24
FAMILY STRUCTURE AND THE TRANSMISSION OF POLITICAL VALUES *
by
M. Kent Jennings
and
Richard G. Niemi
The U n i v e r s i t y o f M i c h i g a n
Prepared f o r d e l i v e r y a t t h e 1966 Annual M e e t i n g o f The American P o l i t i c a l Science
A s s o c i a t i o n , S t a t l e r - H i l t o n H o t e l , New York C i t y , September 6-10. C o p y r i g h t , 1966,
The American P o l i t i c a l Science A s s o c i a t i o n .
ABSTRACT
Considerable c o n t r o v e r s y and gaps o f knowledge e x i s t over t h e r e l a t i v e and
d i f f e r e n t i a l impact o f t h e f a m i l y as an agent o f p o l i t i c a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n . One
segment o f t h i s q u e s t i o n r e s t s on t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n o f p a r t i c u l a r v a l u e s from parent
t o c h i l d . Data from a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e sample o f American h i g h school s e n i o r s and
t h e i r p a r e n t s a r e u t i l i z e d t o examine t r a n s m i s s i o n p a t t e r n s ; p a r e n t - s t u d e n t p a i r s
are used as t h e u n i t s o f a n a l y s i s . C o r r e l a t i o n s a r e obtained f o r a v a r i e t y o f
p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s , and a b r i e f l o o k a t r e l i g i o u s v a l u e s p r o v i d e s a p o i n t o f comparison.
P a r e n t - s t u d e n t correspondences d i f f e r w i d e l y depending upon t h e values
c o n s i d e r e d , w i t h p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n s t a n d i n g h i g h e s t , though even t h a t value
r e p r e s e n t s a d i s t i n c t d e p a r t u r e from p e r f e c t t r a n s m i s s i o n . P a r e n t - c h i l d congruences f o r o t h e r v a l u e s taper o f f f r o m t h i s h i g h , r a n g i n g from moderate a t best t o
v e r y low. T h i s i s t r u e o f a t t i t u d e s on s p e c i f i c i s s u e s , r a t i n g s o f s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l
g r o u p i n g s , p o l i t i c a l c y n i c i s m , and p o l i t i c a l cosmopolitanism.
Similar patterns
p r e v a i l e d i n t h e r e l i g i o u s arena. L i f e c y c l e e f f e c t s , o t h e r s o c i a l i z a t i o n agencies,
and u n s t a b l e a t t i t u d e s appear t o account f o r some o f t h e a b e r r a t i o n s f r o m the model
which p o s i t s high rates o f transmission.
S e l e c t f a m i l y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s p r o v i d e l i t t l e d i s c r i m i n a t i o n i n accounting
f o r h i g h and l o w t r a n s m i s s i o n r a t e s . Sex o f c h i l d and sex o f p a r e n t , s i n g l y or
i n c o m b i n a t i o n , make almost no d i f f e r e n c e i n agreement p a t t e r n s . The same proves
t r u e f o r a f f e c t i o n a l and c o n t r o l r e l a t i o n s h i p s between parent and c h i l d . I t was
h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t i n d i v i d u a l and f a m i l y p o l i t i c i z a t i o n would be r e l a t e d t o the
t r a n s m i s s i o n o f p o l i t i c a l b e l i e f s , b u t t h e d a t a a l s o lead t o a r e j e c t i o n o f t h i s
hypothesis.
F i n a n c i a l support f o r t h e r e s e a r c h r e p o r t e d here came from The D a n f o r t h
Foundation,
We wish t o acknowledge t h e a s s i s t a n c e o f Michael T r a u g o t t i n t h e
p r e p a r a t i o n o f t h e paper.
FAMILY STRUCTURE AND THE TRANSMISSION OF POLITICAL VALUES
I n e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e p o l i t i c a l development o f t h e p r e - a d u l t one o f t h e cent r a l q u e s t i o n s h i n g e s on t h e r e l a t i v e and d i f f e r e n t i a t e d c o n t r i b u t i o n o f v a r i o u s
s o c i a l i z i n g agents. The q u e s t i o n undoubtedly proves more d i f f i c u l t as one t r a v e r s e s a range o f p o l i t i e s from those where l i f e and l e a r n i n g are almost completely
wrapped up i n t h e immediate and extended f a m i l y , t o those which are h i g h l y complex
s o c i a l organisms and i n which t h e s o c i a l i z a t i o n agents are e x t r e m e l y v a r i e d . To
g a i n some purchase on t h e r o l e o f one s o c i a l i z i n g agent i n our own complex s o c i e t y ,
t h i s paper w i l l take up t h e s p e c i f i c q u e s t i o n o f t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n o f c e r t a i n values
(or o r i e n t a t i o n s ) f r o m parent, to,>child as observed i n l a t e adolescence. A f t e r
n o t i n g p a r e n t - c h i l d r e l a t i o n s h i p s f o r a v a r i e t y of p o l i t i c a l values, a t t e n t i o n w i l l
be t u r n e d t o some aspects o f f a m i l y s t r u c t u r e which c o n c e i v a b l y a f f e c t t h e t r a n s mission flows.
..
ASSESSING THE FAMILY S IMPACT
1
"Foremost among agencies o f s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n t o p o l i t i c s i s the f a m i l y . " So
b e g i n s Herbert Hyman's d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e sources o f p o l i t i c a l l e a r n i n g . * Hymen
e x p l i c i t l y r e c o g n i z e d t h e importance o f o t h e r agents, b u t he was n e i t h e r t h e f i r s t
nor t h e l a s t observer t o s t r e s s t h e preeminent p o s i t i o n o f t h e f a m i l y . ^ T h i s
v i e w p o i n t r e l i e s h e a v i l y on b o t h t h e d i r e c t and i n d i r e c t r o l e o f t h e f a m i l y i n
s h a p i n g t h e b a s i c o r i e n t a t i o n s , o f o f f s p r i n g . Whether t h e c h i l d i s conscious or
unaware o f t h e impact, whether t h e process i s r o l e - m o d e l l i n g or o v e r t
transmission,
whether t h e v a l u e s are p o l i t i c a l and d i r e c t l y u s a b l e o r " n o n p o l i t i c a l " b u t t r a n s f e r a b l e , and whether what i s passed on l i e s i n t h e c o g n i t i v e or a f f e c t i v e realm,
i t has been argued t h a t t h e f a m i l y i s o f paramount importance. I n p a r t t h i s view
draws h e a v i l y f r o m p s y c h o a n a l y t i c t h e o r y , b u t I t i s also i n f l u e n c e d by anthropol o g i c a l and n a t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r s t u d i e s , and by t h e g r e a t emphasis on r o l e t h e o r y
i n s o c i o l o g i c a l s t u d i e s o f s o c i a l i z a t i o n . I n p a r t the view stems also f r o m
f o r t u i t o u s f i n d i n g s i n t h e area o f p a r t i s a n commitment and e l e c t o r a l b e h a v i o r
i n d i c a t i n g h i g h i n t e r g e n e r a t i o n a l agreement. U n f o r t u n a t e l y f o r t h e g e n e r a l t h e s i s ,
such marked c o r r e l a t i o n s have been o n l y o c c a s i o n a l l y observed i n o t h e r domains o f
political life.
Indeed, o t h e r domains o f p o l i t i c a l l i f e have been r a r e l y e x p l o r e d
s y s t e m a t i c a l l y w i t h respect t o the c e n t r a l question of a r t i c u l a t i o n i n p a r e n t - c h i l d
p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s . • I n f e r e n c e s , backward and f o r w a r d e x t r a p o l a t i o n s , and r e t r o s p e c t i v e and p r o j e c t i v e d a t a have c a r r i e d t h e b r u n t o f t h e argument.
A r e c e n t , m a j o r r e p o r t about p o l i t i c a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n d u r i n g t h e elementary
years s e r i o u s l y q u e s t i o n s the v a l i d i t y o f t h e f a m i l y ' s o v e r r i d i n g importance. I n
c o n t r a s t t o t h e p r e v i o u s l y - h e l d views t h a t t h e f a m i l y was perhaps preeminent or a t
l e a s t co-equal t o o t h e r s o c i a l i z i n g agents stands t h e c o n c l u s i o n by Robert Hess
and J u d i t h Torney t h a t "the p u b l i c school i s t h e most i m p o r t a n t and e f f e c t i v e
i n s t r u m e n t o f p o l i t i c a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n i n t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s , " and t h a t "the f a m i l y
t r a n s m i t s i t s own p a r t i c u l a r values i n r e l a t i v e l y few areas o f p o l i t i c a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n and t h a t , f o r t h e most p a r t , t h e impact o f t h e f a m i l y i s f e l t o n l y as one
of s e v e r a l s o c i a l i z i n g agents and i n s t i t u t i o n s . " ^ Hess and Torney see t h e primary
i n f l u e n c e o f the f a m i l y as t h e agent which promotes e a r l y attachment t o c o u n t r y
and government, and which thus " i n s u r e s t h e s t a b i l i t y o f b a s i c i n s t i t u t i o n s . "
Hence, "the f a m i l y ' s p r i m a r y e f f e c t i s t o support c o n s e n s u a l l y - h e l d a t t i t u d e s
r a t h e r than t o i n c u l c a t e i d i o s y n c r a t i c a t t i t u d e s . "
The major e x c e p t i o n t o these
- 2 ....
Jeanings and Niemi
Value T r a n s m i s s i o n
c o n c l u s i o n s occurs i n the area o f p a r t i s a n s h i p and r e l a t e d m a t t e r s where t h e
f a m i l y ' s impact i s p r e d i c t a b l y h i g h .
The Hess and Torney argument thus r e p r e s e n t s a major d e p a r t u r e f r o m the more
t r a d i t i o n a l view.
I n essence t h i s r e p o r t sees.,the f a m i l y ' s i n f l u e n c e as ages p e c i f i c and r e s t r i c t e d i n i t s scope. Not t h a t t h e a u t h o r s dismiss t h e f a m i l y .
I n f a c t , those s c h o l a r s most i n t e r e s t e d i n the p e r s i s t e n c e and maintenance of a
p o l i t i c a l system t h r o u g h t h e . p e a c e f u l means o f s o c i a l i z a t i o n might w e l l contend
t h a t the f i n d i n g s underscore the emphasis p r e v i o u s l y a t t a c h e d t o the- f a m i l y .
This
i s so because Hess and Torney dp s u b s c r i b e t o the n o t i o n t h a t these b a s i c a t t a c h ments come p r i o r t o school e n t r y , a l t h o u g h even here- o t h e r elements c o u l d be a t .
work.
I n e f f e c t , however, t h e r e s t r i c t i o n of the f a m i l y ' s r o l e removes i t s impact
from much of the dynamic q u a l i t i e s of t h e p o l i t i c a l system and from i n d i v i d u a l
d i f f e r e n c e s i n p o l i t i c a l b e h a v i o r . The consensual q u a l i t i e s imparted o r r e i n f o r c e d
by the f a m i l y , w h i l e v i t a l f o r comprehending the maintenance of the system, are
l e s s u s e f u l i n e x p l a i n i n g adjustments i n the'system," the c o n f l i c t s and accommodat i o n s made, the v a r i e d r e a c t i o n s t o p o l i t i c a l s t i m u l i , and the p l a y i n g o f d i v e r s e
p o l i t i c a l r o l e s . - I n short', i f the f a m i l y ' s i n f l u e n c e i s r e s t r i c t e d t o i n c u l c a t i n g
a few consensual a t t r i b u t e s ( p l u s p a r t i s a n a t t a c h m e n t ) , i t means t h a t much o f t h e
s o c i a l i z a t i o n which r e s u l t s i n i n d i v i d u a l d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n i n everyday p o l i t i c s arid
which e f f e c t s changes i n the f u n c t i o n i n g of the p o l i t i c a l system l i e s o u t s i d e the
c a u s a l nexus o f the p a r e n t - c h i l d r e l a t i o n s h i p . Conversely, i f the s c h o o l thus
becomes a l l - i m p o r t a n t , i t suggests t h a t the e d u c a t i o n a l process may be used as
the major i n s t r u m e n t f o r t h e m a n i p u l a t i o n of new g e n e r a t i o n s .
"The f i r s t and p r i m a r y o b j e c t i v e of the p r e s e n t paper w i l l be t o assay the
f l o w of c e r t a i n p o l i t i c a l values f r o m p a r e n t t o c h i l d . Our a t t e n t i o n w i l l ' be
d i r e c t e d toward examining the v a r i a t i o n i n the d i s t r i b u t i o n s of the o f f s p r i n g s '
v a l u e s as a f u n c t i o n of the d i s t r i b u t i o n of these same v a l u e s among t h e i r p a r e n t s .
T h i s i s not t o say t h a t o t h e r a t t i t u d i n a l and b e h a v i o r a l a t t r i b u t e s of t h e parent
are u n i m p o r t a n t I n shaping' the c h i l d ' s p o l i t i c a l - o r i e n t a t i o n s . For example,
c h i l d r e n may develop a u t h o r i t a r i a n ' o r p o l i t i c a l l y d i s t r u s t f u l a t t i t u d e s not because
t h e i r p a r e n t s are a u t h o r i t a r i a n or d i s t r u s t f u l but because o f o t h e r v a r i a b l e s such
as d i s c i p l i n a r y a n d ' p r o t e c t i o n p r a c t i c e s .
Such t r a n s f o r m a t i o n s , w h i l e perhaps
q u i t e s i g n i f i c a n t , w i l l not be t r e a t e d h e r e . Rather, we w i l l observe the degree
to which t h e shape o f v a l u e d i s t r i b u t i o n s i n the c h i l d corresponds t o t h a t of h i s
p a r e n t . Most o f the v a l u e s e x p l o r e d do not r e f l e c t the b a s i c f e e l i n g s of a t t a c h ment t o t h e p o l i t i c a l system which supposedly o r i g i n a t e i n the e a r l y years, but
much more of t h e secondary and t e r t i a r y v a l u e s which tend t o d i s t i n g u i s h the
p o l i t i c a l b e h a v i o r o f i n d i v i d u a l s and which c o n t r i b u t e t o the dynamics o f the
system.
Study Design
The d a t a t o be employed come f r o m a study conducted by the Survey Research
Center o f The U n i v e r s i t y of M i c h i g a n i n the s p r i n g .of 1965.
I n t e r v i e w s were h e l d
w i t h a n a t i o n a l p r o b a b i l i t y sample of 1669 s e n i o r s d i s t r i b u t e d among 97 secondary
schools ( p u b l i c and n o n p u b l i c ) . Whenever p o s s i b l e each s t u d e n t ' s mother o r
- 3-
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
f a t h e r , d e s i g n a t e d randomly, was i n t e r v i e w e d . I n t h e permanent. absence o f the
d e s i g n a t e d p a r e n t (such as by d e a t h , d i v o r c e , o r s e p a r a t i o n ) , t h e o t h e r parent
or a p a r e n t r s u r r o g a t e b r i n g i n g up t h e c h i l d was i n t e r v i e w e d . For a random t h i r d
of t h e s t u d e n t s both p a r e n t s were d e s i g n a t a t e d as respondents; i t was hoped t h a t
a f t e r t h e i n e v i t a b l e d r o p - o f f due t o one-parent f a m i l i e s , we would have i n t e r v i e w s
f o r b o t h p a r e n t s o f about a q u a r t e r o f t h e s t u d e n t s . I n t e r v i e w s were a c t u a l l y
completed w i t h a t l e a s t one p a r e n t o f 94 p e r c e n t o f t h e s t u d e n t s , and w i t h both
p a r e n t s o f 26 p e r c e n t o f t h e s t u d e n t s , o r 1992 p a r e n t s a l t o g e t h e r .
A d d i t i o n a l i n t e r v i e w s were conducted w i t h 317 o f t h e students^' most r e l e v a n t s o c i a l s t u d i e s teachers and w i t h t h e s c h o o l p r i n c i p a l s . F i n a l l y , some 21,000
p a p e r - p e n c i l q u e s t i o n n a i r e s were a d m i n i s t e r e d t o a l l members o f t h e s e n i o r c l a s s
i n 85 p e r c e n t o f t h e sample s c h o o l s . I n t h i s paper we s h a l l d e a l o n l y w i t h the
p a r e n t and s t u d e n t samples because our e s s e n t i a l i n t e r e s t l i e s i n examining
p a r e n t - c h i l d r e l a t i o n s h i p s ; i n o t h e r e f f o r t s we s h a l l extend n o t o n l y t h e range
of p o l i t i c a l o r i e n t a t i o n s b u t a l s o t h e range o f s o c i a l i z i n g f a c t o r s so t h a t the
r e l a t i v e impact o f t h e f a m i l y i n c o m b i n a t i o n w i t h o t h e r f a c t o r s may be a s c e r t a i n e d .
Two f e a t u r e s o f t h e s t u d e n t and p a r e n t samples should be underscored.
First,
s i n c e t h e sample o f s t u d e n t s was drawn f r o m a u n i v e r s e o f 12th g r a d e r s , school
d r o p - o u t s i n t h a t age c o h o r t , e s t i m a t e d a t around 26 percent f o r t h i s time p e r i o d ,
were a u t o m a t i c a l l y e l i m i n a t e d . Some a p p r o x i m a t i o n o f t h e p o s s i b l e e f f e c t s o f t h i s
f a c t may be gathered by a c o n t r o l o f socio-economic c l a s s and c e r t a i n f a m i l y
c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . Second, t h e sample o f p a r e n t s i s composed o f about 56 percent
mothers. The g r e a t e r p r o p o r t i o n o f mothers t h a n f a t h e r s i s due m a i n l y t o t h e
f a c t t h a t more mothers than f a t h e r s c o n s t i t u t e t h e head o f household i n s i n g l e
parent f a m i l i e s . ^
Our b a s i c procedure w i l l be t o match-up t h e p a r e n t and s t u d e n t samples so
t h a t p a r e n t - s t u d e n t p a i r s a r e formed.*^ A l t h o u g h t h e a c t u a l number o f students
f o r whom we have a t l e a s t one p a r e n t respondent i s 1562, t h e base number o f p a i r s
used i n t h e a n a l y s i s i s 1992. I n order t o make maximum usage o f t h e i n t e r v i e w s
g a t h e r e d , t h e p a i r e d cases i n which b o t h t h e mother and f a t h e r were i n t e r v i e w e d
(430 such cases) are each g i v e n h a l f o f t h e i r f u l l v a l u e .
A f u r t h e r adjustment
i n w e i g h t i n g , due t o u n a v o i d a b l y i m p r e c i s e e s t i m a t e s a t t h e time t h e sampling
^
frame was c o n s t r u c t e d , r e s u l t s . i n a weighted t o t a l o f 1927 p a r e n t - s t u d e n t p a i r s .
Using 12th graders f o r e x p l o r i n g t h e p a r e n t a l t r a n s m i s s i o n o f p o l i t i c a l
v a l u e s c a r r i e s some d i s t i n c t c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s .
I n t h e f i r s t p l a c e most o f these
p r e - a d u l t s a r e approaching t h e p o i n t a t which they w i l l leave t h e immediate f a m i l y .
F u r t h e r p o l i t i c a l t r a i n i n g f.irom t h e p a r e n t s w i l l be m i n i m a l . A second f e a t u r e i s
t h a t t h e f o r m a l c i v i c e d u c a t i o n e f f o r t s o f s o c i e t y , as c a r r i e d o u t i n t h e element a r y and secondary s c h o o l s , a r e v i r t u a l l y completed.
For whatever e f f e c t they may
have on shaping t h e c o g n i t i v e and cathectic maps o f i n d i v i d u a l s , these v a r i o u s
f o r m a l and i n f o r m a l modes o f c i t i z e n s h i p p r e p a r a t i o n w i l l g e n e r a l l y t e r m i n a t e ,
a l t h o u g h o t h e r forms o f e d u c a t i o n a l p r e p a r a t i o n may l i e ahead, e s p e c i a l l y f o r t h e
c o l l e g e bound. A f i n a l c o n s i d e r a t i o n i s t h a t w h i l e t h e f a m i l y and t h e e d u c a t i o n a l
system have come t o some t e r m i n a l p o i n t as s o c i a l i z i n g agents, t h e p r e - a d u l t has
yet t o be much a f f e c t e d by way o f a c t u a l p o l i t i c a l p r a c t i c e . N e i t h e r have o t h e r
p o t e n t i a l l y i m p o r t a n t e x p e r i e n c e s , such as t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f h i s own nuclear
f a m i l y and an o c c u p a t i o n a l r o l e , had an o p p o r t u n i t y t o e x e r t t h e i r e f f e c t s . Thus
-A.-
Jennings and N i e m i
Value T r a n s m i s s i o n
the 12th grader i s a t *a s i g n i f i c a n t j u n c t u r e i n h i s p o l i t i c a l l i f e c y c l e and i t
w i l l be i n s t r u c t i v e t o see the symmetry o f p a r e n t a l and student v a l u e s at t h i s
juncture.
Adolescent
Rebellion
I t should be emphasized t h a t we are not s e a r c h i n g f o r p a t t e r n s of p o l i t i c a l
r e b e l l i o n from p a r e n t a l v a l u e s . Researchers have been hard pressed t o uncover any
s i g n i f i c a n t evidence o f adolescent r e b e l l i o n i n the realm of p o l i t i c a l a f f a i r s .
P r e - a d u l t s may d i f f e r p o l i t i c a l l y f r o m t h e i r p a r e n t s - - p a r t i c u l a r l y d u r i n g the
c o l l e g e y e a r s - - b u t t h e r e i s scant evidence t h a t the r e b e l l i o n p a t t e r n accounts f o r
much of t h i s . d e v i a n c e . Data from our own s t u d y lend l i t t l e support t o t h e r e b e l l i o n hypotheses at the l e v e l o f student r e c o g n i t i o n . For example, even of t h e
387o of t h e s t u d e n t sample r e p o r t i n g i m p o r t a n t disagreements w i t h t h e i r p a r e n t s
l e s s t h a n 157* p o r t r a y e d these disagreements as r e s i d i n g i n a b r o a d l y - d e f i n e d arena
of; p o l i t i c a l and s o c i a l phenomena. And these disagreements do not n e c e s s a r i l y l i e
i n the p r o v i n c e o f r e b e l l i o n , as one o r d i n a r i l y c o n s t r u e s the term.
1
There i s , , f u r t h e r m o r e , some q u e s t i o n as t o whether adolescent r e b e l l i o n as
such occurs w i t h a n y t h i n g approaching t h e frequency or magnitude which has graced
s o c i o l o g i c a l w r i t i n g s and.the popular l i t e r a t u r e . As two s c h o l a r s concluded a f t e r
a major survey o f t h e l i t e r a t u r e d e a l i n g w i t h "normal" p o p u l a t i o n s :
" I n the l a r g e s c a i e s t u d i e s of normal p o p u l a t i o n s , we do not f i n d
adolescents c l a m o r i n g f o r freedom o r f o r r e l e a s e from u n j u s t cons t r a i n t . We do not f i n d r e b e l l i o u s r e s i s t a n c e t o a u t h o r i t y as a
dominant theme. For t h e most p a r t , t h e evidence bespeaks a modal
p a t t e r n c o n s i d e r a b l y more p e a c e f u l (and d u l l ) than much t h e o r y and
most s o c i a l comment would lead us t o expect.
'Rebellious youth'
and 'the c o n f l i c t between g e n e r a t i o n s ' are phrases t h a t r i n g ; b u t ,
so f a r as we can t e l l , i t i s not t h e r i n g o f t r u t h they c a r r y so
much as t h e b e g u i l i n g but m i s l e a d i n g tone of drama."
• i-
V a r i o u s pieces o f evidence f r o m our own study support t h i s view.
Illustrar
c i v e l y , s l i g h t l y over t h r e e - f i f t h s o f t h e s t u d e n t s r e p o r t e d h a v i n g no i m p o r t a n t
disagreement w i t h t h e i r p a r e n t s , and over f o u r - f i f t h s f e l t t h e i r p a r e n t s had about
the r i g h t amount of i n f l u e n c e over t h e i r p e r s o n a l l i v e s . Another i n d i c a t o r i s
t h a t p a r e n t a l - c h i l d i n c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s appear t o c r e s t i n e a r l y adolescence and
then taper, o f f or remain s t a b l e r a t h e r t h a n a g g r e g a t i n g and d e v e l o p i n g i n t o s e r i o u s
r u p t u r e s . When asked i f p a r e n t - c h i l d r e l a t i o n s had d e t e r i o r a t e d , remained the
same, or improved over t h e past t h r e e years ( 1 0 t h through 12th grades) more
respondents i n both t h e p a r e n t and s t u d e n t c o h o r t s avowed the s i t u a t i o n had
improved r a t h e r t h a n worsened and a m a j o r i t y r e p o r t e d no change.
To say t h a t r e b e l l i o n d i r e c t e d toward t h e p o l i t i c a l o r i e n t a t i o n s of the
-parents i s r e l a t i v e l y r a r e i s not t o say, however, t h a t p a r e n t and s t u d e n t v a l u e s
are consonant. D i s c r e p a n c i e s can occur f o r a v a r i e t y of reasons, i n c l u d i n g the
following:
1) Students may c o n s c i o u s l y opt f o r v a l u e s , adopted f r o m o t h e r agents,
i n c o n f l i c t w i t h those o f t h e i r p a r e n t s w i t h o u t f a l l i n g i n t o t h e r e b e l l i o n
syndrome. 2) Much more"probable are d i s c r e p a n c i e s which are r e c o g n i z e d n e i t h e r
- 5
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
by t h e parent nor t h e o f f s p r i n g . The l a c k o f c u e - g i v i n g and o b j e c t s a l i e n c y on
the p a r t o f parent s e t s up ambiguous o r empty p s y c h o l o g i c a l spaces which may be
f i l l e d by o t h e r agents i n the s t u d e n t ' s environment. 3) Where v a l u e s are unstable
and have low c e n t r a l i t y i n a b e l i e f system, e s s e n t i a l l y random and t i m e r s p e c i f i c
responses t o s t i m u l i may r e s u l t i n apparent low t r a n s m i s s i o n r a t e s . 4 ) Another
source o f dissonant r e l a t i o n s h i p s , and p o t e n t i a l l y t h e most confounding one, i s
t h a t l i f e c y c l e e f f e c t s a r e o p e r a t i v e . When t h e p r e - a d u l t c o n f r o n t s the w o r l d o f
r e a l p o l i t i k a t a p o i n t i n h i s l i f e - s p a c e which approximates t h e zone now occupied
by h i s p a r e n t s , h i s p o l i t i c a l behavior might w e l l be expressed i n " f o r m s s i m i l a r t o
those o f h i s p a r e n t s even though h i s c u r r e n t a t t i t u d e s would n o t suggest such congruency. This i s an e s p e c i a l l y t h o r n y e m p i r i c a l q u e s t i o n and nests i n t h e l a r g e r
quandry c o n c e r n i n g t h e l a t e r l i f e e f f e c t s o f e a r l y s o c i a l i z a t i o n , a dilemma w e l l
p o p u l a t e d f o r s e v e r a l decades b y s t u d e n t s o f c h i l d development.
For a v a r i e t y o f reasons — i n c l u d i n g t h e i n f r e q u e n t case o f r e b e l l i o n — the
i n t e r g e n e r a t i o n a l t r a n s f e r o f v a l u e s may thus be a t t e n u a t e d . A t sundry p o i n t s i n
our d i s c u s s i o n we s h a l l draw upon t h e f o r e g o i n g f a c t o r s as e x p l a n a t i o n s o f imperf e c t p a t t e r n s o f t r a n s m i s s i o n , a l t h o u g h a f u l l t r e a t m e n t o f the problem i s c l e a r l y
o u t s i d e t h e scope o f t h i s paper.
PATTERNS OF PARENT-CHILD CORRESPONDENCES
Confronted w i t h a v a r i e t y o f p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s a t hand f o r a n a l y s i s we have
s t r u c k f o r v a r i e t y r a t h e r t h a n any necessary h i e r a r c h y o f importance.
We
h y p o t h e s i z e d a range o f c o r r e l a t i o n s dependent i n p a r t on the p l a y o f t h e f a c t o r s
w h i c h we assumed serve t o a l t e r the p a r e n t - s t u d e n t a s s o c i a t i o n s (noted above).
We have p u r p o s e l y d e l e t e d values d e a l i n g w i t h p a r t i c i p a t i v e o r i e n t a t i o n s and, as
noted p r e v i o u s l y , those d e l v i n g i n t o s e n t i m e n t s o f b a s i c attachment and l o y a l t y
to t h e regime and i t s minimal normative r e q u i r e m e n t s .
The v a l u e s s e l e c t e d include
p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , a t t i t u d i n a l p o s i t i o n s on f o u r s p e c i f i c i s s u e s , e v a l u a t i o n s
of s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l g r o u p i n g s , and p o l i t i c a l c y n i c i s m . For comparative purposes
we s h a l l c a s t a s i d e w i s e glance a t p a r e n t - s t u d e n t congruences i n the sphere o f
r e l i g i o u s values.
To measure agreement between p a r e n t s and s t u d e n t s we r e l y p r i m a r i l y on
c o r r e l a t i o n s , e i t h e r o f t h e product-moment o r rank-order v a r i e t y . While t h e obvious
a l t e r n a t i v e — p e r c e n t a g e agreement--may have an i n t u i t i v e appeal, i t has s e v e r a l
drawbacks. Percentage agreement i s n o t based on the t o t a l c o n f i g u r a t i o n o f a
square m a t r i x but o n l y on t h e "main d i a g o n a l . " Thus two t a b l e s which are s i m i l a r
i n p e r c e n t a g e agreement may r e p r e s e n t w i d e l y d i f f e r i n g amounts o f agreement i f
d e v i a t i o n s f r o m p e r f e c t agreement are c o n s i d e r e d . ^ Moreover, percentage agreement depends h e a v i l y on t h e number o f c a t e g o r i e s used, so t h a t t h e degree o f parents t u d e n t s i m i l a r i t y might v a r y f o r t o t a l l y a r t i f i c i a l reasons. C o r r e l a t i o n s are
more r e s i s t a n t t o changes i n t h e d e f i n i t i o n o f c a t e g o r i e s . F i n a l l y , c o r r e l a t i o n s
are based on r e l a t i v e r a n k i n g s (and i n t e r v a l s i n the case o f product-moment
c o r r e l a t i o n s ) r a t h e r t h a n on a b s o l u t e agreement as percentage agreement u s u a l l y
is.
That i s , i f student scores tend t o be h i g h e r ( o r l o w e r ) than p a r e n t scores on
a p a r t i c u l a r v a r i a b l e , b u t t h e s t u d e n t s are ranked s i m i l a r l y t o t h e i r p a r e n t s , a
h i g h c o r r e l a t i o n may be o b t a i n e d w i t h v e r y l i t t l e p e r f e c t agreement.
- 6 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value T r a n s m i s s i o n
One p r e c a u t i o n i s i n o r d e r . O b t a i n i n g s i g n i f i c a n t c o r r e l a t i o n s among the
p a r e n t - s t u d e n t p a i r s does not e s t a b l i s h a necessary c a u s a l r e l a t i o n s h i p .
Parents
and c h i l d r e n c o u l d agree because of o t h e r agents common t o b o t h , p o s i t i v e c o r r e l a t i o n s would e s t a b l i s h a prima f a c i e case f o r s u s p e c t i n g t r a n s m i s s i o n , e s p e c i a l l y
i n those spheres where o t h e r f o r c e s c o u l d not reasonably be expected t o be operat i v e . On the o t h e r hand, weak c o r r e l a t i o n s enable us t o s t a t e w i t h some assurance
that l i t t l e transmission i s occurring.
Party
Identification
Previous r e s e a r c h has e s t a b l i s h e d p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n as a v a l u e dimension
of c o n s i d e r a b l e importance i n the study of p o l i t i c a l b e h a v i o r as w e l l as a p o l i t i c a l v a l u e r e a d i l y t r a n s m i t t e d f r o m p a r e n t s t o t h e i r c h i l d r e n . S t u d i e s of
p a r e n t - y o u t h samples as w e l l as a d u l t p o p u l a t i o n s i n d i c a t e t h a t throughout the
l i f e c y c l e t h e r e i s a r e l a t i v e l y h i g h degree of correspondence between respond e n t s p a r t y l o y a l t i e s and t h e i r p a r e n t s . Our f i n d i n g s are g e n e r a l l y c o n s i s t e n t
w i t h these e a r l i e r e f f o r t s . However, the d a t a a l l o w us t o permeate t h i s g e n e r a l
c o n c l u s i o n i n order t o document c a r e f u l l y p a r e n t - c h i l d agreement a t an Important
stage i n the l i f e c y c l e and t o study the disagreement which does emerge.
1
1
The s u b s t a n t i a l agreement between parent and s t u d e n t p a r t y a f f i l i a t i o n s i s
i n d i c a t e d by a t a u - b e t a of .47, a s t a t i s t i c n e a r l y u n a f f e c t e d by the use of t h r e e ,
f i v e , o r a l l seven c a t e g o r i e s of the p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n spectrum generated by
the q u e s t i o n sequence.
The magnitude o f t h i s s t a t i s t i c r e f l e c t s the t w i n f a c t s
of t h e presence of a l a r g e amount of exact agreement and t h e absence of many wide
d i f f e r e n c e s between s t u d e n t s and p a r e n t s . I f the f u l l 7x7 m a t r i x of p a r e n t student p a r t y l o y a l t i e s i s arrayed (Table 1 ) , the c e l l s i n which p a r e n t s and
s t u d e n t s are i n u n i s o n account f o r a t h i r d of the cases. The c e l l s r e p r e s e n t i n g
maximum disagreement are v e r y n e a r l y empty. Despite our e a r l i e r c o n t e n t i o n ,
c o l l a p s i n g c a t e g o r i e s and c o n s i d e r i n g p e r c e n t a g e agreement i n the r e s u l t i n g t a b l e
does make good s u b s t a n t i v e sense w i t h r e g a r d t o p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n .
In this
i n s t a n c e the c o l l a p s e d c a t e g o r i e s have a meaning beyond j u s t broader segments of
a continuum, and are a s s o c i a t e d w i t h a g e n e r a l o r i e n t a t i o n toward one p a r t y or the
o t h e r o r toward a n e u t r a l p o s i t i o n between them. Thus a r r a y e d , 59 p e r c e n t o f .thes t u d e n t s f a l l i n t o t h e same broad c a t e g o r y as t h e i r p a r e n t s , and o n l y about seven
percent cross the sharp d i v i d e between Republicans and Democrats.The observed s i m i l a r i t y between p a r e n t s and s t u d e n t s suggests t h a t t r a n s m i s s i o n of p a r t y p r e f e r e n c e s f r o m one g e n e r a t i o n t o the next i s c a r r i e d out r a t h e r
s u c c e s s f u l l y i n the American c o n t e x t . However, t h e r e are a l s o i n d i c a t i o n s t h a t
o t h e r f a c t o r s ( t e m p o r a r i l y a t l e a s t ) have weakened t h e p a r t y a f f i l i a t i o n s of the
younger g e n e r a t i o n . T h i s i s most obvious i f we compare the m a r g i n a l t o t a l s f o r
p a r e n t s and s t u d e n t s (Table 1 ) . The s t u d e n t sample c o n t a i n s almost 12 p e r c e n t more
Independents t h a n the p a r e n t sample, drawing almost e q u a l l y on the Republican and
Democratic p r o p o r t i o n s of the sample. S i m i l a r l y , among.party i d e n t i f i e r s a somewhat l a r g e r segment of the s t u d e n t s i s but weakly i n c l i n e d toward the chosen p a r t y .
Nor are these c o n f i g u r a t i o n s s i m p l y an a r t i f a c t of the r e s t r i c t e d n a t u r e ,of the
parent sample, s i n c e the d i s t r i b u t i o n of p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n among the p a r e n t s
resembles c l o s e l y t h a t of the e n t i r e a d u l t e l e c t o r a t e as observed i n November,
1964 (SRC 1964 e l e c t i o n s t u d y ) .
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
- 7 -
TABLE 1
Student-Parent P a r t y I d e n t i f i c a t i o n
Students
• '
Parents
Party
Strong
Pern.
Weak
Dem.
Ind.
Pern.
Ind.
Ind.
Rep.
Weak
Rep.
Strong
Rep.
9.7%
8.0
3.4
1.8
.5
.9
.5
5.8
9.0
4.2
2.6
.7
1.6
.7
Total
Identification
Strong
'
Dem.
•
24.7.%
Weak
Pem.
(32.6)
(13.2)
a
24.7
(3.6)
(49.4)
Ind.
Pem.
1.6
2.1
2.1
1.7
.8
.7
.2
9.3
Ind.
1.1
1.6
1.6
2.7
1.2
.9
.5
9.7
Ind.
Rep.
.1
.5
.8
.9
.9
1.3
.5
4.9
(7.0)
(12.7)
(4.1)
(23.9)
Weak
Rep.
.3
Strong
Rep.
Total
2.1
1.6
.2
.9
(3.4)
.8
18.8% 24.2
(43.0)
2.3
1.9
5.0
.8
2.4
(9.7)
14.5 12.8
8.4
15.0
3.3
3.5
(13.6)
13.6
(35.7)
t a u - b e t a = .47
a
1.9
11.7
(26.7)
7.7
100.07o
(21.3)
N = 1852
The f u l l 7xJ t a b l e i s p r o v i d e d because o f the c o n s i d e r a b l e i n t e r e s t
i n p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . However, f o r some purposes, r e a d i n g ease
among t h e m , t h e 3x3 t a b l e i s u s e f u l . I t i s g i v e n by t h e f i g u r e s i n
parentheses;' these f i g u r e s are ( w i t h i n r o u n d i n g e r r o r ) t h e sum o f
the numbers j u s t above them.
r
- 8 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value T r a n s m i s s i o n
A number o f f a c t o r s might account f o r the weakened p a r t i s a n s h i p o f t h e
s t u d e n t s , and we have o n l y begun t o e x p l o r e some o f these a l t e r n a t i v e s . On t h e
one hand, t h e s t u d e n t s are s i m p l y l a c k i n g t h e i r p a r e n t s ' l o n g experience i n t h e
a c t i v e e l e c t o r a t e , and as a consequence have f a i l e d as y e t t o develop a s i m i l a r
depth o f f e e l i n g about t h e p a r t i e s , ^ On t h e o t h e r hand, t h e r e are no doubt
s p e c i f i c - f o r c e s .pushing s t u d e n t s toward Independence.
The experience o f an "
e v e r - w i d e n i n g environment and t h e g r a d u a l w i t h d r a w a l o f p a r e n t a l power may
encourage some s t u d e n t s t o adopt an Independent o u t l o o k . The e f f o r t s o f schools
and o f t e a c h e r s i n p a r t i c u l a r a r e p r o b a b l y weighted i n t h e same d i r e c t i o n , even
i f t e a c h e r s t r y t o r e f r a i n f r o m openly d i s c u s s i n g p o l i t i c s .
I f these f o r c e s
are a t work, i t suggests t h a t h i g h " s c h o o l s t u d e n t s may be g r a d u a l l y w i t h d r a w i n g
f r o m an e a r l i e r p o s i t i o n o f more o v e r t p a r t i s a n s h i p .
B u t , whatever t h e exact
n a t u r e o f t h e causes, t h e y c l e a r l y draw o f f f r o m t h e p a r t i s a n camp a s m a l l b u t
s i g n i f i c a n t p o r t i o n o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n as i t approaches f u l l c i t i z e n s h i p . I f
the r e l a t i o n s h i p between p a r t i s a n s h i p and e f f i c a c y , i n v o l v e m e n t , and a h o s t o f
o t h e r p o l i t i c a l v a r i a b l e s i s t h e same f o r p r e - a d u l t s as a d u l t s , t h e consequences
o f weakened p a r t i s a n f e e l i n g s among h i g h s c h o o l s e n i o r s cannot be o v e r l o o k e d .
T u r n i n g t o t h e p a r t y i d e n t i f i e r s , we f i n d t h a t t h e r a t i o o f Democrats t o
Republicans i s almost t h e same i n b o t h samples. I n t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n process some
changes i n p a r t y l o y a l t i e s have o c c u r r e d , b u t t h e n e t balance does n o t f a v o r
e i t h e r p a r t y . I t should be noted t h a t t h e balance between new Republicans and
new Democrats i s n o t a r e s u l t o f two e q u a l l y a t t r a c t i v e a l t e r n a t i v e s . The
Democratic p a r t y has a v i s i b l y g r e a t e r r e t a i n i n g and drawing power among t h e
s t u d e n t s i n our sample. The d a t a i n Table 2 demonstrate t h i s . Among s t u d e n t s
w i t h a Democratic p a r e n t , almost t w o - t h i r d s r e t a i n t h e p a r e n t a l p a r t y p r e f e r e n c e ;
the same i s t r u e o f o n l y h a l f o f t h e c h i l d r e n o f Republican p a r e n t s . Among
s t u d e n t s who do n o t f o l l o w t h e i r p a r e n t ' s p r e f e r e n c e , a s l i g h t l y l a r g e r percentage
of t h e R e p u b l i c a n o f f s p r i n g s h i f t t o t h e opposing p a r t y r a t h e r t h a n t o an
Independent p o s i t i o n . S i m i l a r l y , c h i l d r e n o f Independent p a r e n t s who adopt a
p a r t y p r e f e r e n c e move d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e l y i n t o t h e Democratic column. I n s h o r t ,
whatever t h e n o n f a m i l y i n f l u e n c e s a c t i n g On today's p r e - a d u l t s , such as Democratic
m a j o r i t i e s i n n a t i o n and s t a t e s o r t h e p a r t i s a n c l i m a t e o f t h e s c h o o l community,
they a r e s i g n i f i c a n t l y s t r o n g e r i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f Democracy than of Republicanism
TABLE 2
Student P a r t y I d e n t i f i c a t i o n by Parent P a r t y I d e n t i f i c a t i o n
Students
Parents
.
Democrat
Independent
Democrat /
65.9%
26.8'
Independent
29.4
Republican
12.7
Republican
' Total
N
7.3
100.0%
(914)
53.2
17.2
100.0
. (442)
36.5
50.8
100.0
(495)
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
- 9 -
Opinions
on S p e c i f i c
Issues
One way i n which p o l i t i c a l values are expressed i s through o p i n i o n s on
s p e c i f i c i s s u e s . As Converse has shown, o p i n i o n s or idea elements not o n l y tend
t o be bounded by systems of low c o n s t r a i n t but are a l s o q u i t e u n s t a b l e over r e l a t i v e l y s h o r t p e r i o d s of time among mass p u b l i c s .
Hence i n comparing student
responses w i t h p a r e n t responses the problem-of measurement may be compounded by
i n s t a b i l i t i e s among b o t h samples. Rather t h a n b e i n g a handicap, however, i n s t a b i l i t i e s a c t u a l l y sharpen t h e t e s t of whether s i g n i f i c a n t p a r e n t t o c h i l d f l o w s
o c c u r . One would not expect u n s t a b l e s e n t i m e n t s t o be the o b j e c t of any c o n s i d e r a b l e p o l i t i c a l l e a r n i n g i n t h e f a m i l y . I t seems u n l i k e l y t h a t many cues would •
be g i v e n o f f over m a t t e r s about which t h e p a r e n t s were unsure o r h e l d a f l u c t u a t i n g
o p i n i o n based on low c e n t r a l i t y . Even i n t h e event of numerous cues i n unstable
s i t u a t i o n s , the ambivalent o r ambiguous n a t u r e of such cues would presumably y i e l d
i n s t a b i l i t y (assuming o p t i m a l t r a n s f e r ) i n t h e c h i l d . I n e i t h e r case t h e a r t i c u l a t i o n between p a r e n t and c h i l d b e l i e f s would be tempered.
.•"•/••
We have s e l e c t e d f o u r s p e c i f i c issues f o r e x a m i n a t i o n . Two of these i n v o l v e
p u b l i c s c h o o l s ; g i v e n t h e p o p u l a t i o n s b e i n g s t u d i e d , schools are p a r t i c u l a r l y
r e l e v a n t a t t i t u d e o b j e c t s . Furthermore these two issues envelop t o p i c s of dram a t i c i n t e r e s t t o much of t h e p u b l i c — i n t e g r a t i o n i n the schools and the use of
p r a y e r s i n s c h o o l s . A f t e r ah i n i t i a l s c r e e n i n g q u e s t i o n weeded out those w i t h o u t
any I n t e r e s t at a l l on t h e i s s u e s , t h e respondents were asked i f t h e y thought, t h e
government I n Washington should "see t o i t t h a t w h i t e and Negro c h i l d r e n go t o
the same s c h o o l s " or I f the^government should " s t a y out of t h i s area as i t i s
none o f i t s b u s i n e s s . " '-^On t h e ;p;rdyers i n s c h o o l q u e s t i o n t h e respondents were
asked i f t h e y believe'a '^schools'"should be a l l o w e d t o s t a r t each day w i t h a prayer"
or t h a t " r e l i g i o n does hot belong i n - t h e schools."Taken i n the aggregate the
h i g h s c h o o l s e n i o r s proved l e s s l i k e l y t o s a n c t i o n p r a y e r s i n s c h o o l t h a n . d i d thep a r e n t s ( a l t h o u g h a m a j o r i t y o f b o t h answered i n t h e a f f i r m a t i v e ) and more w i l l i n g
t o see t h e f e d e r a l government e n f o r c e s e g r e g a t i o n than were t h e a d u l t s ( w i t h both
y i e l d i n g m a j o r i t i e s i n f a v o r ) . These d i f f e r e n c e s are moderate; no more than 14
percentage p o i n t s separate l i k e - p a i r e d m a r g i n a l s on the p r a y e r issue and no more
than 10 p o i n t s on the i n t e g r a t i o n i s s u e . The c r o s s - t a b u l a t i o n of parent and- s t u ^
dent responses produces moderately s t r o n g c o e f f i c i e n t s ae shown i n Table 3.
TABLE 3
C o r r e l a t i o n s Between Parent-Student
A t t i t u d e s on Four Issues
F e d e r a l government's r o l e i n i n t e g r a t i n g
the schools :
.34*
Whether schools should
use p r a y e r s
.29
be allowed t o
L e g a l l y e l e c t e d Communist should
allowed t o take o f f i c e
Speakers a g a i n s t churches and
should be allowed
be
religion
.13
.05
^ a c h of the f i g u r e s i n t h i s t a b l e i s based on at l e a s t 1560
The s t a t i s t i c s are t a u - b e t a c o e f f i c i e n t s .
cases.
- 10 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value T r a n s m i s s i o n
Combining as t h e y do some v e r y v i s i b l e p o p u l a t i o n groupings' along w i t h .t o p i c s of more than u s u a l prominence i n t h e mass media and l o c a l communities, i t
would be s u r p r i s i n g - i n d e e d i f t h e r e were-not.at. l e a s t a moderate, amount of p a r e n t student o v e r l a p ; The wonder i s not .that the c o r r e l a t i o n s - a r e t h i s high-, but-,,
r a t h e r t h a t ' t h e y are. n o t i h i g h e r . I f c o r r e l a t i o n s no vhigher .than t h i s - are-,produced
on issues' w h i c h , t o u c h b o t h of these g e n e r a t i o n s in; a manner) which many issues „•
a s s u r e d l y do n o t , then .one would, s p e c u l a t e .'.that, more remote-rand a b s t r a c t • issues;;
would generate even l e s s p o w e r f u l ^ a s s o c i a t i o n s . . r s
' •» n
•-.'.« r .
r
-
-•This h y p o t h e s i z i n g ' isi borne ..out .by the. i n t r o d u c t i o n o f ,two,>.*other i s s u e s .
Both parents-and s t u d e n t s we're .asked t o agree, or d i s a g r e e w i t h these -two . state.-;
merit's:-^-.."If. a Communist were l e g a l l y e l e c t e d t o some ,pub l,ic o f f i c e around here, the "people should allow-him. t o t a k e . of f i c e ; and " I f ^a person wanted, to. make . a, ,
speech i n t h i s community .^against .churches, and r e l i g i o n , he should, be allowed-to,«,
speak;"^ I n - j g e n e r a l ; the pre-adults':took a. s l i g h t l y more l i b e r t a r i a n .stance on;
the two issues than d i d t h e .parents but "the differences,/Ln any .of, the ,-like-paired.
m a r g i n a l s do not exceed 147*. These s i m i l a r i t i e s mask e x t r e m e l y tenuous p o s i t i v e
c o r r e l a t i o n s , - h o w e v e r , as the ^second p a i r ;Of.items . i n Table ;3 r e v e a l s . •
;
M
;
:
•These two . i s s u e s • c a r r y n e i t h e r t h e immediacy,nor ;the concreteness which.may
be s a i d t o c h a r a c t e r i z e those two issues d e a l i n g w i t h i n t e g r a t i o n and^prayers i n
the- s c h o o l s i
Indeed'^ one might q u e s t i o n whether the two statements r e p r e s e n t
issues a t a l l , - a s the p u b l i c n o r m a l l y conceives o f i s s u e s - . ' A t any r a t e l t , i s -.
improbable t h a t the s t u d e n t s are r e f l e c t i n g much i n t h e way o f cues e m i t t e d f r o m
t h e i r p a r e n t s , s i m p l y because-these t o p i c s *or r e l a t e d ones are h a r d l y prime c a n d i dates f o r d i n n e r t a b l e c o n v e r s a t i o n o r ^ i n a d v e r t e n t cue?-giying'. • Nor do they.,tap.
some r a t h e r b a s i c sentiments and a t t i t u d e o b j e c t s .which permeate t h e . i n t e g r a t i o n
and p r a y e r s • i s s u e s . S u c h i s e n t i m e n t s are more , l i k e l y to-be embedded . i n the express i v e - v a l u e ' s t r u c t u r e o f . t h e p a r e n t s - than, are those h a v i n g t o do w i t h some of t h e
more a b s t r a c t "fundamental" t e n e t s of democracy, as e x e m p l i f i e d i n the. f r e e ; speech
and r i g h t t o take o f f i c e i s s u e s . That, a d u l t s themselves have low l e v e l s of
c o n s t r a i n t i n v o l v i n g , p r o p o s i t i o n s about such fundamental t e n e t s has been demons.
s t r a t e d by McClosky, and by P r o t h r o and G r i g g .
G i v e n . t h i s environment, the
lower c o r r e l a t i o n f o r the'.two,more a b s t r a c t , p r o p o s i t i o n s i s . p r e d i c t a b l e ;
;
:
- •
"
- • •.
..
•
• .
•
.
• -
•
. i-
^
A l t h o u g h the issues we have examined by no means exhaust the v a r i e t y of
p o l i c y q u e s t i o n s one might pose, they p r o b a b l y e x e m p l i f y the range o f p a r e n t student correspondences t o be found i n the populace.
On a l l but consensual
t o p i c s — w h i c h would p e r f o r c e assume s i m i l a r d i s t r i b u t i o n s among v i r t u a l l y a l l
p o p u l a t i o n s t r a t a anyway--the p a r e n t - s t u d e n t c o r r e l a t i o n s o b t a i n e d f o r t h e i n t e g r a t i o n and p r a y e r issues p r o b a b l y approach t h e apex.' I n p a r t t h i s may be due t o
u n s t a b l e o p i n i o n s and i n p a r t t o the e f f e c t s of agents o t h e r t h a n t h e f a m i l y .
N e i t h e r i s i t i n c o n c e i v a b l e t h a t delayed s o c i a l i z a t i o n i s o c c u r r i n g under the
proper circumstances the c h i l d r e n may e x h i b i t g r e a t e r ; correspondences to. t h e i r
p a r e n t s as t h e y step f u r t h e r i n t o the l i f e c y c l e . But f o r t h i s p a r t i c u l a r p o i n t
i n t i m e , t h e a r t i c u l a t i o n of p o l i t i c a l o p i n i o n s i s o n l y m o d e r a t e l y s t r o n g on
s a l i e n t , c o n c r e t e i s s u e s and v i r t u a l l y n i l on more a b s t r a c t i s s u e s .
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
- 11 E v a l u a t i o n s o f S o c i o - p o l i t i c a l Groupings
C o l l e c t i v i t i e s of people who are d i s t i n g u i s h e d by c e r t a i n p h y s i c a l , l o c a t i o n a l , s o c i a l , r e l i g i o u s , and membership c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ( t h e l i s t i s o b v i o u s l y
not e x h a u s t i v e ) o f t e n come t o serve as s i g n i f i c a n t p o l i t i c a l r e f e r e n c e groups f o r
i n d i v i d u a l s . While d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e groups may c a r r y a f f e c t i v e n e u t r a l i t y , i t seems
t o be i n the n a t u r e of mass b e h a v i o r t h a t these groups most o f t e n come t o be
viewed w i t h g r e a t e r o r l e s s e r esteem and t h a t e v a l u a t i o n s of groupings w i l l vary
w i t h an I n d i v i d u a l ' s own p r o p e r t i e s , i n c l u d i n g h i s membership or nonmembership i n
the group. The i n t e r s t i c i n g of group e v a l u a t i o n s and t h e p o l i t i c a l process comes
when c l a i m s or demands are made by or upon s i g n i f i c a n t p o r t i o n s of such groupings.
The c i v i l r i g h t s movement o f the past decade i s perhaps the most s t r i k i n g contemp o r a r y example. As Converse has suggested, s o c i a l groupings are l i k e l y t o have
g r e a t e r c e n t r a l i t y f o r mass p u b l i c s than a b s t r a c t i d e a elements per se.
Thus
when p a r t i c u l a r issues and p u b l i c p o l i c i e s become imbued w i t h g r o u p - r e l a t e d p r o p e r t i e s , the issues a c q u i r e c o n s i d e r a b l y more s t r u c t u r e and concreteness f o r the
mass p u b l i c t h a n would be t h e normal case.
To what e x t e n t i s t h e f a m i l y c r u c i a l i n shaping the e v a l u a t i o n s of s o c i a l
g r o u p i n g s and t h u s — a t a f u r t h e r r e m o v e — t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of q u e s t i o n s of p u b l i c
p o l i c y ? Some i n s i g h t i n t o t h i s may be gained by comparing t h e r a t i n g s a p p l i e d by
the p a r e n t s and s t u d e n t s t o e i g h t s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l g r o u p i n g s . While the groups a l l
c a r r y r a t h e r e a s i l y r e c o g n i s e d l a b e l s , they do d i f f e r i n terms of t h e i r r e l a t i v e
v i s i b i l i t y and t h e i r i n c l u s i v e - e x c l u s i v e p r o p e r t i e s . They i n c l u d e P r o t e s t a n t s ,
C a t h o l i c s , Jews, Negroes, W h i t e s , L a b o r Unions, B i g Business, and Southerners.
;
To measure t h e a t t i t u d e s toward these groups, an i n s t r u m e n t dubbed the
" f e e l i n g thermometer" was used. The t e c h n i q u e was designed t o r e g i s t e r respond e n t s f e e l i n g s toward a group on a s c a l e r a n g i n g from 0 t o 100. Respondents were
i n s t r u c t e d t o g i v e t h e group a 50 degree r a t i n g i f they d i d not know much about
the group or i f they d i d not f e e l p a r t i c u l a r l y warm or c o l d toward i t . Warm
f e e l i n g s about the group were r e g i s t e r e d f r o m 51 t o 100, w h i l e n e g a t i v e f e e l i n g s
were recorded on the lower end of t h e s c a l e . I n the a n a l y s i s we w i l l t r e a t t h i s
s c a l e as i n t e r v a l l e v e l measurement. We have a l s o looked at a l l of the data using
t a b l e s and o r d i n a l s t a t i s t i c s ; our c o n c l u s i o n s are the same r e g a r d l e s s of t h e
method used.
1
T u r n i n g f i r s t t o t h e mean r a t i n g s , g i v e n i n Table 4, we f i n d a s t r i k i n g
s i m i l a r i t y i n s t u d e n t and p a r e n t aggregate s c o r e s . The l a r g e s t d i f f e r e n c e i s f i v e
p o i n t s and t h e average d i f f e r e n c e i s o n l y 2.2 p o i n t s . A d d i t i o n a l l y , the standard
d e v i a t i o n scores f o r t h e two samples ( n o t shown) are e x t r e m e l y s i m i l a r across a l l
g r o u p i n g s . Nor were t h e r e s i g n i f i c a n t tendencies f o r one sample t o employ more
t h a n the o t h e r t h e o p t i o n of "unawareness" or "no f e e l i n g s " (a r e a d i n g of 50 on
the thermometer) about the groupings. Moreover, the aggregate d i f f e r e n c e s which
do occur are not immediately e x p l i c a b l e . For example, s t u d e n t s r a t e Southerners
s l i g h t l y lower than p a r e n t s , as we expected, b u t the d i f f e r e n c e i n r a t i n g s o f
Negroes i s n e g l i g i b l e , which was u n a n t i c i p a t e d
Students r a t e Whites and Protestants
somewhat lower than p a r e n t s . T h i s i s not matched, however, by h i g h e r e v a l u a t i o n s
of t h e m i n o r i t y groups--Jews, f o r example.
:
r
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
-12-
TABLE 4 • • •
C o r r e l a t i o n s Between Parent-Student
Group
Evaluated
Parent-Student
Correlations
Catholics
.36*
Southerners
y.
; ••
Group E v a l u a t i o n s
;
' •
•'" Mean R a t i n g s
Student
• Parent
1
V ii '•
.30
66
Labor Unions
;28
• 60
Negroes
.26,
jews
.22
'
67
.19
84
Protestants
.15
••' 84
Business
-. .12
• 70 :
, . 62
•
'60-' :
'
67
;
Whites
Big
:_
. ...
- <' '63>83
' 79
.''.
< '
: : 63. ..
64 .
Each o f t h e f i g u r e s i n t h i s t a b l e i s based on a t l e a s t 1880, cases.,
The s t a t i s t i c s are product-moment c o e f f i c i e n t s ; ; t h e corresponding.,
t a u - b e t a s are ( t o p t o bottom) .28, .22, .22, .20, .18, .19, .13,
.08.
"
.
it
'
j_. '
, •
.
r
'•'.'•>'-
Given these e x t r a o r d i n a r i l y congruent p a t t e r n s i t i s r a t h e r s t a r t l i n g t o
see t h a t .they are p a t e n t l y n o t due t o u n i f o r m scores- o f p a r e n t - c h i l d p a i r s . As ,
shown I n T a b l e 4, t h e h i g h e s t c o r r e l a t i o n between t h e p a r e n t and s t u d e n t r a t i n g s
i s .36-,and t h e c o e f f i c i e n t s range as low as .12 .
E v e n t h e highest correla- ,
t i o n ^ i s j we/11 below t h a t found f o r p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n (where t h e product-moment ,
c o e f f i c i e n t was ,..59 f o r t h e s e v e n - f o l d c l a s s i f i c a t i o n ) , , and f o r s e v e r a l groupings
the r e l a t i o n s h i p s between p a r e n t and s t u d e n t scores are v e r y f e e b l e . I f t h e
c h i l d ' s v i e w o f s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l groupings grows o u t o f c u e - g i v i n g i n t h e home, t h e
magnitude-of t h e a s s o c i a t i o n s should, exceed those observed h e r e .
- .
:
x
, I t , - i s beyond the t a s k o f t h i s - paper t o u n r a v e l these, f indings,. The. range o f
c o r r e l a t i o n s , however, p r o v i d e s a clue, as t o t h e c o n d i t i o n s under which parent-.. •
s t u d e n t correspondences w i l l be h e i g h t e n e d .
I n the f i r s t place the three cate- .
g o r i e s p r o d u c i n g t h e lowest- c o r r e l a t i o n s appear, t o have- l i t t l e s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l .,
r e l e v a n c y i n t h e group sense- Whites-and P r o t e s t a n t s are e x t r e m e l y i n c l u s i v e . ,
c a t e g o r i e s and, among l a r g e s e c t o r s o f the p u b l i c , may. s i m p l y not .,be cognized or,
t r e a t e d i n everyday l i f e as groupings h i g h l y d i f f e r e n t i a t e d from s o c i e t y i n gene r a l . They a r e , .in a sense, t o o e n v e l o p i n g t o be taken as d i f f e r e n t i a t e d a t t i t u d e
objects., ( T h i s - o f cour.se,, would not,,hold under c e r t a i n c o n d i t i o n s , o f perceived,,
i n t e r - g r o u p s t r i f e . ) I f t h e y do n o t serve . a s . s i g n i f i c a n t a t t i t u d e , o b j e c t s t h e
l i k e l i h o o d o f p a r e n t t o c h i l d t r a n s m i s s i o n would be dampened. I n t h e t h i r d c a s e Big B u s i n e s s — i t seems l i k e l y t h a t I t s v i s i b i l i t y i s t o o low t o be cognized as a
group qua group.
x
ir
;
- 13 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
As the p a r e n t - s t u d e n t c o r r e l a t i o n s i n c r e a s e we n o t i c e t h a t the groupings
come t o have not o n l y h i g h l y d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e p r o p e r t i e s but t h a t they also have
h i g h v i s i b i l i t y i n contemporary American s o c i e t y . Adding t o the s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l
s a l i e n c y t h e r e b y induced i s the f a c t t h a t group membership may act t o i n c r e a s e
the p a r e n t - s t u d e n t c o r r e l a t i o n s i r r e s p e c t i v e o f or i n a d d i t i o n t o p a r e n t a l values
per se. That i s , one would hypothesize t h a t p a r e n t - s t u d e n t p a i r s f a l l i n g i n t o a
d i s t i n g u i s h a b l e , v i s i b l e g r o u p i n g would e x h i b i t h i g h e r c o r r e l a t i o n s i n r a t i n g t h a t
same g r o u p i n g than -would nonmembers. Taking the f o u r groupings f o r whom the
h i g h e s t c o r r e l a t i o n s were o b t a i n e d , we d i v i d e d the p a i r s i n t o those where b o t h the
p a r e n t and the c h i l d - r e x c e p t i n the case of l a b o r u n i o n s — w e r e enveloped by the
g r o u p i n g s versus those o u t s i d e the g r o u p i n g s .
Although none of the hypothesized
r e l a t i o n s h i p s were contravened, o n l y the c o e f f i c i e n t s f o r e v a l u a t i o n s of Southerners
p r o v i d e d a d i s t i n c t demarcation between members and nonmembers ( t a u - b e t a = .25 f o r
Southern p a i r s , .14 f o r non-Southerners).
I t i s q u i t e p o s s i b l e t h a t measures capt u r i n g membership i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and i n t e n s i t i e s would improve upon these
relationships.
As w i t h o p i n i o n s on s p e c i f i c i s s u e s , i n t r a - p a i r c o r r e l a t i o n s on group
e v a l u a t i o n s are at best moderately p o s i t i v e and they v a r y a p p r e c i a b l y as a r e s u l t
of s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l v i s i b i l i t y and, t o a s m a l l degree, group membership c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . What we are b e g i n n i n g t o d i s c e r n , t h e n , i s a p a t t e r n o f congruences which
peak o n l y over r e l a t i v e l y c o n c r e t e , s a l i e n t v a l u e s s u s c e p t i b l e to. repeated r e i n forcement i n the f a m i l y ' ( a n d elsewhere p e r h a p s ) , as i n p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and
i n c e r t a i n issues and group e v a l u a t i o n s . I t i s c o n c e i v a b l e t h a t these r e s u l t s
w i l l not p r e v a i l i f we advance f r o m f a i r l y narrow measures l i k e the ones p r e v i o u s l y
employed t o more g l o b a l , u n i d i m e n s i o r i a l v a l u e s t r u c t u r e s . We now t u r n t o an
i l l u s t r a t i v e example. I t so happens t h a t i t a l s o p r o v i d e s an i n s t a n c e of marked
aggregate d i f f e r e n c e s between t h e two g e n e r a t i o n s .
Political
Cynicism
P o l i t i c a l c y n i c i s m and i t s m i r r o r image, t r u s t , o f f e r an I n t e r e s t i n g cont r a s t t o o t h e r v a r i a b l e s we are c o n s i d e r i n g . Rather than r e f e r r i n g t o s p e c i f i c
p o l i t i c a l i s s u e s ^ o r a c t o r s , c y n i c i s m i s a b a s i c o r i e n t a t i o n toward p o l i t i c a l
a c t o r s and..activity..''Found e m p i r i c a l l y t o be r e l a t e d t o p o l i t i c a l p a r t i c i p a t i o n ,
the presence of d i s t r u s t and s k e p t i c i s m presumably pervades a l l encounters w i t h
p o l i t i c a l ; p b j e c t s . I n acVditionj ' p o l i t i c a l c y n i c i s m has been found t o be p o s i t i v e l y c o r r e l a t e d ' w i t h measures of a g e n e r a l l y d i s t r u s t f u l o u t l o o k ( p e r s o n a l
c y n i c i s m ) . ,' P o l i t i c a l ' c y n i c i s m appears t o be a m a n i f e s t a t i o n of a deep-seated
s u s p i c i o n of o t h e r s ' "motives and a c t i o n ^ . Thus t h i s a t t i t u d e comes c l o s e r than
t h e r e s t o f our v a l u e s t o t a p p i n g a b a s i c p s y c h o - p o l i t i c a l p r e d i s p o s i t i o n .
r
Previous r e s e a r c h w i t h young c h i l d r e n suggests t h a t sweeping judgments,
such as the e s s e n t i a l goodness o f human n a t u r e , are formed e a r l y i n l i f e , o f t e n
b e f o r e c o n g i t i v e development and i n f o r m a t i o n a c q u i s i t i o n make the e v a l u a t e d objects
- 14 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value T r a n s m i s s i o n
i n t e l l i g i b l e . G r e e n s t e i n , and Hess and Easton, have r e p o r t e d t h i s phenomenon
w i t h r e g a r d t o f e e l i n g s about a u t h o r i t y f i g u r e s ; Hess and Torney suggest s i m i l a r
c o n c l u s i o n s about l o y a l t y and attachment t o government and c o u n t r y .
.Evaluative
judgments and a f f e c t i v e t i e s have been found among the youngest samples f o r which
q u e s t i o n and answers techniques are f e a s i b l e . T h i s leads t o t h e c o n c l u s i o n t h a t
the s c h o o l , mass media, and peer groups have -had l i t t l e time t o i n f l u e n c e these
attitudes!
-* - - •
I t seems t o f o l l o w t h a t t h e f a m i l y i s t h e r e p o s i t o r y f r o m which these/
f e e l i n g s are i n i t i a l l y drawn. E i t h e r d i r e c t l y by t h e i r words and deeds or i n d i r
r e c t l y t h r o u g h unconscious means, p a r e n t s t r a n s m i t t o t h e i r c h i l d r e n b a s i c p o s t u r e s
toward l i f e which t h e c h i l d r e n c a r r y w i t h them a t l e a s t u n t i l t h e development of
t h e i r own c r i t i c a l f a c u l t i e s . ' A l t h o u g h our 1 2 t h graders have been exposed t o a
number o f I n f l u e n c e s which c o u l d m i t i g a t e t h e i n i t i a l i m p l a n t i n g , one should expect,
a c c o r d i n g t o t h e model, a r a t h e r s t r o n g correspondence between parent-and s t u d e n t
degrees o f p o l i t i c a l c y n i c i s m .
•'
To assess the c y n i c i s m o f p a r e n t s and s t u d e n t s , a Guttman s c a l e was cons t r u c t e d f r o m f i v e q u e s t i o n s asked o f b o t h samples. . A l l q u e s t i o n s d e a l t w i t h t h e
conduct o f . t h e n a t i o n a l government.
The items were of a " f o r c e d a l t e r n a t i v e "
v a r i e t y ; t h a t i s , r a t h e r t h a n s i m p l y a g r e e i n g o r d i s a g r e e i n g , respondents had t o .
v e r b a l i z e a t l e a s t a few key words t o i n d i c a t e t h e i r response. One advantage of ,
t h i s f o r m a t i s that, i t tends t o reduce response-set e r r o r s . . I n a d d i t i o n , .two of
the items were worded so t h a t t h e f i r s t a l t e r n a t i v e i n d i c a t e d a t r u s t i n g a t t i t u d e
w h i l e i n t h r e e items t h e c y n i c a l response was placed f i r s t .
I n each sample the
items formed a s c a l e , w i t h c o e f f i c i e n t s of r e p r o d u c i b i l i t y of .93 and .92 f o r
p a r e n t s and s t u d e n t s , r e s p e c t i v e l y , The f i r s t two items i n t h e p a r e n t s c a l e were ,
reversed f o r t h e s t u d e n t s , b u t the p r o p o r t i o n o f p o s i t i v e responses f o r these
items was so s i m i l a r t h a t few respondents were a f f e c t e d by the i t e m r e v e r s a l . The
same r e v e r s a l happened f o r t h e l a s t two items o f the s c a l e .
s
The aggregate scores r e f l e c t a remarkably l e s s e r amount o f c y n i c i s m among
s t u d e n t s t h a n among p a r e n t s . T h i s i s apparent i n t h e m a r g i n a l d i s t r i b u t i o n s i n
Table 5, which show t h e w e i g h t o f t h e p a r e n t d i s t r i b u t i o n f a l l i n g much more on t h e
c y n i c a l end of the s c a l e . S i m i l a r l y , w h i l e a f i f t h of t h e s t u d e n t s were more
c y n i c a l than t h e i r p a r e n t s , t h r e e times t h i s number o f p a r e n t s were-more-cynical
than t h e i r c h i l d r e n . The s t u d e n t s may be r e t r e a t i n g from an even more t r u s t i n g
a t t i t u d e h e l d e a r l i e r . , but compared t o t h e i r p a r e n t s they s t i l l see l i t t l e t o be
c y n i c a l about i n n a t i o n a l p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t y . Here i s a case where the impact
of o t h e r s o c i a l i z a t i o n a g e n t s - - n o t a b l y the school--looms l a r g e . The t h r u s t of
school e x p e r i e n c e i s undoubtedly on the s i d e of. d e v e l o p i n g t r u s t i n t h e p o l i t i c a l
system i n g e n e r a l . C i v i c t r a i n i n g i n s c h o o l abounds i n r i t u a i s o f system s u p p o r t '
and I n g l o r i f i c a t i o n of, the system i n t h e f o r m a l c u r r i c u l u m . These r i t u a l s and
c u r r i c u l a are not matched by a c r i t i c a l e x a m i n a t i o n of t h e n a t i o n ' s shortcomings
or t h e p o s s i b l e v i r t u e s of o t h e r p o l i t i c a l f o r m s C o u p l e d w i t h a ' m o r a l i s t i c , '
l e g a l i s t i c , p r e s c r i p t i v e o r i e n t a t i o n t o t h e s t u d y of government i s t h e avoidance
of c o n f l i c t dimensions and c o n t r o v e r s i a l i s s u e s .
A d i r e c t encounter w i t h the
r e a l i t i e s o f p o l i t i c a l l i f e I s thus a v e r t e d or a t l e a s t postponed. I t would not
be s u r p r i s i n g , t h e n , t o f i n d a r a t h e r sharp r i s e i n t h e l e v e l o f c y n i c i s m as h i g h
school s e n i o r s move ahead, i n a few years i n t o t h e a d u l t w o r l d .
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
- 15 TABLE 5
R e l a t i o n s h i p Between Parent-Student
Scores on t h e Cynicism
Scale
Students
Least
Cynical
Most
Cynical
Marginal
Totals
2
3
4
5
6
Row
Totals
25%
27
33
13
1
2
101%
2
19
28
38
9
1
5
100
12
3
18
28
37
10
3
4
100
33
4
16
23
41
'-13
4
100
17
5
15
19
35K f :
9 •';
100
9
6-
12
22
36'
100
: 21
Parents
1
Least C y n i c a l - 1
Most C y n i c a l :
19
i:
3
:
' ..3
18
3
8%
•v
Margihal T o t a l s
a
:}-':•<
17%
25
37
•
is-
i ••• •
3
5
-
•• tau-nbeta = .-12
...
100%l
. .
N - 1869
a r g i n a l t o t a l s show t h e aggregate s c a l a r p a t t e r n s f o r each sample.
Students on t h e whole are l e s s c y n i c a l than p a r e n t s ; r e l a t i v e t o o t h e r
s t u d e n t s , however, those w i t h d i s t r u s t f u l , h o s t i l e p a r e n t s should themselves be
more s u s p i c i o u s o f t h e government, w h i l e those w i t h t r u s t i n g p a r e n t s should f i n d
l e s s ground f o r c y n i c i s m . A g a i n s t t h e backdrop o f our d i s c u s s i o n , i t i s remarka b l e .how low t h e correspondence i s between p a r e n t - s t u d e n t p a i r s . Aside from f a i n t
m a r k i n g s a t t h e e x t r e m i t i e s , s t u d e n t s ' scores are v e r y n e a r l y independent o f t h e i r
p a r e n t s ' a t t i t u d e s (Table 5 ) . The c y n i c i s m o f d i s t r u s t f u l parents i s i n f r e q u e n t l y
i m p l a n t e d i n t h e i r . c h i l d r e n , w h i l e a s m a l l e r group o f s t u d e n t s develop a c y n i c a l
o u t l o o k d e s p i t e t h e i r - p a r e n t s ' views. P o l i t i c a l c y n i c i s m as measured here i s not
a v a l u e o f t e n passed from p a r e n t t o c h i l d . Regardless o f p a r e n t a l f e e l i n g s ,
c h i l d r e n develop a moderately t o h i g h l y p o s i t i v e view o f t h e t r u s t w o r t h i n e s s o f
the national..government and i t s o f f i c i a l s . We imagine t h a t i f we had i n t e r v i e w e d
younger s t u d e n t s , we rwould have found, the same, n e a r l y unanimous p o s i t i v e images
of t r u s t t h a t o t h e r i n v e s t i g a t o r s have found f o r images o f a u t h o r i t y and t h e
nation.
These f i n d i n g s do not mean t h a t p a r e n t s f a i l t o express n e g a t i v e e v a l u a t i o n s
i n f a m i l y i n t e r a c t i o n nor t h a t c h i l d r e n f a i l t o adopt some o f t h e l e s s f a v o r a b l e
a t t i t u d e s o f t h e i r p a r e n t s . What i s a p p a r e n t l y n o t t r a n s m i t t e d i s a g e n e r a l i z e d
c y n i c i s m about p o l i t i c s . Thus w h i l e warmth o r h o s t i l i t y toward s p e c i f i c p o l i t i c a l
- 16 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
o b j e c t s w i t h h i g h v i s i b i l i t y may be m o t i v a t e d by p a r e n t a l a t t i t u d e s , a more perv a s i v e type o f b e l i e f system l a b e l l e d c y n i c i s m ( t r u s t ) i s a p p a r e n t l y s u b j e c t t o
heavy, u n d e r c u t t i n g i n f l u e n c e s o u t s i d e t h e f a m i l y nexus. These i n f l u e n c e s are
s t i l l o p e r a t i v e as t h e ' p r e - a d u l t stands on-< t h e verge of. a d u l t s t a t u s . < :
W o r k i n g " w i t h another encompassing s e t - o f v a l u e s we encountered such -the-same
p a t t e r n s , as w i t h c y n i c i s m . A f t e r o b t a i n i n g t h e i r rank o r d e r i n g s o f i n t e r e s t i n
i n t e r n a t i o n a l , n a t i o n a l , s t a t e , and l o c a l p o l i t i c a l m a t t e r s t h e respondents were
a l l o c a t e d along a 7-point s c a l e o f c o s m o p o l i t a n i s m - l o c a l i s m through an a d a p t a t i o n
of Coombs u n f o l d i n g t e c h n i q u e ' f o r p r e f e r e n c e o r d e r data.On t h e whole t h e
s t u d e n t s are c o n s i d e r a b l y more o r i e n t e d t o l a r g e r g e o - p o l i t i c a l domains (more
c o s m o p o l i t a n ) t h a n t h e p a r e n t s , and t h e p a i r e d c o r r e l a t i o n is--a modest--.-!?. Both
l i f e c y c l e and g e n e r a t i o n a l e f f e c t s a r e undoubtedly a t work h e r e ,
but the
c e n t r a l p o i n t i s t h a t t h e s t u d e n t s ' o r i e n t a t i o n s o n l y m i l d l y echo those o f t h e i r
parents.
1
What r e s u l t s from j u x t a p o s i n g p a r e n t s and t h e i r c h i l d r e n on these two measures o f c y n i c i s m and c o s m o p o l i t a n i s m - l o c a l i s m i s t h e s u s p i c i o n t h a t more g l o b a l
o r i e n t a t i o n s t o p o l i t i c a l l i f e do n o t y i e l d p a r e n t - s t u d e n t correspondences o f
g r e a t e r magnitude than on more- s p e c i f i c m a t t e r s . I f a n y t h i n g , t h e o p p o s i t e i s
t r u e - - a t l e a s t w i t h r e s p e c t t o c e r t a i n s p e c i f i c s . I t may be t r u e t h a t t h e c h i l d
a c q u i r e s a minimal s e t o f b a s i c commitments t o t h e system and a way o f h a n d l i n g
a u t h o r i t y s i t u a t i o n s as a r e s u l t o f e a r l y experiences i n t h e f a m i l y c i r c l e . . But
i t appears a l s o t h a t t h i s i s a f o u n d a t i o n from whence a r i s e w i d e l y d i v e r s e v a l u e
s t r u c t u r e s , and t h a t p a r e n t a l v a l u e s are an e x t r e m e l y v a r i a b l e and o f t e n f e e b l e
guide as t o what t h e p r e - a d u l t * s v a l u e s w i l l be.
5
Religious Beliefs
Up t o t h i s p o i n t we have t r a v e r s e d a range o f p o l i t i c a l and q u a s i - p o l i t ' i c a l
v a l u e s , and have witnessed v a r y i n g , b u t g e n e r a l l y modest degrees o f p a r e n t a l student correspondences, t o what e x t e n t does t h i s p a t t e r n a l s o c h a r a c t e r i z e o t h e r
domains o f s o c i a l , values? For comparative, purposes we can i n j e c t a c o n s i d e r a t i o n
of r e l i g i o u s b e l i e f s . L i k e p a r t y preferences'; church a f f i l i a t i o n ' among p r e - a d u l t s
i s b e l i e v e d t o be l a r g e l y t h e same as' p a r e n t a l a f f i l i a t i o n . 'Such proves t o be
the case among our respondents. Of a l l ' p a r e n t - s t u d e n t p a i r s 74% "occupied*the-same
c e l l s o f denominational, p r e f e r e n c e . That' t h i s percentage i s h i g h e r t h a n - t h e
agreement on t h e t h r e e - f o l d c l a s s i f i c a t i o n o f p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n (Democrat.,
Republican, Independent) by some 15% suggests t h a t by t h e time t h e p r e - a d u l t ' i s
preparinjg t o leave t h e f a m i l y c i r c l e he has i n t e r n a l i z e d t h e church p r e f e r e n c e of
h i s p a r e n t s t o a moderately g r e a t e r e x t e n t t h a n ' t h e i r p a r t y preference:' '
-There a r e some p e r f e c t l y v a l i d reasons f o r t h i s m a r g i n . To a much g r e a t e r
e x t e n t t h a n p a r t y p r e f e r e n c e , church p r e f e r e n c e i s l i k e l y t o be" r e i n f o r c e d i n a
number o f ways. Assuming attendance, t h e c h i l d w i l l u s u a l l y go t o t h e same church
throughout childhood;' the b e h a v i o r i s repeated a t f r e q u e n t i n t e r v a l s ; i t I s a
- 17 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
p r a c t i c e engaged i n by g r e a t e r or l e s s e r p o r t i o n s of the e n t i r e f a m i l y and thus
c a r r i e s m u l t i p l e r o l e - m o d e l s ; f o r m a l membership i s o f t e n i n v o l v e d ; c o n f l i c t i n g
c l a i m s from o t h e r sources i n the environment f o r a change of p r e f e r e n c e are
m i n i m a l except, perhaps, as a r e s u l t of d a t i n g p a t t e r n s . R e l i g i o u s a f f i l i a t i o n
i s a l s o o f t e n imbued w i t h a f e r v i d commitment.
I n c o n t r a s t , p a r t y p r e f e r e n c e i s something w h i c h the c h i l d , h i m s e l f , cannot
t r a n s f o r m i n t o a b e h a v i o r a l m a n i f e s t a t i o n except i n r a t h e r s u p e r f i c i a l ways;
r e i n f o r c e m e n t tends t o be e p i s o d i c and v a r i e s a c c o r d i n g t o the e l e c t i o n calendar;
w h i l e t h e p a r t y p r e f e r e n c e o f p a r e n t s may v a r y o n l y m a r g i n a l l y over the p r e - a d u l t
y e a r s , the v o t i n g behavior i t s e l f f l u c t u a t e s more and thus s e t s up ambiguous
s i g n a l s f o r the c h i l d ; o t h e r sources i n the e n v i r o n m e n t — m o s t n o t i c e a b l y the mass
media—may make d i r e c t and i n d i r e c t appeals f o r the c h i l d ' s l o y a l t y which c o n f l i c t
w i t h the p a r e n t a l attachments; and f i n a l l y no b i n d i n g acts of f o r m a l membership
are I n v o l v e d i n p a r t y attachments.
Given t h e f a c t o r s f a c i l i t a t i n g i n t r a f a m i l i a l
s i m i l a r i t i e s i n church p r e f e r e n c e , and the absence of a t l e a s t some o f these
f a c t o r s i n the p a r t y dimension, i t i s perhaps remarkable t h a t c o n g r u i t y of p a r t y
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n approaches — at t h i s stage i n the p r e - a d u l t ' s l i f e cycle-:-the zone
of c h u r c h preference' c o n g r u i t y .
We found t h a t when we skipped from p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n t o o t h e r s o r t s of
p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s t h a t the p a r e n t - s t u d e n t c o r r e l a t i o n s decreased p e r c e p t i b l y . May
we expect t o encounter s i m i l a r behavior i n the r e a l m of r e l i g i o u s values?
One
p i e c e o f evidence i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h i s i s p r e c i s e l y the case. Respondents were
c o n f r o n t e d w i t h a s e r i e s of f o u r statements h a v i n g t o do w i t h the l i t e r a l and
d i v i n e n a t u r e of the B i b l e , r a n g i n g a l l t h e way f r o m a d e s c r i p t i o n o f the B i b l e
as "God's word and a l l i t says i s t r u e " down t o a statement denying the contemp o r a r y u t i l i t y of t h e book.
Both s t u d e n t s and p a r e n t s tended t o v i e w t h e B i b l e w i t h awe, t h e parents
s l i g h t l y more so t h a n the s t u d e n t s . But the c o r r e l a t i o n ( t a u - b e t a ) among parents t u d e n t p a i r s i s o n l y a m o d e r a t e l y s t r o n g .30. As w i t h p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s , once
the s u b j e c t m a t t e r moves out from c e n t r a l b a s i c i d e n t i f i c a t i o n p a t t e r n s the
t r a n s m i s s i o n of p a r e n t a l values f a d e s .
And, as w i t h p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s , t h i s may
be a f u n c t i o n o f i n s t a b i l i t y — a l t h o u g h t h i s seems l e s s l i k e l y f o r the r e n d e r i n g
of t h e B i b l e - - t h e impingement of o t h e r a g e n t s - - p a r t i c u l a r l y l i k e l y i n t h i s case —
or t h e r e l a t i v e . a b s e n c e of c u e - g i v i n g on t h e part, of the p a r e n t s .
Obviously,
combinations o f these f a c t o r s may a l s o be a t work. The more g e n e r a l i z a b l e propos i t i o n emerging from a comparison of p o l i t i c a l and r e l i g i o u s o r i e n t a t i o n s i s the
d i m i n u t i o n of the c o r r e l a t i o n s o b t a i n e d when t h e l e s s concrete v a l u e o r i e n t a t i o n s
are s t u d i e d . Whether s i m i l a r r e s u l t s would emerge from a c o n s i d e r a t i o n of other
s o c i a l v a l u e s we cannot be s u r e , but the p r o b a b i l i t i e s l i e i n t h a t d i r e c t i o n .
3 4
- 18 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value T r a n s m i s s i o n
FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS AND TRANSMISSION PATTERNS
f
We have found t h a t t h e t r a n s m i s s i o n o f p o l i t i c a l values from p a r e n t t o
c h i l d v a r i e s remarkably a c c o r d i n g t o ,the n a t u r e o f the v a l u e . A l t h o u g h the cent r a l tendencies l i e on t h e low s i d e , we may encounter s y s t e m a t i c v a r i a t i o n s i n
the d e g r e e ' t o which v a l u e s a r e s u c c e s s f u l l y t r a n s m i t t e d a c c o r d i n g t o c e r t a i n
p r o p e r t i e s o f the f a m i l y s t r u c t u r e i t s e l f . That i s , whether t h e t r a n s m i t t a l be
conscious and d e l i b e r a t e o r unpurposive and i n d i r e c t are t h e r e some c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e f a m i l y u n i t which abet or, i n h i b i t t h e c h i l d ' s a c q u i s i t i o n o f
p a r e n t a l values? We^ s h a l l r e s t r i c t o u r s e l v e s t o a l i m i t e d s e t o f v a r i a b l e s h a v i n g
theoretical interest.
I n o r d e r t o d i s s e c t - the p a r e n t - s t u d e n t r e l a t i o n s h i p s by c o n t r o l l i n g f o r a
v a r i e t y o f independent v a r i a b l e s , .two s t r a t e g i e s were c o n s i d e r e d . One was.to
r e t a i n t h e f u l l -parent-student m a t r i c e s and then observe agreement r a t e s ( i n t h e
form o f c o r r e l a t i o n s ) w i t h i n c a t e g o r i e s o f the. independent v a r i a b l e s . A more,
parsimonious method was t o develop agreement indexes and t o r e l a t e the independent
v a r i a b l e s t o these indexes. T h i s would r e s u l t i n a s i n g l e s t a t i s t i c and c o n t i n gency t a b l e f o r each independent v a r i a b l e r a t h e r than one f o r each c a t e g o r y o f
each independent v a r i a b l e . The Index approach w i l l be used i n t h e remainder o f
the paper.
The'agreement indexes were' developed as f o l l o w s . P e r f e c t agreement c o r r e sponds t o the cells.'on t h e main d i a g o n a l o f a, square t a b l e i n w h i c h p a r e n t s ' and
s t u d e n t s ' responses are r e p r e s e n t e d by the rows and columns o f t h e t a b l e . Parencstudent' p a i r s f a l l i n g i n t o these c e l l s were ranked 1. Then, moving o u t from t h e
main d i a g o n a l , a rank o f 2 was g i v e n t o those f a l l i n g j u s t above o r j u s t below
t h i s l i n e , a rank o f 3 was g i v e n t o those two u n i t s from the d i a g o n a l , and so on.
The number o f scores depends on t h e number o f c a t e g o r i e s i n the v a r i a b l e b e i n g
used. Some c o l l a p s i n g was u s u a l l y done among the h i g h e s t scores because o f t h e
few cases o f e x t r e m e l y sharp disagreement.
Four- and five.-category indexes
r e s u l t e d from these o p e r a t i o n s .
Parent and Student Sex Combinations
V a r i o u s adolescent s t u d i e s have I l l u s t r a t e d the d i s c r i m i n a t i o n s which con- ^
t r o l s f o r sex o f p a r e n t and sex o f c h i l d may produce i n s t u d y i n g t h e f a m i l y u n i t .
T y p i c a l l y these s t u d i e s have d e a l t w i t h s e l f - d e v e l o p m e n t , adjustment problems,
m o t i v a t i o n a l p a t t e r n s , and t h e l i k e . As i n d i c a t e d e a r l i e r (see note 9 ) , i n i t i a l
sex c o n t r o l s o f t h e p a r e n t - s t u d e n t v a l u e s m a t r i c e s suggested o n l y minor d i f f e r ences a c c o r d i n g t o p a r e n t and s t u d e n t sex c o m b i n a t i o n s , b u t we s h a l l now probe
t h i s t o p i c more f u l l y .
P a r t o f t h e common l o r e o f American p o l i t i c a l b e h a v i o r i s t h a t t h e male i s
more dominant i n p o l i t i c a l m a t t e r s t h a n t h e female, b o t h i n h i s r o l e o f husband
and f a t h e r . And p r e - a d u l t males are u s u a l l y found t o be more p o l i t i c i z e d t h a n
c o u n t e r p a r t females. While our f i n d i n g s do n o t c h a l l e n g e these s t a t e m e n t s , t h e y
do i n d i c a t e t h e meager u t i l i t y o f sex r o l e s i n e x p l a i n i n g p a r e n t a l - s t u d e n t agreement. I l l u s t r a t i v e o f t h e f i n d i n g s are those p r e s e n t e d i n Table 6 which show
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
- 19 -
the percentages f o r combinations o f mother-daughter.; mother-son, f a t h e r - d a u g h t e r ,
and f a t h e r - s o n across t h e agreement indexes f o r p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and p o l i t i c a l
cynicism.
TABLE 6
Sex of Parent and C h i l d ! Related t o Parent -Child - Agreement Indexes
v.
MotherDaughter
Pairs
Mother'
Son
Pairs
FatherDaughter
Pairs
FatherSon
Pairs
(505)
(538)
(388)
(420)
1
2
3
4
38%
31
15
15
29%
34
19
18
327«
38
14
17
32%
34
19
15
Total
99%
100%
101%
100%
1
2
3
4
22%
35
20
24
22%
35
23
20
24%
31
18
26
20%
28
27
25
101%
100%
99%
100%
N
3
-
Party I d e n t i f i c a t i o n
Agreement Index
High Low
Cynicism Agreement
Index
High Low
Total
These-are t h e s m a l l e r N's o f t h e two percentage
sets.
A p e r u s a l o f t h e t a b l e leaves l i t t l e doubt t h a t t h e v a l u e s o f t h e f a t h e r
are n o t more l i k e l y t o be i n t e r n a l i z e d t h a n are those o f t h e mother, inasmuch as
p a i r s i n v o l v i n g t h e f a t h e r do not d i f f e r c o n s i s t e n t l y f r o m those engaging t h e
mother. Indeed/ t h e s i n g l e c e l l showing t h e v e r y h i g h e s t p a r e n t - s t u d e n t agreement
i s t h e mother-daughter c o m b i n a t i o n f o r p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n .
I t i s a l s o apparent
t h a t t h e sex o f t h e s t u d e n t accounts f o r l i t t l e v a r i a n c e . Sons are no more l i k e l y
to r e g i s t e r c o n s i s t e n t l y d i f f e r e n t i a l r a t e s o f agreement t h a n a r e daughters.
F i n a l l y , i t i s a l s o q u i t e c l e a r t h a t t h e p a r t i c u l a r sex m i x o f p a r e n t and c h i l d
makes l i t t l e d i f f e r e n c e . The same p i c t u r e o f u n i f o r m i t y was o b t a i n e d when we
c o n s i d e r e d t h e o t h e r v a l u e s presented e a r l i e r - - o p i n i o n s on s p e c i f i c issues and
- 20 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
group e v a l u a t i o n s . Furthermore, the•few d i f f e r e n c e s o b t a i n e d are i n c o n s i s t e n t
across.the f o u r p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s . •• We a l s o found t h a t the use of sex combinations
as c o n t r o l s on o t h e r b i v a r i a t e r e l a t i o n s h i p s , w h i l e o c c a s i o n a l l y y i e l d i n g d i s c r i m i n a t i o n s w o r t h n o t i n g , u s u a l l y r e s u l t e d i n minor and f l u c t u a t i n g d i f f e r e n c e s . Whatever f a m i l y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a f f e c t d i f f e r e n t i a l r a t e s of value t r a n s m i s s i o n they
are o n l y m a r g i n a l l y r e p r e s e n t e d by sex r o l e s . i n the f a m i l y .
:
Our f i n d i n g s most a s s u r e d l y should not be t a k e n t o mean t h a t p o l i t i c a l
l e a r n i n g i s unassociated w i t h sex r o l e s i n t h e f a m i l y . Nor do they n e c e s s a r i l y
mean t h a t t h e f a t h e r i s not s e t t i n g the p o l i t i c a l tone of the f a m i l y , a l t h o u g h
p r e l i m i n a r y i n v e s t i g a t i o n c a s t s s e r i o u s doubt on the c o r r e c t n e s s of t h a t t o o .
Rather, they show t h a t sex r o l e s are r e l a t i v e l y n e u t r a l w i t h r e s p e c t t o the t a k i n g
on of p a r e n t a l p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s b y the young.
A f f e c t i v i t y and C o n t r o l R e l a t i o n s h i p s
Another s e t of f a m i l y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s employed w i t h c o n s i d e r a b l e success i n
s t u d i e s o f the f a m i l y and c h i l d development has t o do w i t h the dimension o f power
or c o n t r o l on the one hand, and t h e dimension o f attachment or a f f e c t i v i t y on t h e
other. ° One s a l i e n t c o n c l u s i o n has been t h a t c h i l d r e n are more apt t o use t h e i r
p a r e n t s as r o l e models where the a u t h o r i t y s t r u c t u r e i s n e i t h e r e x t r e m e l y permiss i v e nor e x t r e m e l y a u t o c r a t i c and where s t r o n g ( b u t not o v e r p r o t e c t i v e ) s u p p o r t i v e
f u n c t i o n s and p o s i t i v e a f f e c t s are p r e s e n t .
J
A l t h o u g h these dimensions have been employed i n v a r i o u s ways i n assessing
the s o c i a l i z a t i o n o f the c h i l d , they have r a r e l y been u t i l i z e d i n l o o k i n g at v a l u e
t r a n s m i s s i o n per se. I n the n e a r e s t approach t o t h i s i n p o l i t i c a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n
s t u d i e s , M i d d l e t o n and Putney, w o r k i n g w i t h c o l l e g e s t u d e n t s ' r e p o r t s , concluded
t h a t p e r c e i v e d i d e o l o g i c a l d i f f e r e n c e s between p a r e n t and c h i l d were h i g h e r when
t h e r e was e m o t i o n a l estrangement, when the p a r e n t a l d i s c i p l i n e was p e r c e i v e d as
e i t h e r too h i g h or too low, and when the p a r e n t was b e l i e v e d t o be i n t e r e s t e d i n
politics.
Somewhat r e l a t e d f i n d i n g s by Robert Lane, and by Maccoby, e t a l . ,
support t h e i d e a t h a t a f f e c t i v e and power r e l a t i o n s h i p s between p a r e n t and c h i l d
may a f f e c t t h e t r a n s f e r r a l of p o l i t i c a l o r i e n t a t i o n s .
3 9
4 0
A f f e c t i v i t y and c o n t r o l r e l a t i o n s h i p s between p r e - a d u l t s and t h e i r p a r e n t s
were o p e r a t i o n a l i z e d i n a number of ways, too numerous t o g i v e i n d e t a i l .
Suffice
i t t o say t h a t both samples were q u e r i e d as t o how c l o s e they f e l t t o each o t h e r ,
whether and over what t h e y d i s a g r e e d , the p a t h o f c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s over the past few
years, punishmant agents, p e r c e i v e d l e v e l of p a r e n t a l c o n t r o l , p a r e n t and s t u d e n t
s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h c o n t r o l s , the n a t u r e and frequency of g r i e v a n c e p r o c e s s i n g , and
r u l e - m a k i n g procedures.
I n accordance w i t h t h e d r i f t of p r e v i o u s r e s e a r c h we h y p o t h e s i z e d t h a t t h e
c l o s e r t h e s t u d e n t f e l t t o h i s p a r e n t t h e more s u s c e p t i b l e he would be t o a d o p t i n g ,
e i t h e r t h r o u g h f o r m a l o r i n f o r m a l l e a r n i n g , the p o l i t i c a l values o f the p a r e n t .
This t u r n e d out t o be u n t r u e . The closeness o f p a r e n t s and c h i l d r e n , t a k i n g e i t h e r
the p a r e n t ' s r e p o r t or t h e c h i l d ' s r e p o r t , accounted f o r l i t t l e v a r i a t i o n i n the
d i s t r i b u t i o n o f scores on t h e agreement indexes. T h i s was t r u e whether closeness
to mother or f a t h e r was considered and r e g a r d l e s s of t h e s t u d e n t ' s sex.
Similarly,
- 21 o t h e r measures of a f f e c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s gave l i t t l e
prompted much v a r i a t i o n i n agreement among p a i r s .
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
evidence t h a t t h i s dimension
'Turning t o the power r e l a t i o n s h i p s between p a r e n t and c h i l d we hypothesized
two types o f r e l a t i o n s h i p s :
1) the more " d e m o c r a t i c " versus a u t o c r a t i c and permiss i v e these r e l a t i o n s h i p s were t h e g r e a t e r congruency t h e r e would be; and 2) the
more s a t i s f i e d the c h i l d was w i t h the power r e l a t i o n s h i p s the g r e a t e r would be t h e
congruency. Again our e x p e c t a t i o n s bore l i t t l e f r u i t .
The power c o n f i g u r a t i o n ,
e i t h e r i n terms o f i t s s t r u c t u r e or i t s appraised s a t i s f a c t o r i n e s s , generated few
s i g n i f i c a n t and c o n s i s t e n t d i f f e r e n c e s .
Moreover, t h i s proved g e n e r a l l y t r u e
whether we r e l i e d on the p a r e n t ' s account or the s t u d e n t ' s .
As w i t h sex r o l e s , the a f f e c t i v e and c o n t r o l dimensions thus prove t o possess
weak e x p l a n a t o r y power when i a i d a g a i n s t p a r e n t to" s t u d e n t t r a n s m i s s i o n p a t t e r n s .
Again, t h i s does not mean t h a t these c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s are unimportant f o r the p o l i t i c a l s o c i a l i z a t i o n o f the young. I t s i m p l y means t h a t they are of l i t t l e help i n
t r y i n g t o account f o r the d i f f e r e n t i a l p a t t e r n s of p a r e n t - s t u d e n t congruences.
One
might argue t h a t , t h e r e are types of power and a f f e c t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s not e a s i l y .
tapped by the measures and methodologies employed h e r e , and t o t h i s argument we
would agree. However, these are measures or v a r i a n t s p r e v i o u s l y shown t o have
d i s c r i m i n a t o r y power f o r o t h e r forms and stages of development and b e h a v i o r .
If
t h e y do not r e s o n a t e w i t h the phenomena t o be e x p l a i n e d , the reason seems more
l i k e l y t o l i e i n the n a t u r e of the phenomena r a t h e r t h a n the methods u t i l i z e d I t
should a l s o be noted t h a t o t h e r aspects o f f a m i l y s t r u c t u r e not e x p l o r e d here may
have g r e a t e r u t i l i t y - - e . g . , the c o n j u g a l power s t r u c t u r e , nuclear versus nonnuclear
f a m i l i e s , and the s i b l i n g s t r u c t u r e .
'>••
1
Levels of P o l i t i c l z a t i o n
Another set o f f a m i l y c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s concerns the s a l i e n c y and c u e - g i v i n g
s t r u c t u r e of p o l i t i c a l m a t t e r s w i t h i n the f a m i l y . One would expect p a r e n t s f o r
whom p o l i t i c s i s more s a l i e n t t o emit more cues, b o t h d i r e c t and i n d i r e c t . Other
t h i n g s b e i n g e q u a l , the t r a n s m i s s i o n of p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s would vary w i t h the
s a l i e n c y and o v e r t m a n i f e s t a t i o n s o f p o l i t i c a l m a t t e r s . Cue-giving would s t r u c t u r e
the p o l i t i c a l o r i e n t a t i o n s o f the c h i l d and, i n the absence o f r e b e l l i o n , b o l s t e r
p a r e n t - s t u d e n t correspondences. The absence o f c u e - g i v i n g would p r o b a b l y i n j e c t
c o n s i d e r a b l e i n s t a b i l i t y ; and a m b i g u i t y i n the c h i l d ' s v a l u e s t r u c t u r e . At the same
time t h i s absence would ' i n v i t e the i n j e c t i o n o f o t h e r s o c i a l i z i n g agents whose cont e n t a n d ' d i r e c t i o n m i g h t - v a r y w i t h p a r e n t a l v a l u e s . I n e i t h e r event p a r e n t a l o f f s p r i n g v a l u e correspondences should be reduced i n the case o f lower p o l i t i c a l
s a l i e n c y and c u e - g i v i n g .
T u r n i n g t o our d a t a , we c o u l d not f i n d a much more b l a t a n t . d e n i a l of our
h y p o t h e s i s . The degree of p a r e n t - s t u d e n t agreement i s not r e l a t e d t o any of our
measures of f a m i l y p o l i t i c i z a t i o n . T h i s i s a l l t h e more s u r p r i s i n g s i n c e we used
a number of measures t o c a p t u r e ' t h e v a r i o u s ways i n which f a m i l y p o l i t i c l z a t i o n
m i g h t be m a n i f e s t e d .
C o n s i d e r i n g p a r e n t a l responses f i r s t , we used q u e s t i o n s about
a t t e n t i o n p a i d t o p o l i t i c s i n the mass media, about husband-wife p o l i t i c a l convers a t i o n s , about disagreements r e g a r d i n g p o l i t i c a l and s o c i a l m a t t e r s , and about
p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n p o l i t i c a l campaigns, and i n school and community a f f a i r s .
Student
- 22 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value T r a n s m i s s i o n
responses about t h e i r own.and t h e i r f a m i l y ' s p o l i t i c i z a t i o n were a l s o c o n s i d e r e d .
The s t u d e n t ' s a t t e n t i o n t o media, frequency o f p o l i t i c a l c o n v e r s a t i o n s w i t h h i s
p a r e n t s and o t h e r people, p a r e n t - s t u d e n t disagreements i n s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l realms,
and an assessment o f h i s own p o l i t i c a l i n t e r e s t were a l l c r o s s - t a b u l a t e d . a g a i n s t
the degree of p a r e n t - s t u d e n t correspondence.
R e l a t i n g each of these measures o f p o l i t i c l z a t i o n t o the p a r e n t - s t u d e n t
agreement indexes f o r t h e v a l u e s discussed e a r l i e r , no c o r r e l a t i o n ( t a u - b e t a ) rose
above .08,. and many were s l i g h t l y _ n e g a t i v e . I n s p e c t i o n o f the t a b l e s d i d not
r e v e a l any c u r v i l i n e a r p a t t e r n s , obscured by t h e low c o r r e l a t i o n s .
Parent-student
agreement r a t e s are e s s e n t i a l l y t h e same r e g a r d l e s s o f the degree o f parent or
student p o l i t i c i z a t i o n . ^
4
Nor was t h e i n t e n s i t y o f p a r e n t a l f e e l i n g s r e l a t e d i n any c o n s i s t e n t f a s h i o n
t o the amount of p a r e n t - s t u d e n t correspondence.
At times such a r e l a t i o n s h i p does
emerge.
For example, acceptance of t h e p a r e n t a l p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n . i s somewhat g r e a t e r f o r s t r o n g p a r t i s a n p a r e n t s than f o r weak p a r t i s a n p a r e n t s , g r e a t e r ,
f o r weakly i d e n t i f y i n g p a r e n t s than Independent but l e a n i n g parents, and g r e a t e r
f o r l e a n e r s t h a n t r u e Independents.
However, as we p o i n t e d out e a r l i e r , acceptance
o f the p a r e n t a l a f f i l i a t i o n i s l e s s f r e q u e n t f o r c h i l d r e n o f Republican p a r e n t s so
t h a t t h e i d e n t i f i c a t i o n o f s t r o n g Republican p a r e n t s "is adopted l e s s than t h a t o f
weak Democratic p a r e n t s and the d e v i a t i o n from weak Republican p a r e n t s i s almost
as g r e a t as f o r p a r e n t s who aire Independent but l e a n i n g Democratic.
43
I t i s t r u e t h a t t h e case o f p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n might be e a s i l y e x p l a i n e d ;
g i v e n t h e g r e a t e r drawing power of the Democrats, we might p r e d i c t t h e observed
d e v i a t i o n f r o m t h e hypothesized r e l a t i o n s h i p between i n t e n s i t y and p a r e n t - s t u d e n t
agreement. I t i s not so easy, however, t o dispose o f d e p a r t u r e s from the hypothes i z e d r e l a t i o n s h i p when the same k i n d o f a n a l y s i s i s done f o r . p a r e n t and s t u d e n t
r a t i n g s of groups.
Taking the more extreme r a t i n g s as the more i n t e n s e l y h e l d , we
f i n d t h a t s t u d e n t d e v i a t i o n s f r o m p a r e n t a l judgments y i e l d w i t h about equal f r e quency a l i n e a r p a t t e r n ( g r e a t e s t d e v i a t i o n s among the most i n t e n s e and v i c e v e r s a )
a r e c t a n g u l a r p a t t e r n , and a c u r v i l i n e a r p a t t e r n ( g r e a t e s t , d e v i a t i o n s among t h e
l e a s t and most i n t e n s e , w i t h moderate p a r e n t s i n between).
Our r e s u l t s should not be i n t e r p r e t e d as showing t h a t f a m i l i a l p o l I t , i c i z a t i o n
i n g e n e r a l i s u n r e l a t e d t o p o l i t i c a l a t t i t u d e s and v a l u e s or t h a t the l e v e l of
p o l i t i c i z a t i o n among p a r e n t s has no b e a r i n g on t h e i r , c h i l d r e n ' s i n t e r e s t i n p o l i t i c s . They do i n d i c a t e , however,' t h a t t h e degree o f p a r e n t and s t u d e n t p o l i t i c i r
z a t i o n i s v i r t u a l l y u n r e l a t e d t o t h e congruency o f p a r e n t and c h i l d v a l u e s . . Whethe
i t i s measured i n terms o f student o r p a r e n t responses, taps s p e c t a t o r f a s c i n a t i o n
w i t h or a c t i v e engagement i n p o l i t i c s , or denotes i n d i v i d u a l - l e v e l and f a m i l y - l e v e l
p r o p e r t i e s , v a r y i n g amounts of p o l i t i c i z a t i o n b a r e l y a l t e r t h e l e v e l o f c o r r e s p o n dence between v a l u e s of p a r e n t s and t h e i r o f f s p r i n g .
W i t h h i n d s i g h t reasons f o r t h e l a c k of t h e h y p o t h e s i z e d r e l a t i o n s h i p can be
suggested.
But t o g i v e a c l e a r and thorough e x p l a n a t i o n and t o t e s t . a l t e r n a t i v e
h y p o t h e s i s w i l l be a d i f f i c u l t and time-consuming t a s k . One e x p l o r a t o r y avenue,
f o r example, b r i n g s i n student p e r c e p t i o n s of p a r e n t a l a t t i t u d e s as an i n t e r v e n i n g
v a r i a b l e . Another i s concerned w i t h t h e r e l a t i v e homogeneity o f t h e environment
- 23 -
Jennings and Niemi
Value Transmission
f o r c h i l d r e n of h i g h l y p o l i t i c i z e d backgrounds versus youngsters from u n p o l i t i c i z e d
f a m i l i e s . A t h i r d p o s s i b i l i t y i s the e x i s t e n c e of d i f f e r e n t i a l p a t t e r n s of p o l i t i c a l l e a r n i n g and, i n p a r t i c u l a r , a d i f f e r e n t i a l impact o f the v a r i o u s s o c i a l i z i n g
agents on c h i l d r e n f r o m p o l i t i c a l l y r i c h versus those from p o l i t i c a l l y b a r r e n backgrounds. I t i s a l s o p o s s i b l e t h a t knowledge about l a t e r p o l i t i c a l development o f
the s t u d e n t s would h e l p e x p l i c a t e these p e r p l e x i n g c o n f i g u r a t i o n s . Models i n c o r p o r a t i n g such f e a t u r e s w i l l be more complex, b u t they w i l l h o p e f u l l y adhere more
c l o s e l y to empirical f i n d i n g s .
A Concluding
Note
I n our opening remarks we noted the c o n f l i c t i n g views r e g a r d i n g the importance of the f a m i l y as an agent of p o l i t i c a l l e a r n i n g f o r the c h i l d . I n t h i s paper
we have been p r i m a r i l y concerned w i t h a f a i r l y narrow aspect of t h i s q u e s t i o n .
We
sought evidence i n d i c a t i n g t h a t a v a r i e t y of p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s h e l d by p r e - a d u l t s
were induced by the v a l u e s o f t h e i r p a r e n t s . Thus our t e s t has been r a t h e r s t r i n g e n t . I t has not examined the r e l a t i v e impact of the f a m i l y v i s - a - v i s o t h e r
s o c i a l i z i n g agents, nor has i t assessed o t h e r ways i n which the f a m i l y may shape
p o l i t i c a l orientations.
Having s a i d t h i s , i t i s n e v e r t h e l e s s c l e a r t h a t any model of s o c i a l i z a t i o n
w h i c h r e s t s on assumptions of p e r v a s i v e c u r r e n t s of p a r e n t t o c h i l d v a l u e t r a n s m i s s i o n s of the types examined here i s i n s e r i o u s need of m o d i f i c a t i o n .
Attitude
o b j e c t s i n the c o n c r e t e , s a l i e n t , r e i n f o r c e d t e r r a i n of p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n lend
s u p p o r t t o the model. But t h i s i s an e x c e p t i o n . Our d a t a suggest t h a t w i t h respect
to a range o f o t h e r a t t i t u d e o b j e c t s the correspondences v a r y from a t best moderate support t o v i r t u a l l y no s u p p o r t . We have suggested t h a t l i f e c y c l e e f f e c t s ,
the r o l e of o t h e r s o c i a l i z i n g agents, and a t t i t u d e i n s t a b i l i t i e s h e l p account f o r
the v e r y n o t i c e a b l e d e p a r t u r e s from the model p o s i t i n g h i g h t r a n s m i s s i o n . B u i l d i n g
these f o r c e s i n t o a model o f p o l i t i c a l l e a r n i n g w i l l f u r t h e r expose the f a m i l y ' s
r o l e i n the development of p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s .
FOOTNOTES
^Herbert Hyman, P o l i t i c a l S o c i a l i z a t i o n (New
Glencoe, 1 9 5 9 ) ,
York: Free Press of
69.
p.
2
See, e.g.,
James C. Davies,
S o c i a l i z a t i o n , " The
"The
Family's Role i n P o l i t i c a l
Annals, 3 6 1 (September, 1 9 6 5 ) , pp.
10-19.
3
These few s t u d i e s are c i t e d by Hyman, op. c i t . , pp. 7 0 - 7 1 .
Most
of the r e p o r t s are based on e x t r e m e l y l i m i t e d samples and n e a r l y a l l took
place between 1 9 3 0 - 1 9 5 0 .
4
Robert D. Hess and J u d i t h V. Torney, The Development of Basic
A t t i t u d e s and Values Toward Government and C i t i z e n s h i p During the
Elementary School Years, Part I ( C o o p e r a t i v e Research P r o j e c t No. 1 0 7 8 ,
U.S. O f f i c e o f E d u c a t i o n , 1 9 6 5 ) , pp. 1 9 3 , 2 0 0 .
5
6
I b i d . , p. 1 9 1 .
I b i d . , p.
192.
i l l u s t r a t i v e of t h i s argument i s Frank A. Pinner's c a r e f u l r e n d e r i n g i n " P a r e n t a l O v e r p r o t e c t i o n a n d . P o l i t i c a l D i s t r u s t , " The Annals,
3 6 1 (September, 1 9 6 5 ) , pp. 5 8 - 7 0 .
See, i n the same i s s u e , Fred I .
G r e e n s t e i n , " P e r s o n a l i t y and P o l i t i c a l S o c i a l i z a t i o n : The Theories o f
A u t h o r i t a r i a n and Democratic C h a r a c t e r , " pp. 8 1 - 9 5 .
g
I n a d d i t i o n t o the Hess and Torney r e p o r t , evidence f o r t h i s i s - . ,
s u p p l i e d by i n t e r a l i o s , Fred I . G r e e n s t e i n , C h i l d r e n and P o l i t i c s
(New Haven: Yale U n i v e r s i t y p r e s s , 1 9 6 5 ) ; and David Easton and Jack
Dennis, "The C h i l d ' s Image of Government," The Annals, 3 6 1 (September,
1965),
pp. 4 0 - 5 7 i
.
,
9
I n any event, i n i t i a l c o n t r o l s on p a r e n t (as w e l l as s t u d e n t ) sex
suggest t h a t p a r e n t - s t u d e n t agreement r a t e s on the values examined here
d i f f e r l i t t l e among p a r e n t - s t u d e n t sex c o m b i n a t i o n s .
This w i l l b e . d i s cussed i n more d e t a i l below.
^In
triads.
t h i s a n a l y s i s we w i l l not be concerned w i t h m o t h e r - f a t h e r - c h i l d
^"The a l t e r n a t i v e to. h a l f - w e i g h t i n g these p a i r s , i s t o subselect among
those cases where b o t h mother and f a t h e r were i n t e r v i e w e d . H a l f w e i g h t i n g
tends t o reduce t h e e r r o r i n sampling v a r i a b i l i t y because i t u t i l i z e s more
data cases. E x p e r i m e n t a t i o n w i t h h a l f w e i g h t i n g versus s u b s e l e c t i o n i n d i cated o n l y s l i g h t d i f f e r e n c e s i n the m a r g i n a l s i n any event.
FOOTNOTES ( c o n t i n u e d )
12
I t proved i m p o s s i b l e t o o b t a i n a c c u r a t e , r e c e n t f i g u r e s on 12th
grade e n r o l l m e n t throughout t h e c o u n t r y . Working w i t h the data a v a i l a b l e
and e x t r a p o l a t i n g as necessary^_a sampling frame ..was c o n s t r u c t e d so t h a t
schools would be drawn w i t h a p r o b a b i l i t y p r o p o r t i o n a t e t o the s i z e of
the s e n i o r c l a s s . A f t e r e n t r y was o b t a i n e d i n t o the sample schools and
p r e c i s e f i g u r e s on e n r o l l m e n t s g a t h e r e d , d i f f e r e n t i a l weights were a p p l i e d
t o c o r r e c t f o r the i n e q u a l i t i e s i n s e l e c t i o n p r o b a b i l i t i e s occasioned by
the o r i g i n a l i m p r e c i s e i n f o r m a t i o n . The average weight equals 1.2.
13
Hyman, op. c i t . , p. 72, and n. 6, p: 89. See a l s o Robert E. Lane,
"Fathers and Sons: Foundationsof P o l i t i c a l B e l i e f , " American S o c i o l o g i c a l
Review, 24 (August, 1959), pp. 502-11; Eleanor E. Maccoby, Richard E.
Matthews, and Anton S. Morton, "Youth and P o l i t i c a l Change," P u b l i c
O p i n i o n Q u a r t e r l y , 18 ( S p r i n g , 1954), pp. 23-39; and R u s s e l l M i d d l e t o n
and S n e l l Putney, ' ' P o l i t i c a l E x p r e s s i o n o f Adolescent R e b e l l i o n , "
American J o u r n a l of S o c i o l o g y , 68 (March, 1963), pp. 527-35.
14
E l i z a b e t h Douvan and M a r t i n Gold, "American Adolescence: Modal
P a t t e r n s of B i o - S o c i a l Change," i n M a r t i n and L o i s Hoffman ( e d s . ) , Review
of C h i l d Development Research, V o l . I I (New York: R u s s e l l Sage F o u n d a t i o n ,
forthcoming).
/^Among the s t u d e n t s 30% r e p o r t e d improvement, 18% d e t e r i o r a t i o n ,
and 5 1 % s a i d t h i n g s were about t h e same. Comparable f i g u r e s among the
p a r e n t s were 17%, 13%, and 69%.
*^A n o t a b l e e x c e p t i o n i n t h i s f i e l d i s Jerome Kagan and Howard A.
Moss, B i r t h t o M a t u r i t y : The F e l s Study of P s y c h o l o g i c a l Development
(New York: W i l e y , 1962).
'• •
"^One c o u l d t r y t o c a p t u r e t h e t o t a l c o n f i g u r a t i o n of agreement
u s i n g percentaged t a b l e s I n s t e a d of the percentage of p e r f e c t agreement;
but besides l a c k i n g i n parsimony, such t a b l e s are d i f f i c u l t t o i n t e r p r e t
and ~compare.
18
T h i s f i g u r e i s based on p a r e n t - s t u d e n t p a i r s i n which b o t h respondents have a p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n ; e l i m i n a t e d are t h e 2% of t h e p a i r s i n
which one or b o t h respondents are a p o l i t i c a l or undecided.
(Only 1 % o f
the s t u d e n t s are undecided about- t h e i r p a r t y p r e f e r e n c e . ) Using a p r o d u c t moment c o r r e l a t i o n on these d a t a y i e l d s a v a l u e of .59. The standard SRC
p a r t y i d e n t i f i c a t i o n q u e s t i o n s were used. See Angus Campbell, P h i l i p E.
Converse, Warren E. M i l l e r , and Donald E. Stokes, The American Voter (New
York: W i l e y , 1960), Chap. 6.
This i s suggested by an a n a l y s i s of d i f f e r e n t age groups among the
a c t i v e e l e c t o r a t e . See I b i d . , pp. 1 6 1 f f .
FOOTNOTES ( c o n t i n u e d )
20
Our sample o f teachers c o n t a i n s , i f a n y t h i n g , o n l y a s l i g h t l y
g r e a t e r p r o p o r t i o n of Independents than t h e e l e c t o r a t e as a whole. But
when.asked whether t h e y teach t h e i r s t u d e n t s t o v o t e f o r t h e man or the
p a r t y , 5 1 % s a i d "Man" w h i l e o n l y 12% s a i d " P a r t y " or even " P a r t y and
I s s u e s . " The remainder said they t a u g h t b o t h v i e w p o i n t s o r d i d not t r y
to teach e i t h e r one.
- 21
Such a developmental p a t t e r n i s suggested by d a t a presented by
Hess and Torney. I f one repercentages t h e i r data t o e l i m i n a t e those who
don't know what the p a r t i e s are and who haven't decided t h e i r p a r t y
l o y a l t i e s , t h e r e i s a steady i n c r e a s e i n t h e p r o p o r t i o n o f Independents
between the second and e i g h t h grades.
See Hess and Torney, op. c i t . ,
p. 172.
22
For an e f f o r t t o assess the c l i m a t e of p a r t i s a n o p i n i o n on i n d i - .
v i d u a l p a r t y p r e f e r e n c e see M a r t i n L. L e v i n , " S o c i a l Climates and P o l i t i c a l
S o c i a l i z a t i o n , " P u b l i c O p i n i o n Q u a r t e r l y , 25 ( W i n t e r , 1961), pp. 596-606.
23
P h i l i p E. Converse, "The Nature of B e l i e f Systems i n Mass P u b l i c s , "
i n David E. Apter ( e d . ) , I d e o l o g y and D i s c o n t e n t (New York: Free Press of
Glencoe, 1964), pp. 206-61. The f o l l o w i n g s e c t i o n borrows f r o m Converse's
d i s c u s s i o n . Robert E. Agger takes a somewhat d i f f e r e n t v i e w of i n s t a b i l i t i e s i n "Panel S t u d i e s o f Comparative Community P o l i t i c a l D e c i s i o n Making," i n M. Kent Jennings and L. Harmon Z e i g l e r , ( e d s . ) , The E l e c t o r a l
Process (Englewood C l i f f s : P r e n t i c e - H a l l , 1966), pp. 265-89.
24
S i z e a b l e p r o p o r t i o n s o f b o t h p a r e n t s and students e l e c t e d t o s t a t e
a m i d d l e or "depends" response, p a r t i c u l a r l y on the f i r s t q u e s t i o n . Such
responses occupy a m i d d l e p o s i t i o n i n our c a l c u l a t i o n o f the rank o r d e r
c o r r e l a t i o n s . On the f i r s t i s s u e 10% of t h e p a i r s were dropped because
e i t h e r the parent or c h i l d opted out on t h e i n i t i a l screen; the c o r r e s ponding f i g u r e f o r the second issue i s 19%.
25
U n f o r t u n a t e l y , f o r purposes of comparison, the l a t t e r two issues
were not asked i n the format of the i n t e g r a t i o n and p r a y e r issues where an i n i t i a l screen w*as u t i l i z e d . A comparison of percentages f o r p a r e n t s
who opted out on these q u e s t i o n s would have p r o v i d e d f i r m e r evidence on
the s a l i e n c y of t h e two s e t s of i s s u e s .
26
H e r b e r t McClosky, "Consensus and I d e o l o g y i n American P o l i t i c s , "
American P o l i t i c a l Science Review, 58 (June, 1964), pp. 361-82; and
James W. P r o t h r o and Charles W. G r i g g , "Fundamental P r i n c i p l e s of
Democracy: Bases of Agreement and Disagreement," J o u r n a l of P o l i t i c s ,
22 (May, 1960), pp. 276-94.
:
Converse, op. c i t .
FOOTNOTES ( c o n t i n u e d )
4
28
Robert E. Agger,-..Marshall N. Goldstein,, and S t a n l e y A. P e a r l , .
" P o l i t i c a l Cynicism: Measurement an_d Meaning,*!' J o u r n a l of P o l i t i c s , 23
(August, 1961), p. 490; and-Edgar L i t t , " P o l i t i c a l Cynicism and P o l i t i c a l
F u t i l i t y , " J o u r n a l of P o l i t i c s , 25 (May, 1963), pp. 312-23.
29
G r e e n s t e i n , op. c i t . , Chap. 3; Robert D. Hess and David Easton,
"The C h i l d ' s Changing Image-of t h e P r e s i d e n t , " P u b l i c O p i n i o n Q u a r t e r l y ,
24 ( W i n t e r , 1960), pp. 632-44; and Hess and Torney, op. c i t . , pp. 7 3 f f .
30
The items are as follows;:
1) Do you t h i n k t h a t q u i t e a few of t h e p e o p l e - r u n n i n g t h e government
are a l i t t l e crooked, not v e r y many a r e , or do you t h i n k h a r d l y any
of them are?
2) Do lyou t h i n k t h a t people i n the government waste a l o t o f the money
we pay i n t a x e s , waste some o f i t , or don't waste, v e r y much of i t ?
3) How much o f the time do you t h i n k you c a n . t r u s t t h e government i n
Washington t o do what i s r i g h t - - j u s t about always, most of the t i m e ,
o r - o n l y some of t h e time?
4) Do you f e e l t h a t almost a l l of t h e people r u n n i n g the government
are smart people who usually,.know what t h e y are d o i n g , or do you
t h i n k t h a t q u i t e a few of them-don't seem.to know what t h e y are
• doing?
5) Would you say t h a t the government i s p r e t t y much r u n by a few b i g
i n t e r e s t s l o o k i n g out f o r • t h e m s e l v e s or t h a t i t i s r u n f o r the
b e n e f i t of a l l the people?
f
31
These are o l d charges but a p p a r e n t l y s t i l l t r u e . A f t e r a survey
of the l i t e r a t u r e on the s u b j e c t and on the b a s i s of a s u b j e c t i v e
a n a l y s i s of l e a d i n g government t e x t b o o k s i n h i g h schools Byron G.
Massialas reaches t h e same c o n c l u s i o n s . See h i s "Teaching American
Government i n High Schools: 'We are the G r e a t e s t ' , " i n Benjamin Cox and
Byron Massialas ( e d s . ) , S o c i a l S t u d i e s i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s : Essays on
t h e S t a t e of the P r o f e s s i o n ( f o r t h c o m i n g ) .
32
A d e s c r i p t i o n of t h i s o p e r a t i o n and some r e s u l t s are given: i n
M. Kent Jennings, "Pre-Adult O r i e n t a t i o n s t o M u l t i p l e Systems of
Government," ( u n p u b l i s h e d paper presented at the Midwest Conference
of P o l i t i c a l S c i e n t i s t s , 1966). The u n d e r l y i n g t h e o r y and technique
are found i n Clyde Coombs, A Theory o f Data (New York: W i l e y , 1964),
esp. Chap. 5.
33
T h i s i s discussed i n more d e t a i l i n J e n n i n g s , op. c i t .
34
To compare t h e amount o f correspondence on i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of t h e
B i b l e w i t h church membership i n f o r m a t i o n , which i s nominal l e v e l d a t a ,
we used the c o n t i n g e n c y c o e f f i c i e n t . Grouping p a r e n t and student church
a f f i l i a t i o n s i n t o n i n e g e n e r a l c a t e g o r i e s , the c o e f f i c i e n t i s .88,
compared t o .34 f o r the B i b l e q u e s t i o n .
FOOTNOTES ( c o n t i n u e d )
5
35
However, i n some i n i t i a l work we examined r e s u l t s of b o t h
methods f o r the same v a r i a b l e s . The c o n c l u s i o n s reached were s i m i l a r
r e g a r d l e s s of the method. O c c a s i o n a l l y p o c k e t s of t h e o r e t i c a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g but n u m e r i c a l l y s m a l l sub-sets may be obscured by the use of the
indexes.
36
T h i s was a s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d procedure f o r the v a r i a b l e s of p a r t y
i d e n t i f i c a t i o n and p o l i t i c a l c y n i c i s m . On the f o u r i s s u e s , however,
i t was f i r s t necessary t o c o n s t r u c t a composite m a t r i x based on p a r e n t s t u d e n t responses t o a l l f o u r i s s u e q u e s t i o n s . On t h e group e v a l u a t i o n
measure we s e l e c t e d t h r e e m i n o r i t y group r a t i n g s — N e g r o e s , Jews, and
C a t h o l i c s — a n d c o n s t r u c t e d a m a t r i x i n which the r a t i n g s of o n l y these
t h r e e were r e p r e s e n t e d .
37
See, e.g., Charles E. Bowerman and Glen H. E l d e r , "Adolescent
P e r c e p t i o n of F a m i l y Power S t r u c t u r e , " American S o c i o l o g i c a l Review,
29 (August, 1964), pp. 551-67; E. C. Devereux, U r i e Bronfenbrenner,
and G. J. S u c i , " P a t t e r n s of Parent Behavior i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s of
America and the F e d e r a l R e p u b l i c of Germany: A C r o s s - N a t i o n a l Comparison,"
I n t e r n a t i o n a l S o c i a l Science J o u r n a l , 14 (UNESCO, 1963), pp. 1-20; and
M o r r i s Rosenberg, S o c i e t y and the Adolescent Self-image ( P r i n c e t o n :
P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1965), Chap. 3.
38
A d i s c u s s i o n o f these dimensions i s found i n Murray S t r a u s ,
"Power and Support S t r u c t u r e of the F a m i l y i n R e l a t i o n t o S o c i a l i z a t i o n , "
J o u r n a l of Marriage and the F a m i l y , 26 (August, 1964), pp. 318-26.
See
a l s o Wesley C. Becker, "Consequences of D i f f e r e n t Kinds o f P a r e n t a l
D i s c i p l i n e , " i n M a r t i n and L o i s Hoffman ( e d s . ) , Review of C h i l d Development,
Vol.
1 (New York: R u s s e l l Sage F o u n d a t i o n , 1964), pp. 169-208; W i l l i a m H.
S e w e l l , "Some Recent Developments i n S o c i a l i z a t i o n Theory and Research,"
The Annals, 349 (September, 1963), pp. 163-81; Glen H. E l d e r , J r . ,
" P a r e n t a l Power L e g i t i m a t i o n and I t s E f f e c t s on the Adolescent," Sociometry,
26 (March, 1963), pp. 50-65; and Douvan and Gold, op. c i t .
39
M i d d l e t o n and Putney, op. c i t .
40
Lane, op. c i t . ; and Maccoby, e t a l . , op. c i t .
41
I n a d d i t i o n t o sources c i t e d i n notes 13, 37, and 38, s i m i l a r
measures were a l s o used p r e v i o u s l y i n James Coleman, The Adolescent
S o c i e t y (New York: Free Press of Glencoe, 1961); and G a b r i e l Almond and
Sidney Verba, The C i v i c C u l t u r e ( P r i n c e t o n : P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y Press,
1963).
/ o
E d u c a t i o n and o c c u p a t i o n of the p a r e n t s l i k e w i s e showed l i t t l e
r e l a t i o n s h i p t o agreement r a t e s .
43
To measure agreement between s t u d e n t - p a r e n t responses w i t h i n
c a t e g o r i e s of p a r e n t a l responses, we have developed a simple index d e f i n e d
as f o l l o w s : i t i s t h e average a b s o l u t e d e v i a t i o n of t h e s t u d e n t scores
f r o m the p a r e n t s c o r e s , d i v i d e d by t h e maximum d e v i a t i o n . By u s i n g these
c a l c u l a t i o n s we i m p l i c i t l y assume i n t e r v a l l e v e l measurement even though
some o f t h e v a r i a b l e s y i e l d o n l y o r d i n a l d a t a .