Youths' Outlook on the Future: An English Replication

Abstract

Gillespie and Allport's (1955) 10-country survey of college students' view of the future was replicated (Kleiber & Manaster, 1972) in Texas, compari~lg outlooks over rime and differentiating activists and nonactivists. The present study rcspl~catcs the Texas study at an English university, at which 348 upper division students (80% male) completed the reported objective items of the original Gillespie-Allport quehrionnalre in class. The sample divided equally, as it had in Texas, between activist (N = 164) students who had participated in demonstrations, ecc. and nonactivists (N = 184) . Comparisons significant differences between activiscs and nonactiviscs in each country as well as the over-all significant differences between the country samples were undertaken. The nonactivists in both countries were enthusiastic about their futures than the activists, and the U.S. sample was much positive than the U.K. sample. While the U.S. and U.K. students desired and expected equally high prestige occupations, the standard of living thus attained was seen as much higher than that of their family of origin the U.K. students. This reflects greater upward mobility associated with univetsiry attendance in the U.K. or low socio-economic status students at this U.K. university. The majority of both samples desired that solution to the problem of international relations be worked out through world government, however, the majority of the U.S. students expected nationalism and the majority of U.K. students expected regionalism to be the mode solution. Significantly activists than nonactivists in both countries, though majorities in both samples, thought that another world war would lead to the destruction of civilization. It had been hypothesized and found in the Texas study that this would relate to greater encouragement of aggressive behavior in childhood among the actlvlsts. This did not appear the U.K. sample as almost no encouragement of aggressive behavior was reported. Activists in the U.S. had less desire religious orientation than nonactivists, while in the U.K. this was true only because the female nonactivists were higher than the others in this desire. Ovcr-all the desire religious orientation was mu& lower in the U.K. sample. Over 65% of the U.S. students, but only 40% of the U.K. srudents, would give greater emphas~s to the concept of democracy by the people rather than for the people. Both samples almost unanimously desire greater racial equality but 82% of the U.S. sample and 65 % of the U.K. sample expect to see it. The U.S. activist sample was characterized as more (Kleiber & Manaster, 1972, p. 232) than the nonactivist sample. Although the activists were not pessimistic than the nonactivists in the U.K., the entire U.K. sample appears less hopeful the future than the U.S. sample.