A Study of an Aspect of Social Sensitivity of Some Negro High School Pupils

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Educators, psychologists, and sociologists claim that in any situation, an individual is aware of certain factors and is unaware of others. This awareness has been defined as sensitivity. This awareness on the part of the individual is determined by his pervious knowledge, attitudes, viewpoints and how he interprets his experience. The term social sensitivity refers to emotional factors and intellectual responses. Some of these emotional factors are feeling, sympathy, aversion, attitudes of approval or disapproval. Some of the intellectual responses involve the application of certain principles of human experience to the elements perceived in a single situation. Great differences in opinions exist with regard to the ryle of attitudes and beliefs in the life of the individual. For example, some writers argue that one's attitudes and beliefs toward basic problems may be considered as indicative of what his responses will be when called upon to act. The critics of this position point to the fact that a man's actions do not necessarily reveal his true attitude; pressure, the desire to please and to be well thought of, often lead people to behave in a manner designed to portray attitudes inconsistent with their true feelings. One's overt behavior may express or imply value positions not consciously recognized as such by the individual. The teacher in the American public school is in direct contact with the youth of the country, and his tendencies to action are of interest to all who are intimately concerned with the welfare of the American public school. Education in general, schooling in particular, represents an effort of society to modify the habits, attitudes and beliefs of youth. It follows, then, that the school must be interested in promoting a greater awareness of the aspects of current problems and should strive to have students possses a greater understanding of the issues underlying them. Expert teachers have always, through informal observations, made judgments of their pupils' attitudes and beliefs. All teachers should endeavor to improve their powers of observation. One of the simplest 'methods for determining the prevalence of an attitude or a belief in a group is that of counting the reactions of the group to a scale of beliefs. The problem in this investigation was to use measures of beliefs of Negro high school students in Gary, Indiana, and to compare the relative measures of beliefs of these students with students -in selected high schoql pupils of the country.