Patricia Gurin

Group Consciousness and Political Participation

This article explores the theoretical and methodological problems underlying the relationship between group consciousness and political participation with data from the Center for Political Studies (CPS) 1972 and 1976 National Election Studies. It delineates four conceptual components of group consciousness and examines their relationships with electoral and nonelectoral participation among both subordinate and dominant social groups. An interactive model fits both a theory of mobilization and the data far better than a linear, additive model.

Women's Gender Consciousness

Four dimensions of group consciousness that figure prominently in relative deprivation and resource mobilization/solidarity theories of social movements were measured in three national cross-section sample surveys over the decade of the 1970s by the Institute for Social Research. These dimensions-identification, discontent, withdrawal of legitimacy, and collective orientation-were applied to the gender consciousness of women. In all but one of these dimensions, womens gender consciousness was comparatively weak. It was not as pronounced as the group consciousness of other subordinate categories, nor was it distinctly subordinate because men expressed similar views. A structural interpretation of this comparative weakness is offered. Women did become more group conscious between 1972 and 1983. The increase was particularly pronounced with regard to their discontent about the relative political power of men and women and their views about the legitimacy of gender disparities. Patricia Gurin is Professor of Psychology and Faculty Associate at the Institute for Social Research, The University of Michigan, and a Resident Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, New York. The author acknowledges the helpful criticisms of an earlier draft by Arland Thornton and Mary Corcoran of The University of Michigan, Robert K. Merton of Columbia University, Faye J. Crosby of Yale University, and Rhea Kish of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Public Opinion Quarterly Vol. 49 143-163 C by the Trustees of Columbia University Published by Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc. 0033-362X/85/0049-143/

Social Identities—A Framework for Studying the Adaptations of Immigrants and Ethnics: The Adaptations of Mexicans in the United States

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College Environments, Diversity, and Student Learning

Past treatments of immigration and ethnicity (and of the relationship between them) tend to ignore processes by which the effects of history and social structure occur at the individual level. Many scholars call for social psychological analyses that show how history and macro-social features of the environment produce individual modes of adaptation to immigration, including the construction and reconstruction of ethnicity as one of the modes. We use a social psychological analysis to tie macro-social characteristics to micro-social characteristics of immediate social contexts to examine how two groups of Mexicans in the United States—Mexicanos and Chicanos—differ in their social identities and in their cultural adaptations. Our results from the analyses of the data in the National Chicano Survey indicate that, as predicted by social identity theory, the differences in the structural and historical conditions experienced by immigrants and ethnics result in a more differentiated identity structure for Chicanos than for Mexicanos. The content of the social identities of the two groups also shows important differences according to outgroup comparisons through mastery of the English language. Also consistent with social identity theory, the most problematic social identities—for example, class and race—are the most psychologically powerful in determining cultural adaptations for both groups. In conclusion, differences between immigrants and ethnics are largely the outcome of shifts in reference groups as they compare themselves to a wider array of people who either promote acceptance of devalued social categorizations or in feelings of discontent about ones social identity.

Defending Diversity: Affirmative Action at the University of Michigan

The research literature on students in higher education is both rich and varied, even though the concerns addressed in this literature effectively resolve to three primary questions (Dey and Feldman, 1999): What sorts of people go to college, what experiences do they have at college, and what sorts of people do they become by the end of their college experience? To generate meaningful answers to these primary questions requires not only careful consideration of the attributes of students, but also of the educational environments that they encounter during their journey through the postsecondary education enterprise.

Getting to the What, How, and Why of Diversity on Campus

Even as lawsuits challenging its admissions policies made their way through the courts, the University of Michigan carried the torch for affirmative action in higher education.In June 2003, the Supreme Court vindicated UMs position on affirmative action when it ruled that race may be used as a factor for universities in their admissions programs, thus confirming what the UM had argued all along: diversity in the classroom translates to a beneficial and wide-ranging social value. With the green light given to the law schools admissions policies, Defending Diversity validates the positive benefits gained by students in a diverse educational setting.Written by prominent University of Michigan faculty, Defending Diversity is a timely response to the courts ruling. Providing factual background, historical setting, and the psychosocial implications of affirmative action, the book illuminates the many benefits of a diverse higher educational setting -- including preparing students to be full participants in a pluralistic democracy -- and demonstrates why affirmative action is necessary to achieve that diversity.Defending Diversity is a significant contribution to the ongoing discussion on affirmative action in higher education. Perhaps more important, it is a valuable record of the history, events, arguments, and issues surrounding the original lawsuits and the Supreme Courts subsequent ruling, and helps reclaim the debate from those forces opposed to affirmative action.Patricia Gurin is Professor Emerita, Department of Psychology, University of Michigan. Jeffrey S. Lehman, former Dean of the University of Michigan Law School, is President of Cornell University. Earl Lewis is Dean of Rackham Graduate School, University of Michigan.

Myth and reality: The causes and persistence of poverty

What kinds of diversity initiatives and cross-racial interactions foster learning among diverse students? In response to that question, the authors trace various social psychological theories that inform campus diversity programs. Making a case for moving beyond traditional intergroup harmony or intragroup solidarity approaches, the authors elaborate on a model that uses group identities as resources for intergroup understanding and collaboration. This model, which we call intergroup dialogue, engages students in exploring commonalities and differences in group identities and experiences, working constructively with intergroup conflicts, and building collective identities as socially just people. The article concludes with an agenda for future research addressing both substantive and methodological issues.

Group Contacts and Ethnicity in the Social Identities of Mexicanos and Chicanos

Policies directed at alleviating poverty rest on a set of assumptions regarding the demographic composition of the poor and the psychological dispositions of poor individuals. Evidence from a long-term study of a representative sample of low-income individuals shows that poverty is very widespread but not usually very persistent, and that the characteristics of the persistently poor do not conform to the conventional wisdom. Furthermore, the economic status of the poor does not appear to have been caused by psychological dispositions. Intergenerational data from the same study show generally weak links between the poverty or welfare status of parents and that of their children. Public policies for dealing with poverty can be properly devised without attempting to resocialize poor people and without undue concern that poverty programs will generate dependency among the majority of those they help.

Ethnic Identity and Bilingualism Attitudes

Factor analyses of social identity labels between two subgroups of the Mexican-descent population supported the prediction that the identities of English-dominant persons born in the United States (Chicanos) would be more differentiated than those of Spanish-dominant persons born in Mexico (Mexicanos). The content of their identities also differed. As predicted, because of differences in length of residence, language facility, geographic dispersal, and likelihood of working in ethnically diverse settings, Chicanos and Mexicanos had different patterns of intra-group and intergroup contacts. Chicanos had less contact with other persons of Mexican descent and more contact with members of other ethnic groups. Predicted relationships between group contacts and social identities were better supported for Chicanos than for Mexicanos. Overall, the study supports the general framework offered in which macrosocial conditions set up particular microsocial conditions (group contacts) that, in turn, influence the formation of social identities.

Fostering a Commitment to Social Action: How Talking, Thinking, and Feeling Make a Difference in Intergroup Dialogue

Attitudes toward bilingualism among a national sample of persons of Mexican descent are cast in a set of social psychological forces in which structural integration and childhood linguistic environment influence ethnic identity, which in turn influences bilingualism attitudes through its impact on political consciousness. Support is provided by evidence that ethnic identity, specifically a politically-framed conception of self as Chicana/Chicano and as part of la raza, fosters positive views of bilingualism both directly and indirectly through political consciousness. Ethnic identity also influences bilingualism attitudes through a different and contradictory path. Traditional self-conceptions as Mexican and Spanish-speaking directly encourage support of bilingualism but, at the same time, engage conservative political attitudes that discourage it.