ATTITUDES OF SOUTH AFRICANS TOWARDS VARIOUS NATIONAL AND RACIAL GROUPS

Attitudes des Sud-Africains envers différents groupes nationaux et raciaux. En 1965, puis en 1966, un échantillon de 236 Sud-Africains blancs, ont jugé une série de 22 concepts qui désignaient principalement des groupes ethniques et diverses nationalités, à L'aide du Différenciateur Sémantique comprenant 20 paires d'adjectifs antonymes. Les résultats montrent que les attitudes à L'égard d'autres groupes ethniques sont relativement stables d'une année sur L'autre. Ils montrent, de plus, que c'est L'image du groupe en tant que tel qui détermine les attitudes des sujets à son égard, et non les différentes appellations, péjoratives ou laudatives, qui ont été utilisées pour le désigner. Une analyse factorielle a permis d'extraire trois facteurs: Image positive, Autoritatisme, Race non-blanche. Une seconde analyse factorielle, qui a porté sur les adjectifs utilisés dans le différenciateur sémantique, donne également trois facteurs: Activité, Valeur, Raisonnement, qui influencent la catégorisation des groupes ethniques visés. En conclusion, les AA. montrent que le Différenciateur Sémantique permet une analyse beaucoup plus fine que L'Echelle de Distance Sociale de Bogardus, des attitudes à L'égard des groupes raciaux et nationaux.     

Understanding and Improving the Validity of Self-Report of Parenting

Although researchers using parental self-report data have questioned its validity (Holden, 2001) and called for more work in this area (Krevans & Gibbs, 1996; Locke & Prinz, 2002), methodological concerns regarding self-report about parenting practices have not been addressed adequately. The susceptibility of parental report to systematic distortions suggests a need for research on ways to improve self-report. This paper attempts to synthesize research findings from other fields (e.g., survey methodology) about ways to improve the validity of self-report, and to discuss the implications for self-report of parenting behaviors. Methods for improving self-report are presented for each of the 5 major tasks in responding to a question: (1) understanding the question, (2) recalling relevant behavior, (3) inference and estimation, (4) mapping the answer onto the response format, and (5) “editing” the answer for reasons of social desirability. Self-administered interviewing, audio-computer-assisted interviewing, pretesting, conversational interviewing, and the decompositional item may be among the best candidates for use in parental self-report. Recommendations are offered with respect to strategies that might prove useful in improving parental assessment of parenting, and to research efforts to evaluate the utility and potential costs of these strategies.     

Ranking and Factorial Structure of Occupational Stereotypes Among Jewish Pupils in South Africa

This study investigated the hierarchical order of occupations by means of 10 evaluative criteria, and established the factorial structure of occupational stereotypes in a group of 82 Jewish pupils in South Africa, who rated 20 occupations on the Semantic Differential. Conclusions are: (a) the rank orders of occupations are highly similar irrespective of ranking criterion; (b) on the whole, professions tended to be ranked most favorably, and manual and unskilled jobs least favorably; and (c) occupational stereotypes were found to fall into four different categories, labeled (1) practical occupations with relatively high status; (2) unattractive occupations (semiskilled); (3) female occupations; and (4) occupations possessing power and influence.