Fields of Study and the People in Them.

Abstract

College student curricular groups have been found to differ psychologically with respect to three main characteristics: intelligence, liberalism of attitudes, and psychological adjustment. 1 In each instance, the groups seem to be ordered in a systematic way. It is this systematic ordering that lends support to the hope that some basic understandings may come out of research in this area.Differences in mental abilities. The kind of difference among groups of students in various major fields that has been most definitely established is the one that, as it now stands, has the least meaning. Several large-scale studies of the general intelligence of undergraduate students (Wolfle, 1954; Educational Testing Service, 1952;Learned and Wood, 1938) have produced remarkably consistent findings: the average intelligence test scores of major groups regularly fall into an order with the physical sciences, engineering, and mathematics at the top, followed by literature and the social sciences, with the applied fields, agriculture, business, home economics, and education at the bottom. An obvious explanation for this ordering is that it reflects the varying difficulty of the subjects as they are usually taught at the undergraduate level. The order has, in fact, been found to be substantially correlated with the reputations for difficulty that these fields enjoy among undergraduate students (Fosmire, 1956;. It is for this reason that the average scores, though they may be of practical importance, have little theoretical significance. Any department could raise the average score of its students by raising entrance requirements or requiring a stiff course that would eliminate the dullards. It is one thing to keep out the less competent students and another thing to attract those of superior intelligence, however, and it is this issue that seems to have some basic relevance. Do some fields have more intrinsic appeal than others to students of superior intelligence?To answer this question we must ask, not what proportion of the students in a given field are gifted, but rather what proportion of gifted students go into a particular field. Of the 911 gifted students whom Terman studied, 38% specialized in social sciences, 29% in ' We leave out a fourth way in which they differ, vocational interests, because it has been impossible to make anything of these differences other than that students are interested in the fields in which they major.

Demographic correlates of attitude toward seeking professional psychological help.

“…The results pertaining to college major also fit a pattern observed previously, namely, that social science majors generally take a liberal stance, and people in applied fields are more conservative regarding many social attitudes (Bereiter & Freedman, 1962).…”

Flexibility and satisfaction with college major.

“…The results confirm the predictions. First, social science students were more flexible than natural science students (significant type of major main effects) in agreement with numerous studies (e.g., Bereiter & Freedman, 1962;Goldschmid, 1967). More importantly, however, the primary hypothesis also was confirmed.…”

Does social dominance generate prejudice? Integrating individual and contextual determinants of intergroup cognitions.

“…Finally, longitudinal studies on the process of group socialization suggest that people internalize the attitudes and values, including negative intergroup attitudes and beliefs, of the group that they join (Guimond, 2000). For example, research indicates that students and faculty differ widely in their social and political views as a function of their academic discipline (see Bereiter & Freedman, 1962; Guimond, 1998; Guimond, Palmer, & Bégin, 1989; Ladd & Lipset, 1975; McClintock, Spaulding, & Turner, 1964; Sidanius, Pratto, Martin, & Stallworth, 1991). Accordingly, using a sample of 5,655 students from the University of Texas, Sidanius et al (1991) have shown that there are striking differences between career tracks on racism.…”