Stephen L. Klineberg

Ethnic Differences in Predictors of Support for Municipal Affirmative Action Contracting

This study explores attitudes toward municipal affirmative action contracting among Anglos, African Americans, and Hispanics, testing predictors of support separately for each group and measuring changes over time. Copyright (c) 2003 by the Southwestern Social Science Association.

Parents, Schools and Modernity: An Exploratory Investigation of Sex Differences in the Attitudinal Development of Tunisian Adolescents*

THE concept of &dquo;attitudinal modernity&dquo; or &dquo;modernism&dquo; has become one of the master themes in the psychological analysis of social change. Its underlying assumption is that the macrostructural transformations that comprise the modernization process (the spread of urbanization, literacy, industrialization, etc.) bring about distinctive psychological changes in attitudes, values and behavior patterns on the part of individuals exposed to themchanges that tend to be broadly similar in all &dquo;developing&dquo; societies, despite countervailing influences of cultural diversity. Recent efforts to test that assumption in cross-national studies (Doob, 1960; Inkeles, 1966, 1969; Kahl, 1968; Lerner, 1958) have succeeded in isolating a basic syndrome of &dquo;modernity&dquo; that does indeed appear to have crosscultural validity. Among its major components is a relative openness to new experience, a reliance on the mass media for information and political participation, an egalitarian orientation toward the family with an assertion of independence from traditional kinship roles and obligations, a belief in personal efhcacy, and an orientation toward planning and the future. Similar dimensions have emerged from investigations of &dquo;modernity&dquo; in single societies (Armer & Youtz, 1971; Portes, 1973; Schnaiberg, 1970). Consensus is lacking, however, on a wide range of important conceptual and empirical issues. Among such issues is the unidimensional character of the &dquo;modernity&dquo;

The Impact of Anticipated Consequences, Respondent Group, and Strength of Affirmative Action Plan on Affirmative Action Attitudes

Two experiments found that affirmative action attitudes varied with the respondents racioethnic group, strength of affirmative action plan (AAP), anticipated consequences of the AAP, and interactions of racioethnic group with the other variables. AAP strength had a monotonic negative effect on attitudes for some groups, but an inverse-U effect for others. Attitudes were most strongly associated with the anticipated impact of the AAP on company performance; they were also related to the expected effects on collective self-interest, target group representation, and target group stigmatization. The positive relation between the anticipated impact on company performance and support for the AAP was stronger among Whites than U.S.-born Hispanics; the negative relation between anticipated stigmatization and AAP support was stronger among Whites than African-Americans. The effect of AAP strength on attitudes was partially mediated by the anticipated consequences among Whites and African-Americans, but not among Hispanics and Asians.

PREDICTING AFFIRMATIVE ACTION ATTITUDES: INTERACTIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES WITH THE STRENGTH OF THE AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLAN

Affirmative action and diversity management are complementary efforts to achieve an inclusive workforce. Research on attitudes toward affirmative action can therefore contribute to an understanding of reactions to diversity programs. Using data from two studies, we assess the extent to which the strength of the affirmative action plan (AAP) influences the relationship between attitudes and individual difference predictors. The relation of attitudes with the respondents’ race and perceived self-interest increased monotonically with AAP strength, whereas measures of racial prejudice and political orientation best predicted attitudes toward AAPs of intermediate strength. We explore the implications of these findings for the theory and practice of diversity management.

Postethnic America: Beyond Multiculturalism.

Introduction Haleys Choice and the Ethno-racial Pentagon From Species to Ethnos Pluralism, Cosmopolitanism, and the Diversification of Diversity Toward a Postethnic Perspective The Ethnos, the Nation, the World Epilogue.