Some Sociopsychological Characteristics of Student Political Activists

Abstract

A variety of hypotheses regarding the motives, values, attitudes, intelligence, and sociological backgrounds of leftist student activists were tested by comparing Yale undergraduate signers of a pledge to resist induction into the Armed Services, with a representative sample of nonsigners. Contrary to previous findings, the signers neither were better students nor more sociologically privileged than their nonsigning peers. The decision to sign the pledge appeared to be a single manifestation of an anti‐institutional, yet nonfatalistic and nonauthoritarian life style which is highlighted by a marked concern with developing helpful, protective, intimate relationships and a devaluation of achievement, deference to authority, and self‐restraint. The implications of these and other findings for the student protest movement are discussed.

The University as a System with Competing Constituencies

“…Thus it was expected that rightists would describe themselves more highly as strivers than leftists would. There have been several studies which have reported that humanistic values coincide with a leftist ideological position (Astin, 1968;Geller and Howard, 1972;Flacks, 1967;Keniston, 1967;Lewis and Kraut, 1970;Smith, 1969). In addition, Lipset (1970) has observed that left-liberal faculty are differentiated from other faculty by their humanitarian values.…”

“…Therefore, it was expected that leftists would be higher than rightists on anti-establishmentarian self-images. Smith (1969) found that leftists reject ambition, Kerpelman (1972) reported that rightists more than leftists value leadership, and Astin (1968) and Geller and Howard (1972) found that rightists more than leftists describe themselves as achievement-oriented, ambitious, and self-confident. Thus it was expected that rightists would describe themselves more highly as strivers than leftists would.…”

“…A sizable body of literature has reported important differences in the way various subgroups, particularly among students, describe themselves (Abramowitz, 1970;Flacks, 1967;Geller and Howard, 1972;Gold et al, 1971;Kerpelman, 1972;Lewis and Kraut, 1970;Smith, 1969;Winborn and Jansen, 1967). In addition, Lipset (1970) has observed that the overriding faculty value is originality and creativity.…”

Internal-external control and social-political activism: A test of the dimensionality of Rotter's internal-external scale.

“…Thus, the differential effectiveness of social action by geographical region could explain the discrepancies in the above-mentioned studies. Geller and Howard (1972) suggested that political involvement among white youth is primarily expressive, whereas that among blacks is more instrumental. Such a distinction in purpose might also contribute to an understanding of the failures to replicate, among primarily white samples, the finding of a connection between internality and political activism.…”

Aspiring and Doing Activism Under Repressive Systems: A Narrative Inquiry of Former Student Activists

“…Geller and Howard's (1972) study delineated sociological and psychological correlates of students' engagement in activism. Using a qualitative study, they investigated Yale University students who were likely to participate in student protests.…”