Psychological Reports, 1992, 7 0 , 623-626.
O Psychological Reports 1992
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' FELT ALIENATION AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD AFRICAN-AMERICANS, WOMEN A N D HOMOSEXUALS ' JOEL W. WELLS
Department of Home Economics Family Studies Univmiiy of Northern Iowa
AND
ALFRIEDA DALY
School of Social Work Rutgers University
Summary.-177 respondents attending a midwestern state university reported greater alienation From the wider society when they held more positive attitudes than negative ones toward women and homosexuals. Alienation and attitudes toward AfricanAmericans, women, and homosexuals were not influenced by gender or religiosity.
As American society rapidly grows more diverse, victimization of minority persons as inferred from prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory acts is on the rise in documented accounts of public slurs, threats, and physical assaults (6). Although the United States is portrayed as a pluralistic society, wherein all racial and cultural groups share equal access to opportunities for lives of quality and power over their lives, a more accurate characterization is a multicultural society that has not achieved pluralism ( 5 ) . As such, those who are less prejudiced as measured by scores on attitudes toward AfricanAmericans, women and homosexuals are hypothesized as expressing greater anomie on a measure of alienation. Normlessness or a lack of guidelines to regulate behavior, feeling powerless to change the status quo, and feelings of isolation from the predominant culture as well as from other people characterize alienation. Henley and Pincus (2) report a correlation among Caucasian college undergraduates for discriminatory acts toward African-Americans, women, and homosexuals. These authors reported women were less discriminatory toward women but just as discriminatory as male students toward African-Americans and homosexuals. Discrimination against African-Americans, women and homosexuals was greater for those students professing more religious involvement as well as for those holding a more conservative political perspective than for those with less religious involvement and those who were less politically conservative. Students scored lowest on racial discrimination, higher on discrimination against women, and highest on discrimination against homosexuals. The content of federal and state laws which protect minorities is consistent with the findings of Henley and Pincus, i.e., their respondents ranked the groups. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution makes 'Address correspondence to J. W. Wells, Department of Home Economics-Family Studies, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0332.
624
J. W. WELLS
&
A. DALY
racial discrimination illegal. Discrimination based upon gender is illegal in 14 states, whereas only four states make discrimination against homosexual men and women illegal. Wolkner (9) claims that as of April 1990 eight states and the District of Columbia have passed anthate and violence legislation which increases penalties for attacks on minorities which includes race, gender, and orientation. There is a paucity of research in which variables that might correlate with prejudice and discrimination as applied to race, gender, a i d sexual orientation are considered. This study seeks to assess whether greater alienation correlates with less prejudicial attitudes toward African-Americans, women, and homosexuals.
METHOD Respondents were 177 urban midwestern, predominantly senior (74%) undergraduate university students who were enrolled in a class on human sexuality; the total enrollment was 189 students. Of the 177 participants, 93 were women (52.5%), 82 were men (46.3%), 2 gave no gender response (1. l a ) , 164 were Caucasian (92.5%), 8 were African-American (4.5%), 3 were Hispanic (1.7%), 2 were Asian (1.1%). All but 12 (6.8%) were taking the class as an elective course (93.2%). The mean age for the sample was 22 years, with a range from 18 to 47 years. Data were provided voluntarily over the last week of the semester for optional credit. Participants completed the questionnaires outside of class and wrote their names on questionnaires; these were removed to preserve their anonymity as soon as credit was recorded. The Kmsey Rating Scale (4) was used to assess sexual orientation by asking respondents to rate themselves on a seven-point scale from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. Self-ratings were 147 exclusively heterosexual (83. I%), 22 predominantly heterosexual-insignificantly homosexual (12.4%), 1 predominantly heterosexual-significantly homosexual (O.6%), 0 equally heterosexual and homosexual, 1 predominantly homosexual-significantly heterosexual (O.6%), O predominantly homosexual-insignificantly heterosexual, and 3 exclusively homosexual (1.7%). Respondents were asked to rate their religiosity by answering a question about how religious they considered themselves to be. Fifty-eight percent or 104 considered themselves moderately religious, 23.2% or 41 said they were slightly religious, 13% or 23 were strongly religious, and 4.5% or 8 said they were not at all religious. The questionnaires included the Situational Attitude Scale (7) which measures what people think about social and personal situations dealing with African-Americans, the Alienation Scale (1) which gives measures of normlessness, social isolation, and powerlessness, the Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals (3) which measures homophobic reactions to homosexuality
625
ALIENATION AND ATTITUDES TOWARD OTHERS
and homosexual people, and the short form of the Attitudes toward Women Scale (8) which assesses gender issues. A matrix was set up to evaluate the correlations among the four measures using the respondents' test scores. Chi squared was used to test for significant associations for each of the three attitudinal tests and alienation by gender, sexual orientation, and religiosity.
RESULTSAND DISCUSSION For the total sample an inverse correlation was observed between attitudes toward AfricanAmericans and attitudes toward homosexuals. A positive correlation obtained between attitudes toward women and attitudes toward homosexuals as well as for greater alienation. For women and men similar correlations were noted for their attitudes toward African-Americans, women, were low to moderate in magnitude; see Table 1. and homosexuals. All correl;~t~ons TABLE 1 CORRELATIONS AMONGSCORESON FOURATTITUDE~ ~ A S L R EFOR S ALL RESPONDENTS ( N = 177) Attitude Measure
1
2
3
4
AU 1. Situational Attitude Scale 2 . Attitudes Toward Women Scale 3 . Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals 4 . Alienation Scale Womena (n = 9 3 ) 1. Situational Attitude Scale 2 . Attirudes Toward Women Scale 3 . Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals 4 . Alienation Scale Mena (n = 8 2 ) 1. Simational Attitude Scale 2 . Attitudes Toward Women Scale 3 . Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals 4 . Alienation Scale "Pearson coefficients. * p < .05. t p < .O1. $p< .04. Mean scores for attitudes toward all people not racially specified (Form A) and attitudes toward African-Americans (Form B) on the Situational Attitude Scale were not significantly different by gender; see Table 2 . Religiosity did not correlate with attitudes toward African-Americans (t = -0.26, df = .86, p < . 8 0 ) , women ( t = -1.54,df = 1.74, p < . l 3 ) , homosexuals ( t = -1.26, df = 1.74, p < . 2 1 ) , or with alienation (t = 0 . 6 5 , df= 1.71, p < . 5 2 ) . The 27 respondents who rated themselves as having a homosexual component from insignificantly to exclusively reported significantly more positive attitudes toward homosexuals and also toward women (see Table 3 ) . Scores on the Alienation Scale did not differ between those rating a homosexual component and those who said they were exclusively heterosexual. This investigation indicates there is a higher correlation between negative attitudes toward both homosexuals and women than there is toward African-Americans for both college women and men. Women in this study were as negative toward women as were men whereas Henley and Pincus ( 2 ) reported women to be more positive toward women than were men. In both studies women and men held similar oers~ectives toward homosexuals and African-Americans. Hen. ley and Pincus ( 2 ) reasoned that negative attitudes toward race have a higher salience than do negative attitudes toward women and homosexuals.
.
62 6
J. W. WELLS & A. DALY TABLE 2 MEANSAND STANDARD DEVIATIONS FOR NON-AFRICAN-AMERICANS (FORMA) AFRICAN-AMERICANS (FORMB) ON THE SITUATIONAL ATTITUDESCALE Grou~
All Women Men
Test Form Form Form Form Form Form Form
A B A B A B
M
SD
t
3.3 3.4 3.3 3.4 3.3 3.4
.3
-.30
AND
.5 .3 .4 .3 .5
-.47 -.37
Recognition of discrimination as an issue in American society is reflected in the enactment and strengthening of legal protection for minorities (6, 9). Alienation from the wider culture as indicated by scores on alienation by this study's relatively less prejudiced respondents compared to those who reported more negative reactions to African-Americans, women and homosexuals further indicates that these college students have not achieved pluralistic attitudes
(5). TABLE 3 COMPARISONOF RESPONDENTS SELF-CLASSIFIED AS EXCLUSIVELY HETEROSEXUAL OR WITH HOMOSEXUAL C~M~NENT Sexual Orientation
Exclusively Heterosexual Homosexual Component
Attitudes Toward Women Scale M SD n
3.43 3.62
.33 .22
147 27
Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals M SD n
2.50 3.41
.64 .77
147 27
REFERENCES 1. DEAN,D. G . (1961) Alienation: its meaning and measurement. American Sociological Rev i m , 26, 753-758. 2. HENLEY,N . M., & P~NCUS, F. (1978) Interrelationship of sexist, racist, and antihomosexual attitudes. Psychological Reports, 42, 83.90. 3. HUDSON,W. W., & RICKETT, W. A. (1980) A strategy for the measurement of homophobia. Journal of Homoserualitj, 5, 357.372 4. KINSEY,A. C., POMEROY,W. B., & MARTIN,C. E. (1948) Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia, PA: Saunden. 5. LUKES,C. A,, & LAND,H . (1990) Biculturality and homosexuality. Social Work, 35, 155161. 6. PINE, G . J., & HILLIARD, A. G. (1990) Rx for racism: imperatives for America's schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 71, 593-600. 7. SEDLACEK, W. E., & BROOKS,G. C., JR. (1970) Measuring racial attimdes in a situational context. Psychological Reports, 27, 971-980. 8. SPENCE,J. F., HELMREICH,R., & STAPP,J. (1973) A short version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS). Psychonomic Societj Bulletin, 2, 219-220. 9. WOLKNER, R. (1990) Iowa activists win hate crimes law. The New Voice, 8, 16.
Accepted March 3, 1992.
O Psychological Reports 1992
UNIVERSITY STUDENTS' FELT ALIENATION AND THEIR ATTITUDES TOWARD AFRICAN-AMERICANS, WOMEN A N D HOMOSEXUALS ' JOEL W. WELLS
Department of Home Economics Family Studies Univmiiy of Northern Iowa
AND
ALFRIEDA DALY
School of Social Work Rutgers University
Summary.-177 respondents attending a midwestern state university reported greater alienation From the wider society when they held more positive attitudes than negative ones toward women and homosexuals. Alienation and attitudes toward AfricanAmericans, women, and homosexuals were not influenced by gender or religiosity.
As American society rapidly grows more diverse, victimization of minority persons as inferred from prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory acts is on the rise in documented accounts of public slurs, threats, and physical assaults (6). Although the United States is portrayed as a pluralistic society, wherein all racial and cultural groups share equal access to opportunities for lives of quality and power over their lives, a more accurate characterization is a multicultural society that has not achieved pluralism ( 5 ) . As such, those who are less prejudiced as measured by scores on attitudes toward AfricanAmericans, women and homosexuals are hypothesized as expressing greater anomie on a measure of alienation. Normlessness or a lack of guidelines to regulate behavior, feeling powerless to change the status quo, and feelings of isolation from the predominant culture as well as from other people characterize alienation. Henley and Pincus (2) report a correlation among Caucasian college undergraduates for discriminatory acts toward African-Americans, women, and homosexuals. These authors reported women were less discriminatory toward women but just as discriminatory as male students toward African-Americans and homosexuals. Discrimination against African-Americans, women and homosexuals was greater for those students professing more religious involvement as well as for those holding a more conservative political perspective than for those with less religious involvement and those who were less politically conservative. Students scored lowest on racial discrimination, higher on discrimination against women, and highest on discrimination against homosexuals. The content of federal and state laws which protect minorities is consistent with the findings of Henley and Pincus, i.e., their respondents ranked the groups. The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution makes 'Address correspondence to J. W. Wells, Department of Home Economics-Family Studies, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0332.
624
J. W. WELLS
&
A. DALY
racial discrimination illegal. Discrimination based upon gender is illegal in 14 states, whereas only four states make discrimination against homosexual men and women illegal. Wolkner (9) claims that as of April 1990 eight states and the District of Columbia have passed anthate and violence legislation which increases penalties for attacks on minorities which includes race, gender, and orientation. There is a paucity of research in which variables that might correlate with prejudice and discrimination as applied to race, gender, a i d sexual orientation are considered. This study seeks to assess whether greater alienation correlates with less prejudicial attitudes toward African-Americans, women, and homosexuals.
METHOD Respondents were 177 urban midwestern, predominantly senior (74%) undergraduate university students who were enrolled in a class on human sexuality; the total enrollment was 189 students. Of the 177 participants, 93 were women (52.5%), 82 were men (46.3%), 2 gave no gender response (1. l a ) , 164 were Caucasian (92.5%), 8 were African-American (4.5%), 3 were Hispanic (1.7%), 2 were Asian (1.1%). All but 12 (6.8%) were taking the class as an elective course (93.2%). The mean age for the sample was 22 years, with a range from 18 to 47 years. Data were provided voluntarily over the last week of the semester for optional credit. Participants completed the questionnaires outside of class and wrote their names on questionnaires; these were removed to preserve their anonymity as soon as credit was recorded. The Kmsey Rating Scale (4) was used to assess sexual orientation by asking respondents to rate themselves on a seven-point scale from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual. Self-ratings were 147 exclusively heterosexual (83. I%), 22 predominantly heterosexual-insignificantly homosexual (12.4%), 1 predominantly heterosexual-significantly homosexual (O.6%), 0 equally heterosexual and homosexual, 1 predominantly homosexual-significantly heterosexual (O.6%), O predominantly homosexual-insignificantly heterosexual, and 3 exclusively homosexual (1.7%). Respondents were asked to rate their religiosity by answering a question about how religious they considered themselves to be. Fifty-eight percent or 104 considered themselves moderately religious, 23.2% or 41 said they were slightly religious, 13% or 23 were strongly religious, and 4.5% or 8 said they were not at all religious. The questionnaires included the Situational Attitude Scale (7) which measures what people think about social and personal situations dealing with African-Americans, the Alienation Scale (1) which gives measures of normlessness, social isolation, and powerlessness, the Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals (3) which measures homophobic reactions to homosexuality
625
ALIENATION AND ATTITUDES TOWARD OTHERS
and homosexual people, and the short form of the Attitudes toward Women Scale (8) which assesses gender issues. A matrix was set up to evaluate the correlations among the four measures using the respondents' test scores. Chi squared was used to test for significant associations for each of the three attitudinal tests and alienation by gender, sexual orientation, and religiosity.
RESULTSAND DISCUSSION For the total sample an inverse correlation was observed between attitudes toward AfricanAmericans and attitudes toward homosexuals. A positive correlation obtained between attitudes toward women and attitudes toward homosexuals as well as for greater alienation. For women and men similar correlations were noted for their attitudes toward African-Americans, women, were low to moderate in magnitude; see Table 1. and homosexuals. All correl;~t~ons TABLE 1 CORRELATIONS AMONGSCORESON FOURATTITUDE~ ~ A S L R EFOR S ALL RESPONDENTS ( N = 177) Attitude Measure
1
2
3
4
AU 1. Situational Attitude Scale 2 . Attitudes Toward Women Scale 3 . Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals 4 . Alienation Scale Womena (n = 9 3 ) 1. Situational Attitude Scale 2 . Attirudes Toward Women Scale 3 . Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals 4 . Alienation Scale Mena (n = 8 2 ) 1. Simational Attitude Scale 2 . Attitudes Toward Women Scale 3 . Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals 4 . Alienation Scale "Pearson coefficients. * p < .05. t p < .O1. $p< .04. Mean scores for attitudes toward all people not racially specified (Form A) and attitudes toward African-Americans (Form B) on the Situational Attitude Scale were not significantly different by gender; see Table 2 . Religiosity did not correlate with attitudes toward African-Americans (t = -0.26, df = .86, p < . 8 0 ) , women ( t = -1.54,df = 1.74, p < . l 3 ) , homosexuals ( t = -1.26, df = 1.74, p < . 2 1 ) , or with alienation (t = 0 . 6 5 , df= 1.71, p < . 5 2 ) . The 27 respondents who rated themselves as having a homosexual component from insignificantly to exclusively reported significantly more positive attitudes toward homosexuals and also toward women (see Table 3 ) . Scores on the Alienation Scale did not differ between those rating a homosexual component and those who said they were exclusively heterosexual. This investigation indicates there is a higher correlation between negative attitudes toward both homosexuals and women than there is toward African-Americans for both college women and men. Women in this study were as negative toward women as were men whereas Henley and Pincus ( 2 ) reported women to be more positive toward women than were men. In both studies women and men held similar oers~ectives toward homosexuals and African-Americans. Hen. ley and Pincus ( 2 ) reasoned that negative attitudes toward race have a higher salience than do negative attitudes toward women and homosexuals.
.
62 6
J. W. WELLS & A. DALY TABLE 2 MEANSAND STANDARD DEVIATIONS FOR NON-AFRICAN-AMERICANS (FORMA) AFRICAN-AMERICANS (FORMB) ON THE SITUATIONAL ATTITUDESCALE Grou~
All Women Men
Test Form Form Form Form Form Form Form
A B A B A B
M
SD
t
3.3 3.4 3.3 3.4 3.3 3.4
.3
-.30
AND
.5 .3 .4 .3 .5
-.47 -.37
Recognition of discrimination as an issue in American society is reflected in the enactment and strengthening of legal protection for minorities (6, 9). Alienation from the wider culture as indicated by scores on alienation by this study's relatively less prejudiced respondents compared to those who reported more negative reactions to African-Americans, women and homosexuals further indicates that these college students have not achieved pluralistic attitudes
(5). TABLE 3 COMPARISONOF RESPONDENTS SELF-CLASSIFIED AS EXCLUSIVELY HETEROSEXUAL OR WITH HOMOSEXUAL C~M~NENT Sexual Orientation
Exclusively Heterosexual Homosexual Component
Attitudes Toward Women Scale M SD n
3.43 3.62
.33 .22
147 27
Index of Attitudes Toward Homosexuals M SD n
2.50 3.41
.64 .77
147 27
REFERENCES 1. DEAN,D. G . (1961) Alienation: its meaning and measurement. American Sociological Rev i m , 26, 753-758. 2. HENLEY,N . M., & P~NCUS, F. (1978) Interrelationship of sexist, racist, and antihomosexual attitudes. Psychological Reports, 42, 83.90. 3. HUDSON,W. W., & RICKETT, W. A. (1980) A strategy for the measurement of homophobia. Journal of Homoserualitj, 5, 357.372 4. KINSEY,A. C., POMEROY,W. B., & MARTIN,C. E. (1948) Sexual behavior in the human male. Philadelphia, PA: Saunden. 5. LUKES,C. A,, & LAND,H . (1990) Biculturality and homosexuality. Social Work, 35, 155161. 6. PINE, G . J., & HILLIARD, A. G. (1990) Rx for racism: imperatives for America's schools. Phi Delta Kappan, 71, 593-600. 7. SEDLACEK, W. E., & BROOKS,G. C., JR. (1970) Measuring racial attimdes in a situational context. Psychological Reports, 27, 971-980. 8. SPENCE,J. F., HELMREICH,R., & STAPP,J. (1973) A short version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (AWS). Psychonomic Societj Bulletin, 2, 219-220. 9. WOLKNER, R. (1990) Iowa activists win hate crimes law. The New Voice, 8, 16.
Accepted March 3, 1992.
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