No description available.

No description available.

I examined whether expressing minority opinions enhances self-concept clarity and whether need for uniqueness (NfU) moderates this predicted relationship. I used an experimental survey with a 2 (Pre-existing Position: opposed, in favor) × 2 (Majority Position: opposed, in favor) × 2 (Participant Action: resist, conform) design. Participants identified themselves as primarily for or against granting legal rights to homosexuals and completed an NfU measure. Participants were then randomly assigned to read that the majority of MSU students either oppose or support granting legal rights to homosexuals. After reading arguments consistent with the majority position, participants were asked to offer arguments that either supported or refuted the majority. Contrary to hypotheses, arguing the minority position did not enhance self-concept clarity. Anti-gay rights participants were higher in self-concept clarity than pro-gay rights participants, and they became even higher in self-concept clarity when arguing with an opposed majority than when arguing against one.

Research on bilingualism in a number of social science disciplines has reported an association between bilingualism, ethnic identity, and ethnic attitudes - causality has often been attributed to bilingualism. This research has been criticized on methodological grounds. There is a dearth of information concerning the relationship between bilingualism, ethnic identity, and ethnic attitudes in specific communities, regions, or societies since there have been very few studies of the social psychological aspects of bilingualism based on survey research methods. Yet another critique of previous research is that the theoretical framework in which reported findings have been couched has remained untested or that they have remained implicit. These theoretical underpinnings are explored and assessed. The data for the thesis came from a sample survey of greater Montreal conducted in 1973, from a survey of the Ottawa Census Metropolitan Area conducted by the York Survey Research Center in late 1974 and early 1975, and from a secondary analysis of the Ethnic Relations Study, carried out for the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in 1965. The analytic methods used are crosstabulation and partial correlation. It was found in the analysis of all three surveys, which were carried out at different points in time and which used slightly different measures of the independent and dependent variable, that the association between bilingualism and ethnic identity is not strong, and that it varies from one mother tongue group to the other. This indicates that causality cannot be attributed to bilingualism. The analysis of the Ethnic Relations Study revealed that with intergroup contact and demographic context held constant, the relationship between bilingualism and ethnic identity is extremely weak. Bilinguals, it emerged, tend to identify with both language groups mainly where they are in contact with the other group and in contexts where the other group constitutes the demographic majority. With regard to the relationship between bilingualism and ethnic attitudes, it was found that there were weak associations between bilingualism and social distance, and bilingualism and ethnic prejudice. However, these all but disappeared when intergroup contact and demographic context were controlled. The theoretical debate, which has continued over the past several decades, concerning whether or not causality of these relationships can be attributed to bilingualism may still continue; however, the evidence presented in the dissertation indicates that' causality cannot be attributed to bilingualism. Further, unicausal social psychological theories attributing such findings to the effects of the internalization of a second linguistic system would seem to be manifestly inadequate. Future theoretical efforts in this area of research ought to be of the kind which span disciplinary boundaries, assume multicausality, and lend themselves to operationalization. It ·is suggested that group membership theory may provide a fruitful point of departure. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

No description available.

The participation of advantaged group members in collective action with the disadvantaged group to challenge inequality is crucial to building a social movement. Although prior work has found that an invitation to participate in collective action is a strong predictor of participation, the extent to which advantaged group members are influenced by such invitations is not known. The present research investigates the effect of the race of an inviter (White vs. Black) on Whites’ willingness to participate in collective action for racial justice as a function of their underlying prejudicial attitudes. Study 1 found that greater internal motivation to respond without prejudice (IMS) was associated with greater willingness to participate in collective action for racial justice. Study 2 found a marginal interaction between race and IMS in predicting collective action, such that for Whites high on IMS, a Black (vs. White) inviter evoked greater willingness to participate in collective action; however, this effect was not replicated in Study 3. Instead, Study 3 found that IMS and the Black (vs. White) inviter independently predicted greater willingness for collective action. Study 3 also found initial evidence of conferred psychological standing to explain how inviter’s race shapes collective action. Specifically, a Black (vs. White) inviter was perceived to have greater psychological standing on issues of racial justice, which increased Whites’ personal standing, and subsequently, Whites’ willingness to participate in collective action for racial justice.

No description available.

Using integrated threat theory as a theoretical framework, this multiple case study analyzed the effects of threat and the perception of threat from immigrants on the attitudes of teachers toward their elementary school students. The study was conducted with teachers at five northern California schools. All of the teachers were experienced and well-trained, teaching in low-income neighborhoods with large immigrant populations. In support of integrated threat theory’s premise, results indicated that where threat was present or perceived, teachers’ words and reported teaching behavior indicated prejudicial attitudes toward students. The lack of threat corresponded to a lack of bias. It was found that teaching behavior that reflected prejudicial attitudes affected a number of areas of instruction. Specifically, teachers spent less time in informal interaction with students, limiting their familiarity with the children. Curricular decisions were affected in subtle ways, and there were examples of implicit bias in interaction. The report concludes with recommendations for practice and further research. Recommendations for policy are particularly important, as teacher education programs and school districts are both able to provide anti-bias training.

Three experiments explored the way in which different framings of multiculturalism influence White American perceivers’ attitudes towards ethnic minorities and inclusion of them in the national group. Results showed that while participants always preferred Whites to ethnic minorities, the difference in liking was largest when multiculturalism was described as permanent and Whites were present (vs. absent) in that description. In contrast, differences in liking did not vary by the role of Whites when multiculturalism was described as temporary (Studies 1 and 2). Second, Whites were always seen as more American than ethnic minorities, but particularly when Whites were present (vs. absent) in the description of multiculturalism regardless of the temporal framing (Studies 1 and 2). Third, participants experienced a greater need to affirm the White status quo when multiculturalism was described as permanent and Whites were present (vs. absent) in the description (Study 2). Finally, bias against ethnic minorities was greatest when the description of multiculturalism affirmed the primacy of White heritage in the definition of the nation. Overall findings suggest that not explicitly including the majority group in multiculturalism may lead to better relations between them and minority groups.

Very few studies have investigated how psychopathic traits might contribute to our understanding of prejudicial attitudes. Moreover, previous studies involve a number of limitations which cloud interpretation of their findings. The current study examined the relationship between prejudice and a number of its predictors (e.g., social dominance orientation (SDO) and right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)), while also including psychopathic traits and an innovative new measure of empathy using an online sample. A path analytic framework was employed to comprehensively model relations among psychopathic traits, SDO, RWA, and affective empathy domains in the prediction of generalized prejudice. Overall, there was support for certain psychopathic traits being modest predictors of racial prejudice, although more proximal measures were much stronger predictors. The results revealed a number of novel relationships that may help in further understanding the links between psychopathic propensities, empathy, and social-cognitive variables predictive of racial prejudice.