The purpose of this study was to investigate the
level of social interaction and social distance or
comfort among five undergraduate ethnic groups (African
Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans, Caucasian
Americans, and Hispanic Americans) at Oregon State
University. Another purpose was to explore the
correlation between the level of social contact and
comfort or social distance among the five ethnic groups.
The sample included 284 full time continuing
undergraduate students at Oregon State University. The
contact scale included items measuring the number of
acquaintances, frequency of interaction, positive degree
of feeling, number of friends, and duration of contact.
The comfort scale was a modified version of Byrnes and
Kiger's (1988) Social Scale. It asked respondents to
rate from one (very uncomfortable) to seven (very
comfortable) their comfort with people of different
ethnicities in six roles as: president of the United
States, a counselor, a professor, a small group member in
a classroom or group activity, a roommate, or a date.
Two-way analyses of variance provided comparative
information about ethnicity and gender. Newman-Keuls
tests of significance were also employed. Pearson
correlation coefficients were used to investigate the
relationship between contact and comfort.
Results of the study showed that students were
generally comfortable with all groups, but least
comfortable with Asian Americans. As a group, Asian
Americans were less comfortable with other groups than
were other ethnic groups. Minority groups were most
comfortable with their own group. All minority groups
except African Americans were significantly more
comfortable with Caucasian Americans than with other
minority groups.
Correlations between contact and comfort for each
group were positive and significant in all but 18 of 60
correlations performed. They were not significant for
American Indians as either respondent or target group.
In addition, results showed that there are not as
many American Indian students at OSU as was originally
thought. Further, students indicated little interaction
with American Indians. / Graduation date: 1992
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/36060 |
| Date | 26 June 1991 |
| Creators | Adams, Susan Elizabeth, 1952- |
| Contributors | Trow, Jo Anne J. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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