Contact and the Alteration of Racial Attitudes in South Africa

Abstract

Two generations of social psychologists have described a remarkably consistent pattern q,f racial attitudes in South Africa. Whites exhibit determinedly negative attitudes towards other 'race' groups (Afrikaans speakers more so than English speakers), and blacks, on the other hand, show a much lower degree of ethnocentrism, especially toward English-speaking whites. This 'lop-sided colour bar' is a consistent finding, both historically and across different attitudinal measures. We report results here that indicate that this pattern may be changing, in at least one part of the country. In addition, we examine the attitudes of school pupils in integrated and segregated schools, both in South Africa and in Zimbabwe, for evidence that inter-racial contact improves attitudinal dispositions. Our findings here offer little evidence in favour of the proposition: they appear instead to suggest the dependency of the effects of contact on cultural and normative factors.Sosiale sielkundiges het oor 'n tydperk van 60 jaar 'n stabiele rassehoudingspatroon in Suid-Afrika waargeneem. Blankes, Afrikaanssprekendes meer as Engelssprekendes, toon negatiewe rassehoudings teenoor ander rassegroepe. Daarenteen toon swartes 'n veel laer mate van etnosentrisiteit, veral teenoor Engelssprekende blankes. Hierdie 'onewewigtige kleurgrens' is histories konsekwent, en word met verskillende metingsmetodes gevind. Ons rapporteer resultate wat mag aandui dat die patroon van rassehouding in ten minste een streek besig is om te verander. Ons rapporteer ook 'n vergelyking van rassehoudings in ge'integreerde en gesegregeerde skole, beide in Suid-Afrika en Zimbabwe. Die bevindings van hierdie vergelyking dui aan dat rassekontak min rassehoudingsverandering veroorsaak: sulke verandering is klaarblyklik van kulturele en normatiewe faktore afhanklik.at WESTERN MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY on June 5, 2016 sap.sagepub.com Downloaded from

Prejudice and Social Contact in South Africa: A Study of Integrated Schools Ten Years after Apartheid

“…There is a substantial amount of research on the contact hypothesis from as early as 1930 in South Africa (Foster & Finchilescu, 1986;Lever, 1972;Luiz & Krige, 1981;MacCrone, 1930;Mynhardt, 1982, in Mynhardt & du Toit, 1991Rakoff, 1949). Not surprisingly, findings have ranged from positive to negative, with some showing a change in attitude trends, new racial patterns perhaps becoming evident (Bradnum, Nieuwoudt & Tredoux, 1993). Russell's (1961) study of a mixed residential area in Durban in the 1950s found that inter-racial contact led to friendly relationships between groups.…”

“…Attitudes are dynamic and therefore subject to change. Bradnum, Nieuwoudt and Tredoux's (1993) study of learners' attitudes in integrated and segregated schools in South Africa and Zimbabwe found evidence of the formation of new racial attitude patterns in South Africa. Black and white Zimbabwean learners who had experienced inter-racial contact for at least ten years showed a high degree of racial prejudice, whereas white South African learners in racially integrated private schools showed minimal levels of prejudice.…”

What's Changed?

“…The Duckitt Subtle Racism (SR-AB) Scale: The SR-AB Scale was developed for adults and was therefore not administered to the 14-year-olds. The SR-AB Scale was developed in 1991 and has been used extensively in South African research (see Bradman et al, 1993;Duckitt, 1991aDuckitt, , 1993Lea et al, 1995). The scale has 10 items, each rated on a seven-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).…”

Polarisation, radicalisation and social policy: evaluating the theories of change

“…A review by Lindo (2008) shows that many empirical studies in this area report mixed results in prejudice reduction between minority and majority groups (see, for example, Cook, 1985;Eshel and Dicker, 1995;McClenehan et al, 1996;Molina and Wittig, 2006). Some studies even report no significant results or a negative effect of the contact (see, for example, Bullock 1976;Vornberg and Grant, 1976;Wagner et al, 1989;Bradnum et al, 1993). A final point of reservation is that the majority of the studies that do report benefits of interethnic youth contact are unable to pinpoint the causal direction of the determined effect.…”