Race × class stereotypes of women

Forty-four undergraduates assigned traditional stereotyping adjectives to middle-class black, middle-class white, lower-class black, and lower-class white female stimulus persons. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed that these Race × Class stereotypes of women differed significantly by race and by social class, but there was no Race × Class interaction. The stereotype of white women was rated significantly higher than that of black women on dependent, passive, and emotional. The stereotype of lower-class women was rated significantly higher than that of middle-class women on confused, dirty, hostile, inconsiderate, and irresponsible. Although the stereotypes of women differed significantly by race and social class, all were stereotypically feminine. In addition, the stereotypes of white women, and of middle-class women were most similar to traditional stereotypes of women. Thus, it was concluded that both race and social class are implicit variables in sex-role stereotypes.     

Influence of Sex and Social Class on Occupational Preference and Perception

Middle-class boys and lower-class girls expressed a significantly greater preference for white collar and professional occupations than lower-class boys or middle-class girls. Differences in occupational perception were found between middle- and lower-class boys. Occupations perceived by middle-and lower-class girls did not differ significantly in status.     

Variations in the intelligence test performance of referred boys of differing racial and socioeconomic backgrounds as a function of feedback or monetary reinforcement

One hundred fifty-six elementary school males referred to school psychologists were characterized as lower-class whites, lower-class Negroes, or middle-class whites. Each of these groups was tested with the verbal scale of the WISC under either standardized conditions, feedback concerning correct answers, or contingent monetary reinforcement for correct answers. Middle-class whites and lower-class Negroes did not differ across treatments. However, lower-class whites tested under feedback or monetary conditions performed significantly better than lower-class whites tested under standardized conditions. Implications for testing procedures or the interpretation of test scores were evident.     

Is preschool education more highly valued for boys than girls?

Questionnaires concerning reasons for enrolling one's child in nursery school were completed by 599 parents in a Midwestern city. Parents of girls and boys did not differ in mean ratings of reasons. However, a greater number of reasons were rated as more important by boys' parents than by girls' parents for both lower- and middle-class respondents. Proportionately more lower-class boys than lower-class girls were enrolled in the city's nursery schools. These data are consistent with the hypothesis that lower-class parents consider preschool education to be more important for boys than girls.     

Factors contributing to the effectiveness of social and nonsocial reinforcers in the discrimination learning of children from two socioeconomic groups

Middle- and lower-class children who had been treated by E in a warm or aloof manner were given a discrimination learning task under one of six conditions forming a 3 × 2 design: three reinforcement types (Verbalintoned, Verbal-nonintoned, or Symbolic) and reinforcement for correct or incorrect responses. In accordance with Zigler's valence theory of social reinforcement, lower-class girls and middle-class children of both sexes tended to perform better when they had previously received warm treatment. No significant differences among the three types of reinforcers occurred in either SE group, thus failing to support the implications of several theories about the relative effectiveness of social and nonsocial reinforcers and tonality factors related to SES.     

Resolving contradictory findings on sex and social class differences in children's responses to reinforcement

Contradictory results have been reported on the effectiveness of various reinforcers with children of different ages and socioeconomic classes. The present study considered the relative effectiveness of two types of verbal and one type of tangible reinforcement on a two-choice discrimination task (marble-in-the-hole) for preschool children. IQ and operant level were treated as covariates and accounted for the observed differences in performance between the 24 middle-class and 24 lower-class children and between the 24 males and 24 females. Disparate findings of previous studies regarding sex and social class differences might have been reconciled if baseline and IQ had been considered.     

Values of fathers for themselves and their newborns

The paternal role has been neglected in parenting research. The present study focused on the values of fathers of newborns. Values of fathers of newborns drawn from the inner-city lower-class were compared with values of fathers of newborns drawn from the middle class. Highest goals of fathers from both groups for themselves were economic ('family security'); values for their children were morally focused ('honest'). Inner-city fathers placed a higher value on a clean and obedient child, whereas middle-class fathers placed a higher value on a loving and imaginative child. When values of these fathers were compared with values of a similar sample of mothers of newborns, socioeconomic status remained an important predictor of values. Sex of parent was significant in the inner-city sample as these fathers placed a higher valuation on goals associated with autonomy than did inner-city mothers.     

The reaction to frustration of middle- and lower-class children

Preschool age, white children from lower and middle socioeconomic backgrounds were exposed separately to the same operant analog of the Amsel “double alley” procedure. Two measures of responding, latency of press and pressing rate, were taken following frustration and reward of prior responding. The middle-class children responded slower, in both measures, on nonrewarded compared to rewarded trials, a reversal of the more frequently observed frustration effect (FE). The lower-class children, by contrast, showed the usual FE, shorter response latencies following frustrative nonreward. The FE was not observed with the rate measure. The obtained socioeconomic class difference in reaction to frustration was discussed in terms of the possible relationship to class differences in perceived locus of control of reinforcement. An alternative explanation relating the results to the maximizing vs response patterning behavior in three-choice probability learning tasks was also discussed.     

A challenge to vocational psychology: How important are aspirations in determining male career development?

Nationally representative longitudinal data on 1394 employed white men aged 15 to 24 in 1966 were used to assess whether job opportunities or vocational aspirations are the more important determinants of later job held. Support was found for two hypotheses: (a) men more often achieve congruence between their aspiration and their field of employment by changing aspirations to match the job rather than vice versa; and (b) aspirations for field of work generally are not as useful as actual job field for predicting the field of jobs held 1 to 5 years later. Contrary to expectation, middle-class young men were no more able to attain their aspirations either for field of employment or for status level of occupation than were lower-class male youths. These results suggest that although aspirations have some predictive power, the opportunity structure—which both conditions aspirations to narrow ranges early in life and affects the direction of early career development—is too often neglected by vocational psychology. One suggestion for counseling practice is that interest and maturity assessments be used as sources of information to both client and counselor about past influences. Attempts to actually counteract those influences should be clearly specified as such and separated from the assessment process.     

社会公正对权威合法性的影响:社会阶层的调节作用

社会层面中的权威合法性研究是国内外学者和管理实践者近来关注的重要问题。而社会公正的两个维度——分配公正和程序公正对权威合法性的交互作用的结果并不一致。本研究基于解释水平理论,提出社会阶层能调节分配公正和程序公正对权威合法性感知的交互作用,并通过实验室研究和情境启动两种方法进行验证。结果发现对低阶层者来说,无论是否程序公正,分配公正能显著提高个体的权威合法性感知;在分配公正和多得不公条件下,程序公正显著降低权威合法性感知。对高阶层者来说,分配公正能显著提高程序公正时的权威合法性感知;程序公正能显著提高分配公正时的权威合法性感知。研究结果启示社会管理者在推行依法治国时应针对不同阶层民众的思维方式采取管理策略。     

Social class and family size as determinants of attributed machismo,femininity, and family planning: A field study in two South American Communities

The major objective of the present investigation was to ascertain how stereotypes of machismo and femininity are related to acquired family size and perceptions of family planning. An indirect measurement approach was employed in which lower-class and upper-middle-class urban adults in Cali, Colombia, responded to photos of Colombian families which varied in size and completeness. The principal findings of the investigation revealed that (1) lower-class subjects described parents in the photos as significantly more macho and feminine because of their children than upper-middle-class subjects; (2) although no overall family size effect on attributions of machismo and femininity to parents emerged, lower-class female subjects described parents of large complete families as significantly more macho and feminine than parents of small complete families; (3) male subjects from both social classes described male spouses in the photos as more dominant and in greater control of the marital relationship as family size in the photos increased; and (4) perceptions of the incidence of family planning behaviors decreased linearly with family size for both social classes, although lower-class females attributed more family planning to spouses of large families than upper-middle-class females. Discussion of these results attempted to account for social class differences in the significance of parenthood as an indicator of sex-role identity and the psychological relevance of male dominance as a factor in fertility.This research was supported by a predoctoral research fellowship from the Council of Intersocietal Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201.     

The dimensions of nonauthoritarianism

The converse of authoritarianism has not been conceptualized very clearly though scales purporting to measure nonauthoritarianism are among the most commonly used in. personality inventories. Using the Autonomy scale of the Omnibus Personality Inventory (a derivative of the original California F scale), as administered to a sample population of beck and white college freshmen, the dimensions of nonauthoritarianism were explored. A factor analysis of the scale creates three components (anti-authoritarianism, anti-conventionalism and open-mindedness) that are conceived of as successive phases in the weakening of authoritarianism. This phase hypothesis is supported with evidence from Guttman scales and a correlational analysis of how black and lower-class as compared to white and middle-class students shift from one phase to another over the course of the freshman year.     

The Dimensions of Nonauthoritarianism

The converse of authoritarianism has not been conceptualized very clearly though scales purporting to measure nonauthoritarianism are among the most commonly used in. personality inventories. Using the Autonomy scale of the Omnibus Personality Inventory (a derivative of the original California F scale), as administered to a sample population of beck and white college freshmen, the dimensions of nonauthoritarianism were explored. A factor analysis of the scale creates three components (anti-authoritarianism, anti-conventionalism and open-mindedness) that are conceived of as successive phases in the weakening of authoritarianism. This phase hypothesis is supported with evidence from Guttman scales and a correlational analysis of how black and lower-class as compared to white and middle-class students shift from one phase to another over the course of the freshman year.     

Development of visual cognition: Transfer effects of the Agam program

The Agam program was designed to foster visual thinking in young children by developing their visual language. This curriculum was implemented in five nursery classes for 2 consecutive school years. Children in these classes were compared with children in classes where the program was not administered. It was hypothesized that the generative nature of the visual language developed in the experimental children would allow the children to extend the language learned to new situations and help them to solve problems in which no prior training was given. Test results confirmed this hypothesis: The effects of training in the Agam program transferred to cognitive domains in which no training was given. Specifically, the findings indicated positive effects on general intelligence and school readiness of children about to enter first grade, with especially pronounced effects in the areas of arithmetic and writing readiness. Other findings revealed an increased visual learning ability in new tasks that developed in the experimental children. Training effects did not transfer to mental rotation and to memory for realistic designs. The program was found to be equally effective for lower-class as for middle-class children. The effect of the program was greater for children who participated in the program for 2 years as compared with those who joined in the second year, indicating a cumulative effect of the program. This latter finding can also be used to refute an alternative explanation of the obtained experimental effects offered by a motivational theory. The findings on cognitive transfer, taken together with previously reported on concept learning and visual skills, point to the educational potential of the approach advocated by the Agam program, that is, systematic long-term instruction in the domain of visual cognition in early childhood.     

低阶层大学生的炫耀性消费:自尊补偿与地位追求

近年来低阶层大学生炫耀性消费负性事件频发,研究以补偿性消费理论为基础,考察低阶层大学生炫耀性消费的内因与外因。实验一通过比较高、低状态自尊条件下不同阶层被试的炫耀性消费倾向来考察自尊的作用,结果表明低阶层大学生的炫耀性消费倾向受到其状态自尊的调节; 实验二通过比较不同阶层被试对地位及非地位符号商品的支付意愿来考察商品符号价值的作用,结果表明低阶层大学生只有在商品具有地位符号价值时,才会表现出比高阶层大学生更强烈的炫耀性消费倾向。     

社会公平感对不同阶层目标达成的影响及其过程

基于目标追求理论和社会阶层心理学的相关理论, 本文通过3个研究, 逐步深入地考察了社会公平感对不同阶层个体目标达成的影响作用及其过程。研究1为相关研究, 考察了高低阶层成人被试的教育领域社会公平感与为孩子进行教育投入的目标承诺及目标达成之间的关系; 研究2为准实验研究, 通过操纵公平或不公平教育情境启动公平感, 考察其对高低阶层中学生的学习目标承诺与目标达成的影响; 研究3为实验研究, 通过实验操纵社会公平感和社会阶层, 考察社会公平感对高低阶层大学生的实验任务目标承诺和目标达成的影响。研究发现, 社会公平感通过正向影响低阶层者的目标承诺, 进而正向影响其目标达成; 而对于高阶层者来说, 变量之间这些关系则不显著。这表明：相对于高阶层来说, 低阶层者的目标追求易受社会公平感的影响; 低阶层者的社会公平感水平越高, 其追求目标的动机水平就越高, 进而越有利于目标达成。     

Poor Expression: Concealing Social Class Stigma

Three studies found that people from lower-class backgrounds are less expressive toward interaction partners from upper-class backgrounds except in contexts where they share minority status on another dimension. In Study 1, White lower-class dyad members behaved less expressively than their upper-class interaction partners, while in African American and Latino dyads, upper- and lower-class individuals were similarly expressive. In Study 2, lower-class White participants reported feeling generally less comfortable about interacting with an upper-class partner but not when they shared numerical minority status of being residents of the same state traveling away from home. Finally, Study 3 revealed that lower-class individuals intentionally act differently with upper-class individuals but not with lower-class ones. Upper-class individuals act the same with lower- and upper-class partners alike.     

Overconfidence in interval estimates: What does expertise buy you?

People’s 90% subjective confidence intervals typically contain the true value about 50% of the time, indicating extreme overconfidence. Previous results have been mixed regarding whether experts are as overconfident as novices. Experiment 1 examined interval estimates from information technology (IT) professionals and UC San Diego (UCSD) students about both the IT industry and UCSD. This within-subjects experiment showed that experts and novices were about equally overconfident. Experts reported intervals that had midpoints closer to the true value—which increased hit rate—and that were narrower (i.e., more informative)—which decreased hit rate. The net effect was no change in hit rate and overconfidence. Experiment 2 showed that both experts and novices mistakenly expected experts to be much less overconfident than novices, but they correctly predicted that experts would provide narrower intervals with midpoints closer to the truth. Decisions about whether to consult experts should be based on which aspects of performance are desired.     

Social class rank, threat vigilance, and hostile reactivity

Lower-class individuals, because of their lower rank in society, are theorized to be more vigilant to social threats relative to their high-ranking upper-class counterparts. This class-related vigilance to threat, the authors predicted, would shape the emotional content of social interactions in systematic ways. In Study 1, participants engaged in a teasing interaction with a close friend. Lower-class participants--measured in terms of social class rank in society and within the friendship--more accurately tracked the hostile emotions of their friend. As a result, lower-class individuals experienced more hostile emotion contagion relative to upper-class participants. In Study 2, lower-class participants manipulated to experience lower subjective socioeconomic rank showed more hostile reactivity to ambiguous social scenarios relative to upper-class participants and to lower-class participants experiencing elevated socioeconomic rank. The results suggest that class affects expectations, perception, and experience of hostile emotion, particularly in situations in which lower-class individuals perceive their subordinate rank.