Charles T. Kenny

PHILOSOPHIES OF HUMAN NATURE AND PERSONAL RELIGIOUS ORIENTATION

Two hundred subjects were dichotomized into extrinsic and intrinsic along the dimension of Personal Religious Orientation (Allport, 1968). Tests for differences between means of these two groups revealed a significant tendency for the intrinsics to hold a more positive view of human nature as measured on the Philosophy of Human Nature Scale (Wrightsman, 1964). A further comparison between the upper and lower quartiles of the same sample revealed that the differences occurred primarily on the subscale designating trustworthiness, in that instrinsics perceived people to be more trustworthy than did extrinsics.

Impression Formation as a Function of Age, Sex, and Race

Summary The present study examined cognitive differentiation and integration within the framework of an impression formation task, where subjects were required to form an impression of a person who displayed potentially ambivalent behaviors. Sex, age, and race were varied. Main effects as a function of age were found for both differentiation and integration. In addition, major cognitive organizational changes were observed between the ages of 10 and 12 on both measures. Although females were expected to form more differentiated and integrated impressions, this prediction was not confirmed. Racial differences among the males were obtained on the measure of cognitive integration, but not on differentiation. It was also found that the subjects who formed more integrated impressions offered more noncategorical affective responses on a checklist than the subjects who formed less integrated impressions. The findings for differentiation and integration were discussed in terms of Werners developmental theory. Ra...

Watergate Is Just a Bunch of Honky Jive: the Impact of Watergate On Black and White Youths' View of the Presidency:

Beginning with the pioneering studies of Easton and Hess (1960) and Greenstein (1960), much of political socialization research has focused on children’s views of the President. Implicit in much of the research have been the assumptions (1) that the President, being the most visible symbol of government to most children, represents both a cognitive and affective introduction to political authority, and (2) that early impressions of the President shape the development of children’s political attitudes and behaviors. Since most young Americans have been found to idealize their President (Greenstein, 1965; Hess and Torney, 1967; Easton and Dennis, 1969) -perceiving him as benevolent, nurturant and friendly -it has been argued that children’s idealization of the Presidency serves as &dquo;the mechanism by which the child first forms stable links to the political system&dquo; (Greenberg, 1971, p. 561). Accordingly, evidence of a shift away from idealization toward cynicism and distrust of the President might portend an era of political instability. The present study originated with several purposes, one being to compare images of the President (and the police, another visible political authority) held by a sample of black and white youths. The study, as initially conceived, was completed* in early June, 1972, approximately two weeks before the Watergate break-in. As the magnitude of the Watergate scandal increased during the Spring and Summer of 1973, we sensed an unusual

A Nonreactive Measure of lost time Among Employees

A nonreactive measure is described, involving an automobile trip from one point in a city to another point, over which route the activities of public utility and telephone crews were observed. Since employees cannot be working while their trucks are parked at fast food restaurants, it was believed that this measure, called a round trip unit (RTU), would serve as a nonreactive unit of measurement of lost work time among employees. In the study, 36 RTUs were conducted in which approximately 30-50 utility and telephone trucks were observed in one of three categories. Results yielded significant differences in terms of the types of trucks that were cited, the locations of the trucks, and the importance of outside events that might interfere with work. Results are discussed in terms of this nonreactive measure as a methodology for observing lost work time among employees.

A Reconceptualization of the Permanence of Attitude Change

Summary Two levels of audience, commitment, choice, and time were varied in a 2 X 2 X 2 X 2 repeated measures factorial design in an attempt to examine the effects of these variables on attitude change both inside and outside the laboratory. Commitment and choice had no effect on attitude change. Time had a significant effect (p < .001), with a large amount of change occurring immediately after the experimental manipulation and very little change occurring three weeks later. Audience and time also produced a significant interaction (p < .01), with a large amount of attitude change occurring in the audience condition immediately after the manipulation and very little change three weeks later. In the no audience condition some attitude change occurred immediately after the manipulation, but little change remained three weeks later. These findings were interpreted within the framework of Katzs classic conception of an attitude, and it was argued that pressure on the conative dimension of an attitude was not...

Differences in Intelligence Among Low Socioeconomic Class Negro Children as a Function of Sex, Age, Educational Level of Parents, and Home Stability.

Abstract The present study examined changes in intelligence in Negro children at ages 4 and 7 as a function of sex, home stability, and educational level of their parents. Children of parents with a high school education obtained higher IQ scores than children of parents without a high school education. This effect interacted with age in such a fashion that the differences were significant at age 4 but not at age 7. These results were interpreted as supporting an interaction hypothesis concerning the relative effects of heredity and environment on intelligence. Home stability and age also produced a significant interaction such that children from unstable homes obtained higher IQs at age 4 than children from stable homes, but then at age 7 they obtained significantly lower IQs than children from stable homes. These findings were interpreted as supporting the notion of a dependency relationship between mother and child.