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Prejudice, contact and attitude change in South Africa : a study of integrated schools in the Western Cape
Drawing on the principles of Social Identity Theory and the Contact Hypothesis, this study investigated the relationship between levels of integration and racial prejudice in former Model C, desegregated schools. The sample consisted of 1119 black African, 'Coloured', Afrikaans speaking white and En...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Psychology
2023
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| _version_ | 1867613213801054209 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Holtman, Zelda |
| author2 | Louw, Johann |
| author_browse | Holtman, Zelda Louw, Johann |
| author_facet | Louw, Johann Holtman, Zelda |
| author_sort | Holtman, Zelda |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Drawing on the principles of Social Identity Theory and the Contact Hypothesis, this study investigated the relationship between levels of integration and racial prejudice in former Model C, desegregated schools. The sample consisted of 1119 black African, 'Coloured', Afrikaans speaking white and English-speaking white learners from desegregated high schools in Cape Town. ·A pilot study was conducted with 29 learners to establish the face validity and any practical problems, such as ambiguity, that might become evident. The independent variables, Socio-Economic Status, Level of Integration, Racial Identification, Contact at School, Contact Outside School and Contact In-And-Outside School were assessed for their effects on the attitudes of the learners. The dependent measure was the extent of racial prejudice displayed in social distance, subtle racism and ethnic attitudes toward each other. The independent and dependent measures were compiled into a questionnaire which was then administered in situ to the learners by the researcher over a period of six months. Only the responses from black African, 'Coloured', Afrikaans-speaking white and English-speaking white learners were required for the study and the data from other groups was discarded. Multiple regression analysis was used as a statistical technique to analyse the data. Statistically significant results were found for all the dependent measures. There were differences between the intergroup attitudes of black African, 'Coloured', Afrikaans speaking white and English-speaking white learners. The variation in intergroup attitudes could be significantly explained by combinations of Socio-Economic Status (Class), Level of Integration, Racial Identification, Contact at School, Contact Outside School and Contact In-And-Outside School premises. Statistically significant results for Level of Integration were not found for all the dependent measures, indicating that the extent to which schools had been desegregated was not as strong a predictor of intergroup attitudes as was expected. Overall, intergroup contact emerged as a strong predictor of social distance and ethnic attitudes for all groups. Partial support was found for Social Identity Theory as well as for the Contact Hypothesis. The findings indicated a relationship between pleasant intergroup contact, increased social contact outside school and more positive attitudes. Methodological problems associated with the research limit the generalizability of the results. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/38376 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:34.479Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Department of Psychology |
| publisherStr | Department of Psychology |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/38376 Prejudice, contact and attitude change in South Africa : a study of integrated schools in the Western Cape Holtman, Zelda Louw, Johann Tredoux, Colin Research Psychology Drawing on the principles of Social Identity Theory and the Contact Hypothesis, this study investigated the relationship between levels of integration and racial prejudice in former Model C, desegregated schools. The sample consisted of 1119 black African, 'Coloured', Afrikaans speaking white and English-speaking white learners from desegregated high schools in Cape Town. ·A pilot study was conducted with 29 learners to establish the face validity and any practical problems, such as ambiguity, that might become evident. The independent variables, Socio-Economic Status, Level of Integration, Racial Identification, Contact at School, Contact Outside School and Contact In-And-Outside School were assessed for their effects on the attitudes of the learners. The dependent measure was the extent of racial prejudice displayed in social distance, subtle racism and ethnic attitudes toward each other. The independent and dependent measures were compiled into a questionnaire which was then administered in situ to the learners by the researcher over a period of six months. Only the responses from black African, 'Coloured', Afrikaans-speaking white and English-speaking white learners were required for the study and the data from other groups was discarded. Multiple regression analysis was used as a statistical technique to analyse the data. Statistically significant results were found for all the dependent measures. There were differences between the intergroup attitudes of black African, 'Coloured', Afrikaans speaking white and English-speaking white learners. The variation in intergroup attitudes could be significantly explained by combinations of Socio-Economic Status (Class), Level of Integration, Racial Identification, Contact at School, Contact Outside School and Contact In-And-Outside School premises. Statistically significant results for Level of Integration were not found for all the dependent measures, indicating that the extent to which schools had been desegregated was not as strong a predictor of intergroup attitudes as was expected. Overall, intergroup contact emerged as a strong predictor of social distance and ethnic attitudes for all groups. Partial support was found for Social Identity Theory as well as for the Contact Hypothesis. The findings indicated a relationship between pleasant intergroup contact, increased social contact outside school and more positive attitudes. Methodological problems associated with the research limit the generalizability of the results. 2023-09-05T10:04:57Z 2023-09-05T10:04:57Z 2002 2023-09-05T10:04:28Z Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38376 eng application/pdf Department of Psychology Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | Research Psychology Holtman, Zelda Prejudice, contact and attitude change in South Africa : a study of integrated schools in the Western Cape |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Prejudice, contact and attitude change in South Africa : a study of integrated schools in the Western Cape |
| title_full | Prejudice, contact and attitude change in South Africa : a study of integrated schools in the Western Cape |
| title_fullStr | Prejudice, contact and attitude change in South Africa : a study of integrated schools in the Western Cape |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prejudice, contact and attitude change in South Africa : a study of integrated schools in the Western Cape |
| title_short | Prejudice, contact and attitude change in South Africa : a study of integrated schools in the Western Cape |
| title_sort | prejudice contact and attitude change in south africa a study of integrated schools in the western cape |
| topic | Research Psychology |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38376 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT holtmanzelda prejudicecontactandattitudechangeinsouthafricaastudyofintegratedschoolsinthewesterncape |