Jun Xu

Publication Date

2000

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. (Master of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Sociology

LCSH

Suburbanites--Illinois--Chicago Metropolitan Area--Attitudes; Whites--Illinois--Chicago Suburban Area--Attitudes; African Americans--Illinois--Chicago Suburban Area; Chicago Suburban Area (Ill.)--Race relations

Abstract

My thesis examined white suburbanites' racial attitudes toward blacks using Schuman et al.’s typology o f racial attitudes. Due to the contextual change o f racial attitudes, I reconceptualized white suburbanites’ racial attitudes into the level of supportive treatment o f blacks and perceived cultural distance from blacks. Operationally defining Bobo and Hutchings's extended group position model and Quillian’ s group threat model in the suburban context, I proposed a model integrating sociocultural and competition concepts. My model hypothesized that the predictors o f white suburbanites' racial attitudes toward blacks can be grouped into three sets: sociocultural variables, competition variables, and demographic control variables. The data came from the multiculturalism module (N=210) o f the 1999 Chicago Collar County Survey (N=478), a cross-sectional survey assessing the life quality o f the predominantly white communities in the Chicago collar county area. The results o f my study showed that the effects o f sociocultural variables (education, contact with minorities, and cultural awareness) and competition variables (income, percent group, and competition awareness) explain different dimensions o f racial attitudes. My integrated model also found that education and cultural awareness have a large impact on white suburbanites’ racial attitudes; percent black in the Chicago suburbia is positively correlated with more favorable racial attitudes o f white suburbanites toward blacks.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references (pages [114]-119)

Extent

ix, 123 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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