Perceived Norms and Classroom Ethnic Composition

• Main Author: O'Brien, Thomas Christopher
• Format: Others
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 2014
• Subjects: Intergroup relations; Perceived Norms; Classroom Composition; Psychology; Social Psychology
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/theses/1195; https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2329&context=theses

Students’ perceptions of normative support for positive intergroup relations from teachers and school staff have been linked to a number of positive intergroup outcomes (Green, Adams, & Turner, 1988; Jugert, Noack, & Rutland, 2011). Additional studies testing the effects of ethnic proportions in classrooms show evidence for positive and negative intergroup outcomes between ethnic majority and ethnic minority students (e.g., Durkin et al., 2011; Vervoort, Scholte, & Scheepers, 2011). Still, research has yet to test simultaneously the effects of ethnic proportions in a classroom in conjunction with students’ subjective perceptions of normative support for positive intergroup relations. With a sample of Latino and White students from 44 classrooms in two public middle schools the current research tests (1) how two sets of perceived school norms (promoting positive intergroup relations and promoting fairness) predict levels of comfort with outgroup members and greater interest in cross-ethnic friendship, and (2) whether proportions of outgroup members in the classroom moderates the relationships between each set of perceived norms and the outcomes.