Meanings of political participation among Black and White women: Political identity and social responsibility.

This study examined the correlates of midlife political participation among 64 Black and 107 White women of the college classes of 1967–1973. Compared with White women, Black women scored higher on political participation, generativity, power discontent, and politicization. Factor analysis of personality and political attitude variables yielded three factors labeled Political Identity, Power Discontent, and Social Responsibility. Adult political participation was regressed on level of student activism and index scores of political identity, power discontent, and social responsibility. For both racial groups, social responsibility was associated with midlife political participation. For White women, political identity was also related; for Black women, student activism bore a significant relationship. The findings suggest that Black and White women's historical and political contexts imbued their political activities with different meanings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"American student activism in comparative perspective": Comment.

Argues than S. M. Lipset's (1970) article on American student activism fails to note the impact of modern technology on mass communication and of child-rearing practices on student activism. Also, the role of the minority as spokesperson for the majority is not unique to the student movement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reply to Seymour M. Lipset.

It is well known that sociological investigations, as a rule, lead to findings expressed in terms of correlations. Most data available on "student activism" fall into this category (it being illegal to conduct experiments with riots as the independent variable). The dangers involved in interpreting correlations as cause-and-effect relationships are equally well known, ideologically inclined investigators with strong social and political views being particularly ill suited for such a semioracular exercise. I suspect it was his ideological preconceptions that caused Seymour M. Lipset's (see record 1971-02248-001) self-admitted failing in 1964-65 to determine correct causes of organized student protest and violent confrontationist politics; and, having read his new article (Lipset, 1970) on the same subject, I fear the same hobgoblins were at work again. As on the previous occasion, Lipset again breathes life into the disconnected fragments of correlational bones and comes up with a living animal, different from last time but of the same species, again a creature of the same old cosmic plan that he carries in his left pocket. In general, his article seems more critical of the existing social order than of unruly students, and its author gives no practical advice regarding the kind of curative and preventive action that would relieve the current social crisis and check students' behavioral excesses. There is, I submit, another way of interpreting the phenomenon of student violence and social turmoil in general--a way that indicates both the form of the required remedial treatment and the feasibility of its immediate and direct application. This approach, in a way, makes use of Voltaire's insightful observation that "Enthusiasm is not always the companion of total ignorance, it is often that of erroneous information." Specifically, I suggest that the academic community is being heavily propagandized and that many students (and faculty members) have an appallingly inadequate historical understanding of the existing social, political, and economic situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Survivors of the Sixties: Comparative psychosocial and political development of former Berkeley student activists.

Compared 30 former Berkeley free speech movement activists with 28 student government contemporaries and a cross-section of the 1964–1965 student body (n?=?25) along the dimensions of self- and ideal-self constructions, locus of control, political beliefs and behavior, occupational choice, and moral development. Mean age of all Ss was 34.2 yrs. Though their personality (e.g., scores on Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale) and political activism (e.g., Politico-Economic Conservatism Scale) profiles were not distinctive, former activists were more likely to endorse leftist convictions, to work in human service and creative occupations, to earn lower annual incomes, and to demonstrate principled moral reasoning than were the comparison groups. Though free speech movement activists appear to have made important life transitions 15 yrs following their arrests, they still remained a distinct social and political cohort. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of instructor/course evaluations on student course selection.

Instructor/course evaluations had an impact on student election of courses as shown by the frequency with which 1,150 students elected differentially rated classes. Prior to registration students were given reports on student evaluations of political science courses. A comparable group of students did not receive the ratings. The course rated most highly was elected more frequently by those with access to ratings despite the fact that it was also rated as requiring more work. (9 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

On "Paradoxes of student protests."

Suggests that the paper by E. A. Rubinstein (see record 1969-10303-001) concerning paradoxes of student protests has contributed little to the comprehension of student activism. He has obscured the issues on which student action is based and cloaked his own conservative views in the guise of scientific and clinical research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A simple solution.

Comments on the article by P. R. Sackett, N. Schmitt, J. E. Ellingson, and M. B. Kabin (see record 2001-00625-002) which posed the dilemma of how to use tests to select for performance without excluding minority group members. The current author argues that society should challenge the premise that elite American universities should select students on the basis of promise of academic performance. It is maintained that psychologists should develop valid tests that accurately predict the qualities of creativity, good citizenship, participation in extracurricular activities, athletics, political correctness, and social activism. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Teaching White privilege to White students can mean saying good-bye to positive student evaluations.

This article discusses the negative impact that teaching antiracism can have on teaching careers when students evaluate their efforts and abilities. The published literature abounds with anecdotes about negative student reactions to antiracism teaching, particularly when it involves teaching White students about White privilege. Students often reject both message and messenger, projecting their frustrations and emotions about this topic onto instructors. Therefore, the authors believe that student evaluations for some courses (e. g., psychology, sociology, geography, political science) should include items about whether students have acquired a less racist, more multicultural perspective. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

How to influence public policy: A blueprint for activism.

Public interest advocacy and political activism are vital to the guild interests of psychology, just as they are essential to the evolution of any discipline that seeks professional recognition outside of the university laboratory. Division 38 (Health Psychology) of the American Psychological Association (APA) has conducted monthly policy dinner meetings featuring national health policy experts as speakers to develop an appreciation within the division for the complexities of formulating public policy. Groups of psychologists outside the structure of the APA Central Office need to make efforts to build political support if psychology is to play a larger role in public policy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of attitudinal, cognitive, and situational variables on recall of biased communications.

Investigated the attitudinal congeniality hypothesis (the assumption that people learn material congenial to their attitudes more easily than uncongenial material) in a 2 by 2 design: instruction set (learn vs judge) by essay bias (pro vs con), with attitude toward student activism as the focal ex post facto variable. 120 college students served as Ss. Verbal skills, quantitative skills, and overlap of prior knowledge structure with essay content were treated as covariates. A number of variables related to quality of essay content and demand characteristics were controlled and/or measured to achieve the maximum possible control over recall variance. Results indicate that greater recall was associated with greater intellectual skills, greater overlap of prior knowledge, more positive attitudes toward the experimental setting, instructions to learn the essay, and the attitudinal congeniality effect (indexed by the Attitude by Essay Bias interaction). Interpretation is based on the effect of each variable on the perceived utility of the essay's content. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Patterns of belief and action.

Reviews the book, Patterns of Belief and Action by S. L. Sutherland (1981). Patterns of Belief and Action is a study of student activism at the University of Alberta in 1970. A stratified random sample of 1200 students was selected and 80% of them actually completed an extensive battery of questionnaires and attitude scales. Included in the sample were students in all years, both undergraduate and graduate, and in most of the University Acuities. Among the wide variety of measures used were items on childhood background, demographic information, various attitude scales, personality inventories and a mental health index. Sutherland offers a convincing rationale for including each of the scales. Both the measures developed specifically for this investigation and those that already existed were psychometrically refined. Factor and item analyses were used to reduce each measure to an internally consistent, brief form. As a result, many of the scales are in the 5-8 item range. Despite their brevity, almost all have good psychometric properties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Participation in Social Action.

Comments on the M. Krim article (see record 1963-04092-001), which discusses the participation of psychologists in demonstrations and social activism. While it is held to be acceptable for psychologists to participate in these actions as individuals, the author argues that it is not acceptable for psychologists to participate as psychologists, with explicit or implicit indication that psychological science is responsible for the social or political views of the psychologist. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and attitude-activism correspondence.

Studied personality variables as predictors of activism when the contribution of attitude was partialed out. Critical evaluation of earlier studies suggested 2 methodological improvements. First, a multiple-act criterion of activism was used. Second, sex differences were examined. Additionally, a relatively large (448 Ss) and primarily nonstudent sample was employed. Attitudes and activism regarding abortion constituted the focus of inquiry. Initial analyses indicated high overall levels of relationship between attitudes and reported activism. Women showed a higher attitude–activism correlation than men, and respondents with an anti-abortion attitude showed a higher correlation than those with a pro-abortion attitude. On the personality measures (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, California Psychological Inventory, and the Adjective Check List), Ss ranking high in activism after the effects of attitude were partialed out were found to be more dominant, self-confident, energetic, and effective in using their capabilities than Ss who had engaged in less activism than expected from their attitudes. Internal locus of control in the political realm was also related to higher levels of residual activism. The personality correlates of residual activism were similar in males and females and in Ss having favorable and unfavorable attitudes toward abortion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologist-legislator: Reflection on the first year in office.

As a Massachusetts State Representative, the author describes how being a psychologist affected her campaign and 1st year in office. Her history of past and current political interests in women, education, labor, and human services has contributed to her legislative and political agenda. This article reports how the Massachusetts Psychological Association played a significant role in her campaign and how mental health issues have been her top priority. Serving as a state legislator has integrated her 2 passions: political activism and psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Problematic Students: Gatekeeping Practices of Academic Professional Psychology Programs.

When the topic of problematic students arises, there are often more questions than answers. Professional psychology programs may serve as gatekeepers for the profession, yet there is little guidance on intervening with problematic students. This study surveyed training directors (TDs) of American Psychological Association-accredited academic psychology programs regarding problematic student behaviors. Over half of the programs that responded had terminated at least 1 student during a 3-year period, with TDs citing inadequate clinical skills as the major reason. Despite accreditation policies, 54% of the programs did not have written guidelines for intervening with problematic students. Recommendations to promote consistent evaluation and intervention at the faculty, student, program, and national-policy level are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Political machines versus professional societies.

Discusses the opposing views on the professional-scientific and the social activism roles of the American Psychological Association (APA) expressed by A. W. Melton (1970) and J. Sawyer (1970). The author notes that professional societies cannot remain professional societies if they undertake the grinding of political axes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychologists in medical schools: Medical staff status and clinical privileges.

It is argued that professional autonomy for psychologists in medical settings requires that psychologists exercise self-governance responsibilities. Inclusion of psychologists on the hospital medical staff is critical because of the self-governance responsibilities afforded to the hospital medical staff by the governing body of the hospital. Central among these responsibilities are the delineation of clinical privileges and the monitoring of quality of patient care. The challenges to psychology inherent in these issues are discussed in terms of the continuing need for political activism and professional "maturity." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Paradoxes of student protests.

Reviews interpretations of student unrest in relation to date gained from interviews with the faculty, administration, and students from 6 campuses where some form of student demonstration had occurred. 4 paradoxes were discussed: (1) the use of coercive efforts to uphold freedom, (2) the highly intellectual form of antiintellectualism, (3) the political nature of the attack against today's politics, and (4) the struggle to find a basis for confrontation, even in the most permissive environments. Tension on campus was largely attributed to increasing size of student bodies. From a psychological viewpoint, the sense of drama, participation, and group experience was thought to underlie much of the force and vitality of student protests. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Moral development and politics a decade later: A replication and extension.

Previous investigations performed during the age of student protest indicated a curvilinear relationship between moral development and political ideology and behavior, with both higher and lower levels of moral reasoning associated with leftist inclinations. The present research determined if the linkage between moral reasoning level and political choice could be extended to former students negotiating their middle adulthood during a period of political quiescence. Consistent with the expectations of N. Haan et al (1968), data obtained from 76 persons who had been students at the University of California at Berkeley in 1964 suggest a linear relationship between moral judgment and leftist politics, with premoral reasoners no longer overrepresented among either liberal or politically active Ss. Previous investigators' substantive and directional interpretations of the relationship between moral maturity and political preference are weighed against recent challenges to the purportedly primary, structural, and value-free basis of the L. Kohlberg (1969) model of moral development. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group alcohol climate, alcohol consumption, and student performance.

This study explored the relationship between group norms for drinking and two indicators of student performance. Based on data from 96 undergraduate students (mean age = 22 years) living in 21 student houses, the multilevel hypotheses that (a) house alcohol climate is associated with student alcohol consumption, (b) student alcohol consumption is associated with student withdrawal behavior (i.e., absence from class), and (c) that student alcohol consumption mediates the link between house alcohol climate and student withdrawal behavior are supported. No link between student alcohol consumption and student academic performance (i.e., average grades) was found. Similarly, there was no empirical support for the hypothesis that house cohesion would moderate the relationship between house alcohol climate and student alcohol consumption. Implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)