Spencer Kagan

Social Motives among Anglo American and Mexican American Children: Experimental and Projective Measures.

Abstract The measurement approaches to social motives, cooperation-competition games and projective tests, have revealed apparently similar findings: Anglo American children are more competitive and higher in n Achievement compared to Mexican American children, who are more cooperative and higher in n Affiliation. The present experiment tested the extent to which (1) competitiveness is related to n Achievement, (2) cooperativeness is related to n Affiliation, and (3) the cultural differences in cooperation-competition are related to those in n Affiliation and n Achievement. Results indicate that social motives inferred from a cooperation-competition game have a meaningful relation to those inferred from a projective test, but that the cultural differences in cooperation-competition are larger and are not explained by cultural differences in n Affiliation and n Achievement. Social motives inferred from each measurement methodology, while somewhat related, are distinct.

Culture and the Development of Conflict Resolution Style

Previous descriptive studies of development of cooperation and competition among United States and Mexican children have sampled a limited age range and relied predominantly on behavioral experimental game measures with a very limited number of response alternatives. In this experiment, open-ended verbal conflict resolution questions were asked of Anglo American, Mexican American, and Mexican children. Content analysis of childrens responses indicated that previous conclusions regarding Mexican-United States differences were supported at early childhood age ranges. However, with increasing age, all children responded more to imaginary conflict situations with conflict, so cultural differences diminished with age. Further, on the verbal conflict resolution questions, Mexican American and Anglo American children did not differ, possibly indicating differences in what is assessed by the verbal conflict resolution questions and experimental games.

Development of Competitive Behaviors in Anglo-American and Mexican-American Children

Social behaviors of Anglo-American and Mexican-American boys and girls of 5 to 6 and 7 to 9 yr. were assessed using 6 two-person choice cards. Concern for absolute gains was an overriding motive for all children. In the absence of the possibility of absolute gains, significant cultural and age differences were observed: Anglo-American and older children more often chose to give their peers fewer rewards than did Mexican-American and younger children. The cultural differences increased with age. The observed cultural difference could not be attributed to economic level and contrary to the conclusions of previous research, was probably related to concern for relative gains, not rivalry.

Cooperation-Competition and Self-Esteem A Case of Cultural Relativism

Several empirical studies have demonstrated that among Black and White U.S. children high self-esteem is associated with competitiveness. To test the generality of that relationship, the correlation of self-esteem and cooperation-competition was assessed among two generations of Mexican-American children and an Anglo-American comparison group. Among second-generation Mexican-American children, who display a cultural norm of cooperativeness, high self-esteem was significantly correlated with cooperativeness; among Anglo-American children, who display a cultural norm of competitiveness, high self-esteem was associated with competitiveness; among third-generation Mexican-American children, who do not demonstrate clear cooperation-competition norms, no clear relationship between self-esteem and cooperation-competition was found. Results do not support the generality of a self-esteem cooperation-competition relationship; rather, they are consistent with the interpretation that self-esteem is partially a function of the extent to which children live up to their cultural norms.

Cooperativeness and achievement: Interaction of student cooperativeness with cooperative versus competitive classroom organization☆

Abstract The present study investigated two issues: the differential impact of various cooperative learning methods, and the interaction of student characteristics with learning methods. The subjects in the study were 864 second-through sixth-grade students in the elementary school classrooms of 32 student teachers. Teachers were randomly assigned to teach spelling by using one of three instructional modes: traditional whole-class instruction or one of two cooperative learning methods, Student Teams-Achievement Divisions (STAD) and Teams-Games-Tournaments (TGT). The results support two conclusions: First, substantial differences exist in the effects of various cooperative learning techniques; what are presumed to be minor variations in the techniques may have major impact. Second, cooperative-competitive social orientation and ethnic status interact with classroom structure to determine achievement gains. It appears that the relatively exclusive reliance on competitive and individualistic classroom structures in public schools biases important educational outcomes against individuals and minority groups who have a relatively cooperative social orientation.

Three Social Motives and Field Independence-Dependence in Anglo American and Mexican American Children:

Previous research has indicated that Mexican American children have higher n Affiliation and are more field dependent than Anglo American children, who are more field independent and tend to have higher n Achievement. The present study examines n Achievement, n Affiliation, n Power, and field independence-field dependence among Anglo and Mexican American children. As predicted, Anglo American children were significantly more field independent, higher on n Achievement, and tended to be higher on n Power; Mexican American children tended to be higher on n Affiliation. Contrary to predictions, field independence-dependence was not related to n Affiliation or n Power; only the predicted positive relationship between field independence and n Achievement was confirmed. Results are inconsistent with some previous conclusions that field dependence is related to the greater n Affiliation of Mexican American compared to Anglo American children.

Confounding effects of individualism in children's cooperation — Competition social motive measures

The exact nature of cooperation — competition differences among children has remained obscure because the effect of individualistic motivation has important but unanalyzed influence on the frequency of cooperative and competitive responding. In order to clarify the nature of cultural differences in cooperation — competition, a novel social motive game was developed that provides distinct cooperative, competitive, and individualist alternatives. The measure was administered to 120 fourth-through sixth-grade Anglo-American and Mexican-American children of lower- and upper-middle-income levels. Consistent with previous research, Mexican-American children were generally more cooperative than Anglo-American children. Contrary to previous conclusions, however, individualism, not competition, was the strongest social motive among children, and Anglo-American children were generally more individualistic but not generally more competitive than Mexican-American children. Culture findings challenge both the methods and the results of previous cooperation — competition studies.

Mother-Directed Achievement of Children in Two Cultures:

Mother-child pairs in a small Mexican town and in Los Angeles, California, were observed in two experimental situations in which the mother either controlled the rewards given to the child for success or failure or selected achievement goals for the child. The results of the first experiment were that mothers of both groups rewarded their children for success, but that Mexican mothers gave significantly more rewards for failure than did the Los Angeles mothers. The results of the second experiment were that the Los Angeles mothers chose significantly more difficult achievement goals for their children and did not lower the goal following failure, as did the Mexican mothers.

Cooperative learning and classroom climate

Abstract The impact of two cooperative learning techniques, Student Teams-Achievement Divisions and Teams-Games-Tournaments, on classroom climate among students was compared to a traditional whole-class format. Thirty-five student teachers were randomly assigned to one of the three classroom structures. Their pupils were 864 second-through sixth-grade students, including 288 non-Anglo (black and Mexican American) students. A new measure of classroom climate, the Classroom Attitudes Scale, was developed that produced two attitude factors: Social Relations and School-work Cooperative techniques generally produced a slightly more favorable climate on both dimensions, and especially for females on Social Relations. Of the cooperative methods, Teams-Games-Tournament produced a significantly more favorable climate for Anglo-American students. The results support the conclusion that choice of classroom structure can bias classroom climate in favor of or against different ethnic groups.

Conflict Resolution Style among Mexican Children Examining Urbanization and Ecology Effects

Urbanization theorists have suggested that a consequence of increased urbanization is increased competitiveness. To test that hypothesis, 526 children from three settings in Mexico responded to two questions measuring their preferred response to conflict. While setting did relate significantly to conflict resolution style, the pattern of results obtained did not support the utility of a simple urban-rural dichotomy. The results suggest the importance of town ecology and the need for a more differentiated classification of the social ecology of settings.