Because students may seek discussions most often
with approachable adults, and such discussions may be more
potentially helpful than discussions initiated otherwise,
approachability of adults on school staffs was studied.
Some potential correlates of approachability were examined:
sex and age of adults, similarity-dissimilarity of students'
and adults' value patterns, and adults' knowledge of particular students' value preferences.
Five hypotheses based upon the theories of Heider and
Newcomb, who postulated that persons are attracted to others
perceived as like, were formulated. A sixth hypothesis concerning
the relative importance of correlates was to be
investigated if the first five were supported.
Adults' approachability was studied for three kinds
(contexts) of serious discussions: (1) of an impersonal
problem, (2) of vocational choice, and (3) of personal problems.
Two kinds of value patterns, factual values and
normative/instrumental values, suggested by the theoretical
categories of Margenau and Rokeach were studied.
Grade-XII students and the adults known to at least
30 percent of them in each of five British Columbia secondary schools formed the sample. Approachability results were
based on 371 students making choices among 115 adults. An
adult's approachability score was formed by dividing the
times he was chosen for a context by the number of students
who knew him. In all schools, for all contexts, a small
number of adult Ss were very often chosen, about a third
chosen by a few students, and about 50 percent not chosen.
Results pertaining to hypotheses were:
1. Adults were chosen proportionately more often by
students of the same sex for vocational-choice and personal problems
contexts (p < .001, using chi square). In the impersonal-
topic context, male adults were chosen proportionately
more often by male and female students (p < .001 by chi square
test).
2. Youngest adults were not chosen proportionately
more often for any context. Adults in the 31-40 and 51-60
age ranges were those chosen proportionately more often in
most schools for all contexts (p < .001 by chi square test).
3. Students did not choose adults with similar
factual-value patterns proportionately more often: no relationship
was found between similarity of adults with students-
in-general who knew them and approachability, or
between mean value-pattern correlations of an adult with
students who chose and did not choose him. 4. Students did not choose adults with similar
normative/instrumental-value patterns proportionately more
often. Neither of the possible relationships noted in (3)
was found.
5. On the basis of results from a sub-sample of
27 adults, adults' more accurate knowledge of students'
value preferences was not related to their approachability.
A discussion of results included the following
points:
1. Students appeared to have made choices on the
basis of the adult's school role: social studies teachers,
most of whom were male, were often chosen for impersonal topic
discussions, suggesting that role rather than sex-similarity-dissimilarity led to disproportionate choices;
counselors were often chosen for the other two contexts,
and several of them were in the age ranges proportionately
more often chosen, suggesting that role, rather than age,
may have contributed to the disproportions.
2. Possible gaps in communication of adults' and
students' values to each other and/or weaknesses in instrumentation
may have contributed to the lack of clear
relationships between approachability and value patterns
and knowledge of students' value preferences.
Informal observations by the investigator during the
course of the study were listed , among them an apparent positive relationship between adult liveliness and approachability.
Further research was suggested on the correlates of
approachability of adults with similar roles, on adult
liveliness and approachability, and on students' perceptions
of adults' values and approachability. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/41216 |
| Date | January 1969 |
| Creators | Harris, Justine |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
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