An exploration of race prejudice in college students and interracial contact

Author
Publication Year
1969

Type

Thesis
Abstract

The literature indicates that equal status face to face contact between the races has some effect upon attitudes of racial bias. This study was an experiment to assess the relationship of interracial contact between quasi equal status blacks and whites and racial attitudes as measured by the Multifactor Racial Attitude Inventory. The subjects were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups from classes for undergraduates enrolled in the College of Education at the University of Washington. Two groups of students were used, 139 students enrolled in the fall of 1968 and 130 students enrolled during the summer session 1968. The treatment for the experimental groups consisted of tutoring black students at Neighborhood House for a period of approximately eight hours. There were 34 students in the experimental group during the summer and 16 during the fall. In addition to the MRAI, data were collected of a personal biographic nature from all the students. The biographical items were used for partial analysis of scores on the MRAI. In general it was concluded that interracial contacts of the type studied affect some dimensions of race prejudice but not others. Ease in interracial contacts and gradualism were the dimensions most affected. Age and class status in college seem to have no relationship to race prejudice, but males tend to be less prejudice than females and non-church attenders seem to be less prejudice than church attenders.

University
University of Washington
Full text

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BACKGROUND, DESIGN AND PROCEDURES OF THE STUDY

Summer Exploratory Study Subjects The subjects were all University of Washington students enrolled for Education 304, a required educational psychology course in the teacher training program, Summer Quarter, 1968. There were 31 students in the class who had also enrolled for student teaching, or for Education 289, a classroom observation course. These individuals were, as is the usual practice, exempted from term paper or tutoring requirements in Education 304, and constituted the Not Randomized Group (Group D). The remaining 126 students were randomly assigned to three categories. One third (42 students) were randomly selected to write term papers (Group C), one third to tutor white students (Group A), and the other third to tutor black students (Group B).

Collection of Summer Study Data A battery of attitude scales and a background data questionnaire were administered to all four groups, in class, the last week of Summer Quarter. The course instructor and assistants distributed packets of scales and questionnaires to every student in class. [...]

Fall Study Subjects The subjects came from all three Educational Psychology 304 classes offered Fall Quarter, 1968, at the University of Washington. [...] Four of the ten sections were randomly selected to write term papers. These students constituted a control group (Group G). Students in the remaining six quiz sections were given the option to choose other work projects (e.g., tutoring) in lieu of their term paper requirement. [...]

Collection of Fall Data The same battery of attitude scales and questionnaire used in the Summer Study was administered to Fall Study subjects. The control group E, Tutor Whites Group, completed the data forms at the beginning of the quarter.

Instruments Used. Two existing instruments comprised the battery of attitude scales: one, a short-form (20 item) of Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale; the other, the Multifactor Racial Attitude Inventory. [...]

Type of Prejudice/Bias
Country
Method