ERIC Number: ED232112
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982
Pages: 18
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Race and Sex Differences in College Student Perceptions of the Social Climate. Research Report #8-82.
Martinez, Alyce C.; Sedlacek, William E.
Environmental assessment, which involves examining the perceptions of people in a given environment or social climate (socially agreed upon norms for acceptable behaviors) is one method of placing behavior in context. The University of Maryland, College Park, conducted a student survey in order to examine the social climate through a study of subgroup differences in perceptions of social sanctions as a function of sex and race. Incoming freshmen (N=390, 47% male, 53% female, 80% white, 13% black, and 7% others), completed an anonymous 35-item questionnaire. The questionnaire contained items on contemporary issues, racial concerns, and beliefs. Respondents rated each item on a five-point scale, from strongly positive to strongly negative, according to how they believed most college students felt about persons holding certain values or beliefs. Analyses of results showed that race was significant on 11 of the 35 items; sex was significant on 9 items; and the interaction of race and sex was significant on 2 items. Blacks in the study tended to hold liberal views, while whites tended to be more conservative. Other racial groups had views that fell in between these two groups. Males held more conservative views than females. The findings demonstrate that each subgroup has its own psychosocial norms and expectancies. Attitudes and behavior must continue to be placed in the phenomonological world of the persons involved. (MCF)
Publication Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Maryland Univ., College Park. Counseling Center.
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A