Abstract
The assertion by Baer and Lambert (1990) that social science training does not promote radicalism, is tested in two studies. The first, using a sample of politically active students from Montréal (N=68) and measures of radical ideology and political convictions, shows social science students are over-represented among politically active students, and more likely to espouse radical ideology and label themselves members of groups aiming to restructure society, than students from other fields. The second study compares first and third-year social science students from Toronto (N=99) on measures of radical ideology, attitudes toward groups favouring change or the status quo, and causal attributions regarding poverty and unemployment. Results suggest social science training fosters positive evaluations of groups seeking change, espousal of radical ideology, tendency to fault the system for social problems, decrease in tendency to fault individuals, and development of a coherent ideological framework. Implications for academic socialization theories and methodological issues are discussed.
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Université Blaise Pascal
This research was supported in part by grants from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council and from the Academic Research Program of the Department of National Defence of Canada awarded to the first author. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions with which they are affiliated. The authors would like to thank Dr. Stuart Lawson, at the Psychology Department at Queen's University, Kingston, for the use of his program comparing correlation matrices. We would also like to acknowledge the helpful comments of Editor Bruce J. Biddle.
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Guimond, S., Palmer, D.L. Liberal reformers or militant radicals: What are the effects of education in the social sciences?. Social Psychology of Education 1, 95–115 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02334728
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02334728