Measuring attitudes toward lesbian mothers and their children among school psychologists: A new scale and correlates to the attitude measure.
Item
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Title
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Measuring attitudes toward lesbian mothers and their children among school psychologists: A new scale and correlates to the attitude measure.
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Identifier
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AAI9618112
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identifier
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9618112
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Creator
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Victor, Sherri Beth.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Marian Fish
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Date
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1996
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Education, Educational Psychology | Psychology, Social | Women's Studies | Sociology, Individual and Family Studies
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Abstract
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This study investigated the attitudes of 269 school psychologists using a new survey instrument, "Attitudes Toward Lesbian Mothers and Their Children" (ATLMAC). The purpose of this dissertation is threefold: (1) to summarize the literature pertaining to lesbian mothers and their children; (2) to use the ATLMAC with a national random sample of school psychologists; and (3) to determine what factors are significantly correlated with these attitudes.;ATLMAC scale items were derived from research concerning lesbian mothers and their children and are based on the socio-cognitive theory of prejudice. Factor structure, reliability and validity were examined.;Correlates to the attitude measure were explored. Contact theory, proposed by Allport, posits that contact of equal status between groups of people may reduce prejudice. Social contact was measured using the Social Contact Questionnaire, developed by this author. It was hypothesized that contact with lesbians would be related to more positive attitudes on the ATLMAC. This hypothesis was supported.;Conservatism has been correlated to prejudice. A modification of Wilson and Patterson's (1970) Conservatism Scale developed by Collins & Hayes (1993) was used in this study. It was hypothesized that participants who score higher in the conservative scale would exhibit more negative views. This hypothesis was supported.;Attribution theorists note that uncontrollable situations are viewed more neutrally than events under a person's control. Utilizing this construct, particularly Whitley's (1990) ideas, it was proposed that people who perceive lesbianism as a choice would view lesbians and lesbian mothers more negatively than people who perceive lesbianism as unchangeable. The Attribution Survey, designed for this study, was used to test this hypothesis. Attribution was significantly correlated with ATLMAC scores, in the expected direction.;Gender differences, as they relate to sex role stereotyping and prejudice toward lesbian mothers and their children were also examined, using the Expressiveness and Instrumentality Scale (Gill, Stockard, Johnson & Williams, 1987). Expressiveness, or emotional awareness of others' feelings was hypothesized to be correlated with more acceptance of lesbian mothers and their children. This hypothesis was also supported.;Additional statistical analysis were also examined to determine the relative weight of demographic factors and the instruments in relation to ATLMAC scores.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
