Current Stereotypes Research Articles

The Folk Music of Costa Rica: A Teaching Perspective

In a previous article (1977) this writer sought to delineate the rationale for including folk music as a viable component in an overall strategy for teaching culture. point was made that teachers long have been aware of music's inherent appeal, its Quien canta sus males espanta aspect, and frequently include it in special events such as a Pifiata Party or La fiesta anual that provide a welcome break from classroom routine. However, due to the fact that (a) few foreign language teachers have had formal training in music, and (b) few materials suited to classroom use are now available, the dynamic benefits of teaching culture through music are rarely realized. Genelle Morain has indicted the profession itself for failure in this regard. The pressuring of teachers to 'Teach culture!' without providing them with the knowledge and materials to do so amounts to a professional disgrace (91). Our purpose here is to respond to that professional admonition and provide a very specific, practical example of music used as an integral component in a teaching unit, in this case on Both general background and specific strategies are described in order to provide the Spanish teacher with both matter and means for a successful culture-through-music dimension in his/her teaching. In the troubled world of Central America diminutive Rica appears as an oasis of political stability and democracy. Its national anthem ends with a refrain that reflects a national perspective: iVivan siempre el trabajo y la paz! When early explorers saw Indians wearing golden trinkets they assumedincorrectly that there were vast riches to be found in the interior and named the place Costa Rica. But it was Fray Bartolom6 de las Casas, the great apostle to the Indians, who identified the true wealth of the country as early as 1502 when he wrote: En Cariari (an Indian village on the Caribbean Coast) hallamos la mejor gente y tierra y estancia que habiamos hasta alli hallado, por la hermosura de los cerros y sierra, y frescura de los rios y arboledas que se iban al cielo de altas. Since the real gold of Rica proved to be vegetable rather than mineral it lured not the conquistador who would exploit the land but the colonizador who would cultivate it. result was a nation of small farms rather than vast haciendas; a populace composed of pobladores rather than patrones y peon s. Rica is the only country in Latin America that has abolished its army. In 1948 Jos6 Figueras led the country's last revolution in which a citizen army of 600 toppled a communist-backed government that refused to step aside for its democratically elected successor. As leader of the revolutionary junta Don Pepe had the constitution revised to outlaw a standing army-including his ownand then returned the reins of power to the actual winner of the '48 election. National priorities are neatly reflected in the annual budget with 32% allocated to education, 33% to health and about 3% to the guardia civil for internal security. Truly this is a country that abides by the motto: Mis maestros que soldados, and a 92% literacy rate is final testimony to the success of its educational commitment. Rica emerges as the very antithesis of the current stereotype of an area ridden with militarism, communist insurgency, poverty and ignorance; it provides the Spanish teacher with a welcome antidote to the generally negative impression that most American students have of Central America. Our purpose here is to provide a balanced and accurate view of this part of the Spanish speaking world based on a musical perspective. That music is, in fact, a key to understanding his native culture has been affirmed by the Rican musicologist Rodrigo Salazar (1978): Creemos ... que el estudio de la muisica no debe ser un 'aparte' de la vida de los pueblos, porque las expresiones ritmicas y mel6dicas, asi como su letra, se nutren de la veta de los

Prevalence and Correlates of the Long-term Regular Use of Anxiolytics

Long-term use of anxiolytics has been a cause for concern because of the possibility of dependency and other adverse consequences. In a nationally representative probability survey of adults conducted in 1979, we found that long-term use (defined as regular daily use for a year or longer) was relatively rare, occurring among 15% of all anxiolytic users--a rate of 1.6% of all adults between the ages of 18 and 79 years in the general population. The data indicate that long-term regular users tend to be older persons with high levels of emotional distress and chronic somatic health problems. They are preponderantly women, and many are sufficiently distressed to seek out other sources of help (mental health professionals and other psychotherapeutic medications) as well. The sizable majority of long-term users is being monitored by their physicians at reasonably frequent intervals. The data give little support to current stereotypes of long-term users and suggest, instead, that such use is associated with bona fide health problems that are being treated within the broader context of the health system.

Anelikogamy 1 : A case of sexist prejudice?

Synopsis This paper analyses the age differential between marriage partners. The tendency in a sexist society is for the woman to be younger. Marriages which violate the current stereotype by reversing this age differential arouse hostility despite the fact that on average women live longer than men. Men gain from potentially being able to mate with a cohort of younger women, whilst most women feel unable to consort with younger men. Therefore the inequality of power in gender relationships is accentuated by differences in experience, income and social status. However, a substantial minority of marriages where the man is younger do occur. Individuals require the widest possible opportunity for developing their own styles of living, yet the exercise of such choice is effectively restricted for many middle-aged women, because more of them live alone and a stigma is attached to relationships with younger men. One solution to the loneliness and neglect experienced by many middle-aged women is an urgent reconsideration of attitudes towards those who seek a younger husband. This search is not evidence of a `neurotic personality' (as some would have it), but rather constitutes one possible adaptation to many women's life situation.

An examination of factors believed to be associated with infantile obesity

Forty-two normal (25th to 75th percentiles of weight for age) and 47 “obese” (above the 90th percentile) infants, 4 to 9 months of age, were compared with regard to energy and macronutrient intake, breast-feeding history, age of introduction of solids, and maternal reliance on external feeding cues. The study failed to reveal characteristic group differences. The current stereotype of the obese infant as one who is overfed, is given solids very young, is not breast fed, and whose mother is not responsive to his satiety signals is challenged. As a result, the nature of current group counseling for the prevention of infantile obesity is questioned.

Sex Differences in the Relationship between Machiavellianism and Self-Disclosure

Previous research suggests that there should be a negative correlation between Machiavellianism (Mach) and willingness to reveal things about oneself. However, existing data are unclear and contradictory, especially regarding differences between males and females. College students (48 male, 77 female) completed measures of both Machiavellianism and self-disclosure, and the two sets of scores were correlated. As expected, Mach was significantly correlated with unwillingness to self-disclose among males. For the females, however, Mach was significantly correlated with willingness to disclose. The two correlations are significantly different. Culturally defined differences in the goals of men and women may account for the results. According to current stereotypes, men are oriented toward individual achievement, while die goals of women are more “social,” being popular, nurturant, skilled at getting along with others, etc. Women who accept these goals and who are willing to employ manipulative (Machiavellian) tactics to achieve them could use self-disclosure effectively, while it would be an ineffective strategy for men.

Comparing the Effects of Informational, Role‐playing, and Value‐discrepancy Treatments on Racial Attitude1

Previous studies of educational approaches to reducing ethnic prejudice have suffered due to the confounding of techniques that could account for the results obtained. The present study was designed to overcome this problem by testing the effectiveness of three separate and relatively unconfounded educational treatments: informational, which presented evidence challenging the current stereotype that blacks generally trail whites in socioeconomic achievement because they are lazy; role playing, in which subjects wrote an essay urging that good jobs be created to help the poor advance; value‐discrepancy, which pointed out that the subjects valued their own freedom more than the welfare of others and that such values worked against minorities. These three treatments and a control condition were administered to intact classes at an eastern, nearly all‐white college. A measure of antiblack prejudice administered immediately after the experimental inductions showed the three treatment groups to be significantly lower in prejudice than the control group. On a delayed posttest the treatment groups were still lower in prejudice than the control group though the difference was not significant. The demand characteristics counter‐explanation for the results on the immediate posttest was evaluated and found not supported, thus suggesting the potential efficacy of the three treatments.

Beyond the Stereotype: Another View of Supplementary Benefits Officers

SUMMARY This paper outlines a series of staff development courses run for the DHSS under the auspices of Leicester University School of Social Work. The two-week courses for Un employment Review Officers offered an introduction to social and psychological in fluences on human behaviour with special reference to the work situation of UROs, and a review of aspects of the social services with which the URO has contact. As a result of these courses another view of Supplementary Benefits staff emerged which conflicted with current stereotypes. The author offers some suggestions regarding the sources of role conflict inherent in the work of UROs and argues for better under standing of the operation of the social security system.

Current stereotypes: A little fading, a little faking.

Current stereotypes: A little fading, a little faking.

Organized Student Protest and Institutional Climate

In recent years the image of American college students has seemed, at least in the eyes of the general public, to have changed. Considered silent and beat in the 1950's they are now widely regarded as outspoken and rebellious. Whether or not the current stereotype accurately describes today's college student, there is little doubt that a vocal number have made their presence acutely felt on many campuses as well as in the whole of American society. A comprehensive review of the dynamics of students dissent has recently been provided by Keniston (1967). Indications of the number and types of institutions that have experienced forms of discontent, and the extent to which their students are protesting, are contained in a recent study by Peterson (1966). Institutional characteristics such as type of institution, size, percentage of faculty with doctorates, region, percentage of body living on campus, and percentage of body belonging to student left organizations were examined against fact and incidence of organized protest between July 1-964 and June 1965 as reported by 849 deans of students responding in a survey of i,ooo four-year institutions. The deans were asked to report protest by issue; variations in relationship between institutional characteristic and protest issue seemed to occur both as a function of the particular issue and of the particular characteristic, but a number of these relationships were substantial. Volume 5 Number 3 May 1968

Self-perceived changes in community-resident aged. "Aging image" and adaptation.

In aging experience are to be found intrinsic changes of aging per se as well as environmental changes associated with aging period. Such changes, however, are not uniform in kind, intensity, or number, and do not evoke uniform responses. An individual's adaptation to aging may be reflected in his self-perception of these changes and his reactions to them. 1-4 It was hypothesized that determination of such consciously recognized (self-perceived) changes and reactions (aging image) might prove to be a useful method of studying and evaluating adaptation of aging individual. Studies of adaptation to aging are often carried out with impaired individuals or with individuals whose environments have been impaired. Current stereotypes as to how the aged person reacts may reflect such selection of subjects as well as technique and bias of investigator. 5,6 Differences between