Barbara H. Long’s research while affiliated with Goucher College and other places

Contrasted 51 Israeli 11-13 yr. olds of both sexes, reared in Kibbutzim, on the Self-Social Symbols tasks with 2 groups of the same age (European and Oriental background) from nearby moshavim (small farm collectives). The 3 groups differed in esteem, social interest, and identification with mother, father, and friend. There were no sex differences, but there was a Group * Sex interaction for inclusiveness. The kibbutz showed more social interest and higher esteem, and, among the boys, less inclusiveness. High identification with parents in the kibbutz was positively associated with age and appeared related to the European background of parents. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

After six weeks of school, classroom teachers rated 95 Negro and 93 white first-graders on 24 behavioral scales. Mean total ratings did not differentiate the two groups, but the variance was significantly higher for the whites. Total ratings predicted promotion for the Negroes, but not for the whites. For both groups the ratings were (a) higher for the girls, (b) positively related to Otis IQ's and Metropolitan Readiness scores, and (c) among those promoted, predictive of total and subtest Metropolitan Reading scores and of total Metropolitan Reading scores with IQ controlled. Principal components factor analysis with varimax rotation revealed two group factors ("good worker," "friendly") and three more specific factors ("cries," "quarrels," "wanders") common to both racial groups. Additional factors differentiated the races: (a) "leadership" for the whites, and (b) "docility" and "curiosity" for the Negroes. "Good worker" for the Negroes and "leadership" for the whites were related to academic success. The findings suggest both commonalities and race-related differences in teachers' judgments of first-graders' classroom behavior.

Self-social concepts and behavior ratings by teachers obtained at school entrance for 95 Negro first-graders were compared a year later for three groups: (a) repeaters (N = 27), (b) promoted non-readers (N = 29), and (c) readers (N = 39). Total ratings and self-social concept scores differentiated the groups. The readers showed greater realism for size, but less preference for father, minority identification, social dependency, and identification with parents. Item analyses of the behavior ratings confirmed these differences and suggested social withdrawal for the repeaters, an over-dependency for the promoted non-readers, and a realistic, mature independence for the readers.

Back-translated adjectives in Telugu and English were checked as self-descriptive by Indian and American adolescents and rated on evaluative and activity scales by college students in each culture. Both commonalities and differences between cultures were found in the connotations of the adjectives. Indians and boys endorsed more adjectives, and there were significant interactions among culture, sex, and words endorsed. Higher endorsement-evaluation and lower endorsement-activity correlations were found for the Indians. Results suggested a greater effect for social desirability for Indians, a greater value for activity for Americans, greater sex differences for Americans, and greater cultural differences for boys.

Investigated the hypothesis that children from different backgrounds have varying social experiences which affect their social schemata, and studied the relative effects of race, class, sex, age, and family structure upon the child's schemata. 192 equally divided caucasian and negro boys and girls (also equally divided into the middle and lower classes) who were entering the 1st grade in 13 schools in 2 rural southern counties served as ss. Within 1 wk. Of school entrance, the children's self-social contructs test was administered by 6 white female es. The negro ss had significantly lower iqs and less preschool education; both negroes and lower-class ss had significantly greater father absence; but otherwise, there were no significant differences between subgroups in birthdates or number of older and younger siblings. In terms of the demographic variable of race, the negro child is lower in self-esteem, has less preference for father, and tends to have less realistic schemata in terms of size and color. In terms of class, the lower-class ss had greater separation from father and the schemata showed greater identification with mother, teacher, and friend. For the variable, sex, boys identified more with father and showed more preference for father but less for teacher. In terms of age, older ss showed a greater degree of social interest. And for the variable, family composition, children from smaller families had a closer relation with same-sex parent. Data support the central hypothesis. (27 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Compared self-other orientations of 100 French-Canadian and 100 English-Canadian adolescents (median age, 12) from working-class districts, using the Self-Social Symbols Tasks. Significant differences between groups were found for 8 of the 12 measures. French Canadians were higher in power, but lower in self-esteem, social interest, complexity, and 4 measures of identification with others. (French summary) (44 ref.)

After six weeks of school, classroom teachers rated 95 Negro and 93 white first graders on 24 behavior scales. Mean total ratings did not differentiate the two groups, but variance was significantly higher for the whites. Total ratings predicted promotion for the Negroes, and for both groups were significantly (a) higher for the girls, (b) positively related to Otis IQ's and Metropolitan readiness scores, and (c) among those promoted to grade two predictive of Metropolitan reading scores and scores with IQ controlled. Principle components factor analyses with varimax rotations revealed two group factors ("Good worker,""Friendly") and three more specific factors ("Cries", "Quarrels,""Wanders") common to both racial groups. Additional factors differentiated the races: (a)"Leadership: for the whites; (b) "Docility,""Conformity,""Curiosity" for the Negroes. "Good worker" for the Negroes and "Leadership" for the whites were most predictive of academic success. The findings suggest both commonalities and race-related differences in teacher judgments of first graders' classroom behavior. (Author)