than their middle class counterparts, was not supported. The results were in the opposite direction--the middle class students scored higher on the coping scale. A post-hoc comparison of the differences between the means (two-tailed t-test) suggests the alternative hypothesis, college students raised in the middle socioeconomic class environment evidence stronger use of coping mechanisms than students raised in the lower socioeconomic class environment (Table 3). The mean score for middle class students in 18.84, while that of the lower class students is 17.54 (t = 1.82, p = .07). Hypothesis 2 Hypothesis 2 states that colleges students of the lower class environment evidence significantly stronger use of defensive processes than students of the middle class environment. This hypothesis was supported when a one-tailed test was applied to the data (Table 3). The mean defense score for lower class students is 14.81, for middle class students, 12.97 (t = -1.91, p = .03). 36 37 TABLE 3. Means, Variance, Standard Deviations, T-Value and Significance Level for C0ping and Defending Scores by Class M Var. S.D. Coping Middle Class 18.84 7.02 2.65 T = 1.82 p :_ .073 Lower Class 17.54 9.36 3.06 Defending Middle Class 12.97 15.28 3.91 T = -1.91 p 5_ .030 Lower Class 14.81 15.21 3.90 Additional Findipgs Findings which provide further description of the sample are as follows: Two-tailed tests of mean differences by sex did not yield significant results. Males and females scored similarly on the coping scale (7 = 18.82 for males, 17.95 for females; t = 1.05, p = .297). The mean difference approached significance on the defense scale ( male = 15.35, female = 13.39; t - 1.77, p = 0.82). (see Table 4). Correlations among some of the variables though small, were found to be significant. Age is positively related to social class (r - .2779, p = .025), suggesting greater economic stability with 38 TABLE 4. Means, Standard Deviations, T-Value and Significance Level for C0ping and Defending Scores by Sex M S.D. T-Value Ceping Male 18.82 3.39 1.05 p = .297 Female 17.95 2.73 Defending Male 15.35 4.09 1.77 p < .082 Female 13.39 3.87 ‘- increasing age. Class standing (year in college) is negatively related to social class (r = -.2515, p = .05). Coping was signifi- cantly correlated with the greatest number of variables. The corre- lation of coping and defending (r = -.3883, p = .025) indicates that these two modes of functioning covary inversely within an individual, contrary to the present hypotheses. Race and coping are positively related (r - .3164, p = .025) according to the current coding scheme, however the N for non-white students is too small to make this result meaningful. Higher class standing also related to greater usage of coping processes (r - .2997, p = .025); and finally subjects with higher high school grade point averages (GPA) tended to utilize coping processes (r = .2828, p = .05). The older subjects tended to have lower high school GPAs than the younger subjects (r - -.4504, p . .025). Finally, college GPA was positively related to class standing (r = .3897, p = .025) as students at higher levels (sopho- more, junio, etc.) tended to have higher GPAs (see Table 5). 9 3 _o. 811 mo. Q1 oooo.~ Ion ammo. oooo.~ <¢umz Nwmo. 1 camp. oooo.P __< co xLLpaz cowua_aegouemp=~ .m msm