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C H A P T E R - I I I
Re v i a u Of R e l a t e d R e s e a r c h
Raview of Releated Research
Chapter__III
An attempt has baan made in this chaptar to review the
related research in terras of the variables s t u died. \iery feu
studies are found related directly to the present problem.
However some studies are relevant in so far as they throw
light on the low sociometric status of pupils as the origin
and cause of delinquent behaviour, maladjustment, drop-out in
the case of boys and girls at various stages of education. The
findings of some foreign and Indian investigaiab^s that have
some relevance to the problem under study are reviewed in this
chapter. These studies have been categorised as underi
(i ) Studies on 'Groups*_as a General Category •
In this section studies which are generally related to
Group Dynamics have been touched upon.
(i i 5 Studies on Sociometric Status?
In this section studies which belong to the field of
interpersonal relations, sociometric testing and effective
classroom learning have baen reviewad0
(iii) Studies on Social Structure of the schools and its affecton p u p i l s 1 learning?
In this category, the studies concerning the social
structure of classroom and its effect on pupils' learning
and their academic success have been includedo
(i v ) Studies on Dr o p - o u t s i
This category includes tha studies on Drop-out and tha
factors related to it particularly 3ocial acceptability
of the pupils within their own classroom groups by their
pears.
(v ) Studias on Adjustment/ Maladjustment:
Those studies have been included in this category that
are concerned with maladjustment of pupils and their
learning.
(w i ) Studias on Craatjv/ityl
In this category those studies have bean included that
are concerned with pupils' creativity and their
sociometric status0
5 tudi3s on Groups as Gensral Category :
The investigations of Lewin (1940) and his students
Lewin, Lippit, and Uhit9 (1939); Lewin (1946); Lewin (1943)
have contributed to the field of studies on ’’Groups",, After
the II world war Lewin shifted his creative efforts towards
the influence of democratic leadership and social climate on
the morale and efficiency of adult groups. This marked the
beginning of 'group dynamics' by the investigations of adult
groups by Bavelas, Cartwright, Festinger and Lippito Carter's
investigations of the dynamics of "leaderlass" groups were
conducted with young adults (Carter at. al., 1950, 1951).
•f'The name 3. L, Moreno dasarvas special mention who in 1932
started campaign of measuring the internal structure of
children's groups by administering 'sociometric t e s t 1 in a
public school in Brooklyn, New-York. With the collaboration
of Dennings, Crisuel, Bonney, Northway (1950), he extended
sociometric procedures theoretically and operationally in
adult groups. Since 1934, sociometry has rapidly axpanded
in its scope and its techniques have been refinedo
The field of Sociometric testing has been developed
through the efforts of many investigators who related the
sociometric results to various other personal and social
variables. Sociomatric research has been confined primarily
to the study of sociometric status in a given group.
Studies on Sociometrjc Status:
Studies on sociometric status have been conducted by a
large number of researchers to test various hypotheses ranging
from achievement to adjustment* In the present section soma
related studies uhich are relevant for the present investigation
uill be reviawed*
An interesting study conducted by Bonney and Powell
(1952) 1 reveals that highly acceptable children are most
likely to differ from highly unacceptable i n the following
uay s 5
1. 3onney, M.E., and Powell, 3., "Differences in socialbehaviour between sociometrically high and low children” 3mirj]al_of Educational Research, vol. 46, No: 2-9,1952-53, pp. 481-95.
57
(a) They are more conforming to classroom requirements
and expactations.
(b) They smila mora frequently.
(c) They more frequently engage in some form of
cooperative, voluntary group participation.
(d) They ara less likely to be alone during free
play or activity periods.
A somewhat comprehensive study an four principals,
118 teachers and 405 students on their patterns of social
r \2interaction uas undertaken by Gautam C1978; . He found that
the patterns of social interaction are prevalent both in
urban and rural boys' and girls' schools. There uas much
similarity in the patterns of social interaction of the
principals as uell as those of the students with the teachers.
Lastly, the students pointed out much more social interaction
with the students of their oun class in comparison uith those
outside the class.
Effective classrooms have also been related to the
sociometric status of pupils* Rama Vakil (197 1.) has also
undertaken one study of this type. Ha revealed that there
is a positive relationship between teachers verbal behaviour
and interpup£l relationship. Groups of pupils with integrative
2o Gautam,”P’«N., "Sociometric study of the patterns of social interaction among principals, teachers and students in higher secondary schools -o-f Himachal Pradesh”. Indian Educational Review, vol. 13, Noi2, April 197 8, pp. 73^80. ”
3. Vakil, Rama, "Classroom climate, pupil achievement andattitude". D i s sertation A b stracts International-A. vol. M L No 53-4, Sept-Oct, 197 1,“p7 135 1* ”
58
teachers (teachers who used high encouragement and low
criticism) became more integrative than did tha groups of
pupils with rejactiva teachers (teachers who used low
encouragement and high criticism)o
4Vyathit (1973) also mads a comparative study of
interpersonal relations in effective and ineffective classrooraso
Ha found that the social structure of an affective classroom
group is a cohesive social group where feelings of isolation
and rejection are reduced to a minimum* Further, the
interpersonal relations of teachers and pupils of affective
classroom group have baen found better than the ineffective
classroom group<>
Reliability of Sociometric T e s t :
There are numerous studies that have thrown light on
the reliability of sociometric tests by indicating the extent
to which sociometric results are constant under various
conditions. At tha 6th grade level, Grossman and Jrighter (1948)
reported co-efficients of internal consistency ranging from
.93 to o97 for a variety of sociometric criteria, with three
choices allated to each one. Both Bass and Uhite (1950), and
Ricciuti and French (1951) reported correlation coefficients
of *90 at the college level. Ausubel, Schiff, and Gasser (1952)
determined the internal consistency of sociometric ratings at
the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 11th and 12th grade levels* The resulting
4. Vyathit, 3.3 .Ram., nA comparative study of interpersonal relations in effective and ineffective classroom groups". 3ournal of E ducation -and Psycholo g y , vol. 3 1, No: 1,April 1973, pp. 21-28.
59
correlation coefficients ranged from .54 to .86 for the
elementary and junior high school pupils and between .89
and .90 for the two high school groups.
5Gronlund (1955) conducted a study to determine the
relative stability of weighted and unweighted social status
scores using a sociometric test of three and five choices*
A review of the literature has revealed no attempt to
determine the relative stability of classroom social status
based on weighted and unweighted sociometric choices. The
social status of the pupils in each class was determined by
the following methodso
1. 5 choices (unweighted) 1 point for each choice
2, 5 choices (weighted) 5 points for 1st choice,
4 points for 2nd choice, 3 points for 3rd choice,
2 paints for 4th choice and 1 point for 5th choice,.
The same method was followed for 3 choices (weighted and
u n w eighted).
The unweighted social status scores with five choices
are consistently more stable than the unweighted social status
scores with three choices. Further, the extreme social status
scores are more stable than those in the center of thet
distribution. Moreover, large fluctuations in social status
are relatively rare where five unweighted choices are used.
5. Gronlund, N.E.?, "The relative stability of classroom social status with unweighted and weighted sociometric choices”. The Journal of Educational Psychology, vol, 46, No:6, October 1955,—pp. 345-54.
e o
Uertheimer (1957) investigated the consistency of 10th
and 11th grade mala and female sociometric status position
through the use of sociometric retests spaced at intervals of
12 months, 20 months and 8 months. The results show that there
is a high degree of consistency in sociometric status position
in adolescent high school students as a group and this
consistency is maintained by both males and females. Further,
that a pronounced group development had occured in the sample.
t \7Uitryol and Thompson (1953) compared the relative
stability of social acceptability scores obtained with the
partial - rank - order and the paired comparison scales when
administered to 6th grade pupils in three different schools.
The results show that the paired comparison sociometric
approach is a somewhat more stable measure than the partial -
rank - order scale in the assessment of social status.
Kandu and Biswas (1980) also made a reliability study
of the weighted and unweighted sociometric status of 405 students
(both boys and girls) of Will grade from ten higher secondary
6. Wertheimer, R.R., "Consistency of sociometric status position in male and female high school studants". Tha Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 48, No 17, Nov-1957, pp. 385-386.
7. Witryol, S.L., and Thompson, G.G., "An experimental comparison of the stability of social acceptability scores obtainedwith the partial-rank-order and the paired-comparison scales"The Journal of Educational Psychology, vol. 44, 1953, pp. 20-3Qf
8. Kandu, R., and Biswas, C., "Consistency of weighted andunweighted sociometric scoring". Psychological Studies, vol. 25, Not 1, January 1980, pp. 37-38. ”
6
61
schools of Tripura (India). Two types of scoras were derived
(1) unweighted scQ ra - total number of choices each individual
received and (2 ) weighted score - assigning weights of 3, 2
and 1 for first, second and third choices respectively and
than obtaining the total score of these weights. The
correlation coefficients for both groups of boys and girls
separately and for the total sample were high and indicate
that the sociometric data yield the same results whan scored
by either of these tiao methods.
V alidity of So c iometric Tests :
There are numerous studies that have thrown light on
the validity of sociometric tests by indicating the degree to
which they measure what they are supposed to measura. Some
investigators have evaluated the validity of sociometric results
by relating them to a host of psychological and sociological
variables (Lindzey and Borgatta, 1954; Mouton 1955; Beihler
1954; Bonney 1955)0 Byrd (1951) found the correlation
coefficient of .76 and o80o Gronlund (1951) obtained an
average correlation coefficients of .60.
gGronlund and Anderson (1959) conducted a validity
study of sociometric status on 158 pupils in a junior high
school by using a sociometric test. They compared the
characteristics of socially accepted, socially neglected and
socially rejected pupils,. The socially accepted pupils were
9. Gronlund. M .E<t Soc^ometry In The Classroom,Harper andBrothers, Publishers, 1959, p. 1730
generally characterized as possessing socially desirable
behaviour characteristics such as, good-looking, tidiness,
friendliness, likeableness, enthusiasm, cheerfulness,
initiative and sense of humour. ThQ socially rejected pupils
uere characterized by their peers as being not good-looking,
untidy, not likeable, restless, and talkativ/e. The socially
neglected pupils tended to be quiet and not talkativ/e.
Sociometric studies by Bonney (1946), Smith (1944),
Lundberg and Baazley (1948), Hollingshead (1949) have
consistently shoun that students at the elementary, secondary,
and college levels tend to choose associates uith a
socioaconomic status similar to their oun. However, Neugarten
(1946) and Cook (1945) have shoun that there is a greater
tendency for students to choose associates from a higher
socio-economic level than that of their oun.
Studies by Broun (1954), Stendler (1949), Cook (1945),
Neugarten (1946), Grossman and Urighter (1948) have shoun a
consistent tendency for children from homes uith a higher
socio-economic position to have higher sociometric choice
status. Uhere rejection choices uere included by Neugarten
(1946), and Stendler (1949), it uas also reported that children
from homes uith the lowest socioeconomic position tended to
be rejected most frequently on the sociometric test. Although
studies by Bonney (1944) noted that some children from homes
of relatively low socioeconomic status uere highly chosen on
the sociometric test, because they possessed physical skills,
pleasing personal traits or other social assets.
A number of sociometric studies do not support the
above results. Davis (1957), Dahlke (1953), Young and Cooper
(1944) reported no relationship betueen children's sociometric
status and the socio-economic level of their parents. Haller
and Thomas (1962) conducted a study on the personality
correlates of the SES of adolescent males and observed that
socio-economic status may affect a number of the personality
factors of adolescent males but that its effect on any one
such factor is small whether it is SES or any other factor.
5tudies on so cial structure of the schools and its affact on pupils' learning?
Not much uork seems to have been done in this area.
/ 10Busuell (1953) conducted a study on the relationship betueen
the social structure of the classroom and the academic success
of the pupils. The purpose of this investigation uas to
determine whether or not those children who are accepted by
their peers differ in certain achievements from those who
are rejected. The sociometric test uas used to study the
social acceptability and the social structure of tuo different
age groups of school children. The results reveal that there
is a very definite difference betueen these tuo groups in their
achievement.
10. Busuell, Margaret (*l., "The relationship betueen the social structure of the classroom and the 'academic success of the pupils". Journal of Experimental Edu cation, vol. 22, Sept-1953. ~
£1
Rao and Banerjee (1973) have studied tha social
structure of 5th grade classrooms of 44 Delhi schools and
personality differences between stars and isolates. The
results show that the highest cohesiveness exists in only
one class where about 10^ of the total number of possible
mutual choices have been made. In about five schools (11$ of
tha sample) the total number of mutual choices exceed 5%.
In general, the cohesiveness in these classrooms is very poor
and there seems to be a number of networks working in these
classes, and choices are not distributed equally to all tha
students in the classrooms, Further, stars seems to have
better adjustment towards home, school, teachers and in total.
Stars also show better intelligence, more classroom trust,
and high activity level as compared to isolates.
Schunk, Mia and Selg, Herbart (1981) analyzed the
relationship between sociometric status and the dimensions
attractiveness, academic performance, and aggressiveness in
classoooms by correlations and group entrophy. There were
significant correlations between sociometric status and the
11. Rao, T«V. and Banerjee, D., "Sociometric structure of the pre-adolescent classrooms and the personality differences among high-choice recieving and low choice receiving children". Indian Educational Review, vol. 8,Not 1, Danuary 1973, pp. 215-25.
12. Schunk, Mia and Sleg, Herbart., "Sociometric Status and the Dimensions Attractiveness, Academic Performance and Aggressiveness in Classrooms" Psychological Abstracts, vol. 65, Number I, Dan, 1981, p. 228.
11
four dimensions. Concerning group entrophy, popularity and
academic performance differed most substantially. The
structures of choices and rejections concerning popularity
and aggressiveness differed within each dimension.
One most comprehensive study was conducted by David
(1975) 13 that aimed at the development and assessment of
behavioural measures of social status and group structure.
First, while social status exhibited substantial stability
over time whether based on weighted interacts or weighted
receives, the former's stability coefficients had somewhat
less variation than the latter. This suggested that
reciprocated behaviour (socially reinforced) is less subject
to alteration as a result of changing environmental conditions
than unidirectional behaviour# Second, a somewhat similar
difference in patterns of stability between structural
measures based on interacts and gives was observed. The
former developed more slowly than the latter but appeared to
be more resistant to minor changes in relevant environmental
conditions. Third, while sociometric status has been found
consistent across situations, behavioural status hierarchies
were found to be somewhat different when subjects were engaged
in two different activities,, This suggested that overt
13. David, G.3., "Development and Assessment of Behavioural Measures of Social Status and Group Structure". Dissertation Abstracts International-A. volume, 37,No: V - 2, 1976-77, “P. 1236.
behaviours are mors under the control of specific environmental
contingencies, while sociometric choices are affected more by
generalized attractions to others. Finally*: the relationship
betueen attitudes and behaviours was explored by comparing
sociometric and behavioural status hierarchies and their
correlation was found significant. These findings provide
support for theories which argue that behaviours determine
attitudes, rather than attitudes determining behaviours.
14Asher, Renshaw and Geraci examined the influence
that children's social skill repertoire has on their acceptance
by the peer group. They studied this influence on 65
Kindergarteners, aged 5-6 years. Evidence is reviewed from
descriptive and training studies that support the hypothesis
that children who lack friends are deficient in social skills.
The results indicate that popular children gave responses that
were judged to be more socially competent than those of
unpopular children. These social skills help them in their
adjustment. When they are able to make friends they can make
their classroom groups as cohesive one*
S t udies on D r o p - o u t s •
The expending population coupled with the inadequacy
of the programmes are perhaps the main reasons for the increasing
14. Asher, S.R.; Renshaw, P.O. and Geraci,' R «L., """Children'sFriendships and Social Competence". Psycholog ical A b stracts, vol. 67, No52, February, 32, pp. 27-39.
number of illiterates. There is yet another grave reason -
the wastage at the elementary and secondary education stages.
From the times of Hartog Committee, many successive commissions
have pointed out a grave concern for this gigantic problem.
The recent commission (1964—66) estimated that as against
100 children enrolled in Class I, there were only 20 in
Class IV in 1911-12, in 1946-47 this increased to 39 but
dropped to 37 in 1965-66. The commission concluded that
wastage is very large at the primary stage, i . e 0, about 50/4
for boys and 62% for girls.
The huge wastage in education amounts to a big loss
of nation's scarce monetary resources. Pandit (1970) in his
study estimated that 2.5 million pupils completed class VIII
education in 1963-64, amounting to a total expenditure of
Rs.181 crores. Out of this 59 crores of rupees accounted for
drop-outs and 20 crores of rupees went into financing
stagnation. Unesco studied educational wastage during 1967
in 19 countries. India was one of the four countries which
showed a wastage ranging from 56% to 80%. Developing Asian,
African and American countries also do not fair batter.
Educational wastage seems rampant in developing and
struggling nations.
Kuhlen and Collister (1952)^5 collected certain data
regarding the social acceptability and the personal
15* Kuhlan, R.G., and Collister, E.G., "Sociometric Status of Sixth and Ninth-graders who Fail to Finish High School". Educational and Psychological Measurement. 1952, Vol, XIIS No. 4, pp. 632-637 .
characteristics of 6th, 9th and 12th grade pupils. Thsir
results indicate that those pupils who graduated from high
school had higher social acceptability scores than those uho
did not graduate. This shous that drop-outs are less popular
among their peers. They are considered by their classmates to
be unpopular, sad appearing, not good looking; to be listless,
to be unfriendly, and to be unable to enjoy jokes on themselves,
or on others. In general, the eventual drop-out represent a
group of children uho are physically unattractive, poorly
groomed, lacking in social knou-hou, shy, uithdrauing, and
unhappy? in short, they are personally and socially maladjusted.
16Gronlund and Holmlund ( 1958) have shoun similar
results also that pupils uho drop-out of school have louer
sociometric status than those uho graduate. They compared the
drop-ogt rate among 53 pupils uith high sociometric status
and 49 pupils uith lou sociometric status. Only seven of the
high status pupils dropped out of high school before graduating,
while 22 of the low status pupils dropped out of high school
before graduating.
/ \ 17Croft and Grygier \1956) have revealed the social
relationships of truants and juvenile delinquents. Truants
and delinquents had louer sociometric status than other boys.
TeT' Gronlund, N.E., and Holmlund, U.S., "The vlue ofElementary School Sociometric Status Score for Predicting Pupils Adjustment in High School” Educational A d m inistration and Supervision. 195B, 44 • 255-260. ~
17. Croft, 1.3., and Grygier, T.G., "Social Relationships of Truants and 3uvenile Delinquents", Human R e l ations, vol. 9, 1956, pp. 439-466.
GR
Truants appeared to be mors maladjusted socially than
delinquents, they tended to have very feu friends and to ba
emotionally isolated, uhila delinquents tended to have many
enemies and b8 involved in social interaction of a conflictual
type. Further, youth clubs of normal setting do not appeal to
the boys who are socially maladjusted or isolated.
/ X 13Kamat and Deshmukh (1966; have revealed certain
factors that are associated with success and failure in
Education. They have shoun that not only uere the lou
achievers significantly high on anxiety, but they uere
generally more malajdusted. The lou achievers exhibited
greater social conflict, and more susceptibility to
maladjustment. The study shous that these studetns are taken
in for further studies, they get frustated and eventually
drop-out.
19Mehta, P. (1974) has shoun different factors
contributing to uastage in primary education. Ha has pointed
out many factors houever our concern here lies uith the
following factors:
TaT Kamat, /T.R., and Deshmukh, A .G., "A psychological ”Analysis of Some Factors Associated with Success and Failure in University Education", Indian Educational Review, vol. I, No. I, 3uly, 1966, pp. 34-37.
19. Mehta, P., "Motivating Primary Education : A Psychological Strategy For Eliminating Uastage", Indian Education Review, vol. 9, No. 2, 3 uly 1974, pp. 1-24.
70
The results reveal that the low Education Lav/al 5s
showed a marked steeper upward performance for increasing n-
achiavement. Rost drop-auts and failures coma from low EL
groups whosa fathers have no: or little education and the
educational environoent at home is vary poor. Qna of the
reasons of drop-out and failure could be low achievement
in pupils, may be also in parents and teachers.
Bhandari (1974) also studiad the factors which affected
retention and drop-out in Udaipur (Rajasthan) schools. The
reasons given by the drop-outs were day-work, animal-husbandry-
work, lack of interest, school distance, domastic work and
ridicule by friends. This study also shows tha significance
of social relationships among students that affect fehair
retention and drop-out.
o nConnor (197 1) conducted a study to determine tha
extent to which the problem of early school leaving exists
among young future farmers in Ireland and discover tha
reasons for it. The reasons for early school laaving have
bean givan as unfavourable economic conditions, low acad8mic
ability, unfavourable parental attitude to education and
irralvant primary education.
2 1McGowan (1976) also studied certain factors
contributing to school leaving among immigrant children. This20. Connor, D.3., "Early School Laaving Among Future Farmers
In Ireland", Dissertation A b stracts International-A. voi . 32, Nos. 3 ^ , “197T, pp . “1409-10 ..
2 10 McGowan, T.P., ’’Factors contributing to school leaving immigrant childreniThe case of the P o r t u g u e s e in Fall River, Massachusetts’1, Dissertation Abstracts Inter national-A, Vol, 37, Nos, 1-2, 1976-1977, pp.910-911.
study investigated various aspects of the problems
experisnced by many Azorean immigrant children in the U.S.A.
uho drop-out of school. It focused on family values, possible
influence of a language problem, relevance of the educational
process, and the role of peer pressure affecting the school
leaving situation. Conclusions supported by this research are:
the major cause of school leaving among Portuguese immigrant
children i A parental pressure, due to economic reasons.
Language is not a major factor in early school leaving. The
influence of peer pressure has been also observed but in a
small quantity.
22Smith (1982) attempted to replicate - tha work of
A. Campbell (1981), uho found that college drop-outs
experienced more dissatisfaction and psychological strain in
lattor life than those uho finished college or high school
education. Smith studied populations of seven educational
levels ranging from those uith less than a high school
education to those with graduate degrees. 15 items measuring
satisfaction or uell-being were assessed for each educational
group; these included general well-being, satisfaction uith
specific life domains, i.e., friends, job, community, measure
of anomie and measures of satisfaction with tha educational
establishment. Results reveal that the definite increases in
social status and income were associated with even partial
22. Smith, T .W,, "Collage Dropout - An analysis of the psychological uell-being and Attitudes of various Educational Groups", Psychological Abstracts, vol, 68,Oct, 82, No:4, p« 9G4.
college sr graduate education. Dissatisfaction with many
aspects of life, anomie, and the lack of confidence in
education uere greater among graduate than undergraduate
dropouts.
23Galloway (82) reported the results of a survey of
persistant absentees from school and their families. Four
samples were selected: absentees from a secondary school,
absentees from its feeding primary schools, absentees who
had been referred for specialist advica because of their
poor school attendance, and regular attenders. Interviews
with parents and pupils showed that all the three absentee
samples were living in multiply disadvantaged circumstances
compared with the regular attenders. The referred pupils
tended to present more behaviour problems at home than
pupils in the other three samples, but to be socially
isolated outside the home. The referred absentees were
characterized by a much greater frequency of difficulty in
social relationships with other pupils. Informal observations
from teachers suggested that they ware most likely to refer
a pupil if his parents expressed anxiety about his behaviour,
and/or he was seen as socially isolated or emotionally
withdrawn when he did attend,,
2 3 o Galloway, D., MA Study of Persistent Absentees and Their Families”, B ritish Journal of Educational Psychology. 52, Nov, 82, part, 3, pp„ 3 1 7 - 3 3 0 o
Ansari (1982) investigated the differences betueen
truants and non-truants, on such personality and social
variables as security - insecurity, parental acceptance, and
peer-acceptance. The results reveal that differences do
exist betueen truants and non-truants on security - insecurity
and parental acceptance but the differences betueen the mean
peer acceptance scores of truants and non-truants are found
to be insignificant, though in the expected direction, shouing
non-truants higher in peer-acceptance than truants.
25Poole and Lou (82) examined some variables
associated uith the staying and leaving school process
particularly as it operates similarly or differently for
male and female adolescents. 60 attitude statements about
aspects of school, parents, peers, teachers, and value
orientations were obtained from 796 secondary school students«
The results show that Ss uho left school early were generally
not academically motivated, lacked organizational skills,
came from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and rarely
discussed future job plans uith parents. Both groups of
females rated their chance of success in life as low compared
to males.
However, there is some evidence to indicate that
social acceptance by peers js a factor independent of__________24. Ansari, G., "A Study of Truancy In Relation to Security-
Insecurity, Parental Acceptance and peer acceptance",Journal of Education a n d Psychology, vol, XXX., No, 3,October, 82, pp. 169-T74.
25. Poole, M.E., and Lou, B.C., "Uho stays? Uho leaves? An examination of sex" differences in staying and laaving", Psychological Abstracts, vol. 68, December, 82, No. 6, Part I.
73
94
socioeeonomic level. McGuire ( 19491 noted a tendency for
pupils from lou socioeconomic classes to remain in school
if they had high social acceptance among their schoolmates
and to drop-out if they had lou peer acceptance.
S tudies on Adjustment/Maladjustment:
Surprisingly, little uork has been dona on the
relationship between sociometric status and maladjustment
but the results so far reported point in the expected
direction. Bonney (1943) found a correlation of .43 between
sociometric status and social adjustment. In a study of
neuroticism in school children, Thrope and 3ames (1953)
suggested the use of a sociometric test as a screening
device. Most reliance can be placed on it because of a
significant tendency for neurotic children to be less popular
in terms of this test. The feasibility of such a screening
programme has bean demonstrated in a study by Ullmann (1952).
He combined sociometric results uith self-rating inventories
and teachers' ratings gf adjustment and noted that the several
measures tended to complement each other in identifying
potentially maladjusted pupils. The sociometric test seems to
be especially helpful in identifying the quiet, withdrawn
child who may be experiencing adjustment difficulties not
readily apparent to the classroom teacher,.
The relationship between adequacy of social and personal
26. Gronlund, N.E., Sociometry In The Classroom. Harper and Brothers, Publishers, Neu-York, 1959, p. 308.
75
adjustment has been investigated in a large number of
studies. The use and relevance of sociometric test to
measure social adjustment is implicit in Moreno's original
formulations. He implied that low choice status or high
rejection status is enough evidence that the adjustment of
the subject is not adequate. Concepts such as isolate,
neglectee, and rejectee clearly connote adjustment
difficulties in their behaviours.
Bonney ( 1943)2^ reported significant differences
between fourth grade pupils with high and low sociometric
status on a number of behaviour characteristics. Pupils
with high sociometric status were found to be significantly
superior on both personal and social adjustment. They were
characterized most frequently by their peers as being tidy,
good-looking, happy, friendly, and cheerful. Thus, the
highly chosen pupils were characterized by their classmates as
possessing socially admired qualities which contribute to
effective social interaction.
2 8Bonney (1947) in an intensive study of five pupils
with high sociometric status and five pupils with low
sociometric status at the elementary level showed that the
highly chosen pupils were characterized by greater conformity
and group identification, greater emotional stability and
27. Bonney, M.E., "Personality traits of socially successfuTand socially unsuccessful children", Journal of Educational Psycho log v. 1943, 34: pp. 449r47 2. ~
28. Bonney, M.E., "Popular and Unpopular Children - A sncinmetric study", Spcjoroetrv Monographs. No. 9,New York, Beacon House, 1947.
7 6
control. Thay uere clearly superior in adjustment to the
pupils with lou sociometric status.
A comprehensive study, in this area, at the adolescent
. .29level, uas conducted by Dennings (1950) . She reported that
the highly chosen girls uere described most frequently as
being cooperative, having an even disposition, displaying
initiative and exhibiting behaviour which contributed to
the effectiveness of group living. In contrast, the
underchosen girls uere characterized by socially disagreeable
behaviour characteristics. In brief, the behaviour descriptions
most characteristic of the highly chosen girls are generally
considered to be social assets uhich contribute to effective
social adjustment.
30Gronlund and Anderson (1957) compared the
characteristics of socially accepted, socially neglected and
socially rejected pupils in a junior high school population.
The socially accepted pupils were those who received the
largest number of acceptance choices on the sociometric
test; the socially neglected were those who received the
smallest number of both acceptance and rejection choices, and
the socially rejected were those who received the largest
number of rejection choices. Further, the socially accepted
29. Dennings, H.H., Leadership and Isolation. New York, Longmans, Green and Company, 1950.
30. Gronlund, N.E., and Anderson, L., "Personality Characteristics of socially accepted, socially neglected, and socially rejected Junior High School Pupils", Educational A d m inistration an d Supervision. 1957, 43:329-33 8.
77
pupils were generally characterized as possessing socially
desirable behaviour characteristics. In contrast, the
socially rejected pupils were not only overlooked on these
positivie behaviour characteristics, but they were also
frequently described as possessing the oppostie attributes.
The socially neglected pupils tended to be overlooked on
both positive as well as negative behaviour characteristics.
T -JKuhlen and Bretsch (1947) compared the personal
problems felt by pypils with high and low sociometric status.
7000 ninth-grade pupils were asked to check the items on
Mooney Problem Check List. Pupils with low sociometric status
checked more personal problems "often11 than the pupils with
high sociometric status. The personal problems checked often
by the low status pupils revealed concern with social skills,
unhappiness, lack of status, family problems and dislike of
school. This study shows that low status pupils experience
more adjustment problems.
32Grossman and Urighter (1948) reported that sixth-
grade pupils who were highly chosen on a sociometric test had
significantly higher adjustment scores on the California
Test of Personality than those pupils who were rejected on
the sociometric test.
3"l 0 Kuhlen j R’. g7, " arid Bretsch, H.S., "Sociometric statusand personal problems of adolescents", Sociometry. 1947, 10 : 122-132.
32. Grossman, B., and Urighter, 3., "The relationship between selection-rejection and intelligence, social status, and personality amongst sixth-grade children", Sociometry. 1948, 11 *. 34-&—55.
Using the California Test of Personality, Scandrette
3 3(1953) reported that 8th-grade pupils uith high sociomatric
status had batter personal adjustment than pupils uith low
sociometric status. He further noted that pupils uith low
sociometric status tended to feel insecure in their school
relations. They also felt that both teachers and other pupils
had little personal interest in them and treated them in an
unfair and unkind manner.
A large number of fith- and sixth-grade students uera
divided into three1 sociometric status groups by Baron (195 1 ) ^
and compared in their responses to a mental health inventory.
In general, the inventory appeared to differentiate among the
three status groups, with the low in social status making more
"unfavourable" responses than either of the other groups,,
3 5Northway and uJigdor ( 1947) compared the Rorschach
patterns of eighth grade pupils with high, average, and low
sociometric status. The high status pupils were characterised
by greater sensitivity to their social environment. The low
status pupils revealed less ability to control their emotions
and tended to be more ego-centric, moody, and impulsive.
33. Scandrette, Q.C., "Classroom choice status related to scores on components of the California Test of Personality" J o u rnal of Educational Research. 1953, 46 5 291-296.
34. 3aron, D 0, "Personal-social characteristics and classroom social status i h sociometric study of 5th and 6th grade girls", Sociometrv. 14, 32 - 42.
35 0 Northway, Fl.L., and Uigdor, B .T ., "Rorschach patterns related to the sociometric status of school children", Sociometrv. 1947 , 10 ! 185-199 .
79
, N 3 6Mill (5 3 ; also reported similar results among
collega students. A comparison of the sociometrically high
and sociometrically lou students, on the basis of their
responses to the Rorschach Inkblot Test and the Thematic
Apperception Test, indicated that the students uith lou
status shousd trends touard greater anxiety and deviate
patterns of adjustment.
The findings of these studies, comparing sociometric
results uith the results of projective techniques, are
someuhat similar to those obtained uith self-report techniques,
uihan high and lou status groups uere compared, pupils uith lou
sociometric status uere characterized by more severe patterns
of maladjustment.
Several studies have attempted to relate sociometric
status to adjustment through the use of differentiated groups.
37Tagiuri (1952) compared three groups of preparatory-school
students I those uho uere successful (good athletes, high
grades, office holders), average students and maladjusted
students. He found that the maladjusted students uere
characterized by lou social choice, uhils the successful
students tended to b8 higher than the average students on
this variable.
35. Mill, C.R., "Personality patterns of sociometricallyselected and sociometrically rejected male college students", Sociometry. 1953, 16 • 151-167.
37. Tagiuri, R., "Relational Analysis S An extension ofsociometric method uith emphasis upon social perception",Sociometr v. 15, 91-104*
D a v i d s a n d P a r e n t ! ( 1 9 5 8 b ) c o m p a r e d t h r e e g r o u p s o f
c h i l d r e n ; 4 8 e m o t i o n a l l y d i s t u r b e d i n t r e a t m e n t , 8 0 n o r m a l s
a t a s u m m e r c a m p a n d 5 7 n o r m a l s i n a p u b l i c s h c o o l . I n b o t h
t h 8 d i s t u r b e d a n d n o r m a l g r o u p s , s o c i a l p o p u l a r i t y w a s
s i g n i f i c a n t l y a s s o c i a t e d w i t h g o o d e m o t i o n a l a d j u s t m e n t .
E v e n w i t h i n t h e e m o t i o n a l l y d i s t u r b e d g r o u p , t h e d i s l i k e d
c h i l d r e n u e r a m o r e e m o t i o n a l l y d i s t u r b e d t h a n t h e l i k e d
c h i l d r e n .
U i t h t h e u s e o f C a l i f o r n i a T e s t o f P e r s o n a l i t y ,
3 9
H i n k e l m a n ( 5 2 ) m a d e a c o m p a r a t i v e s t u d y o f p e r s o n a l i t y
a d j u s t m e n t o f f o u r g r o u p s o f d e l i n q u e n t s a n d n o n - d e l i n q u e n t s
n a m e l y , d e l i n q u e n t s ( i M = 3 0 ) ; u p p e r s o c i o - e c o n o m i c c l a s s
n o n - d e l i n q u e n t s ( N = 3 3 ) ; m i d d l e s o c i o - e c o n o m i c c l a s s
n o n - d e l i n q j e n t s ( l M = 2 3 ) ; a n d l o w e r s o c i o - e c o n o m i c c l a s s
n o n - d e l i n q u e n t s ( i \ i = 4 0 ) . T h e r e s u l t s s h o w t h a t t h e r e a r e
d e c i d e A l g J . s i g n i f i c a n t d i f f e r e n c e s i n p e r s o n a l i t y a d j u s t m e n t
b e t w e e n d e l i n q u e n t s a n d n o n - d e l i n q u e n t s . N o n - d e l i n q u e n t
g r o u p s h a v e b e t t e r a d j u s t m e n t s c o r e s t h a n d e l i n q u e n t g r o u p .
S e c o n d , t h a t i n p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s , t h e s e p e r s o n a l i t y d i f f e r e n c e s
m a y h a v e b e e n o b s c u r e d o y s o c i o - e c o n o m i c d i f f e r e n c e s .
3 8 . D a v i d s , A . , a n d P a r e n t i , M . N . , " P e r s o n a l i t y , s o c i a l c h o i c e ,
a n d a d u l t ' s p e r c e p t i o n o f t h e s e f a c t o r s i n g r o u p s o f
d i s t u r b e d a n d n o r m a l c h i l d r e n 1 1 , S o c i o m e t r y . 2 1 , 2 1 2 - 2 2 4 .
3 9 . H i n k e l m a n , E . H . , " A c o m p a r a t i v e i n v e s t i g a t i o n o f
d i f f e r e n c e s i n p e r s o n a l i t y a d j u s t m e n t o f d e l i n q u e n t s a n d
n o n - d e l i n q u e n t s ” , 3 o u r n a l o f E d u c a t i o n a l R e s e a r c h , v o l . 4 6 ,
O c t o b e r , 5 2 - M a y , 5 3 , N o s . 2 - 9 , p p . 5 9 4 - 5 0 1 .
81
Haller and Thomas ( 1 9 5 2 ) ^ report the results of a
test of the hypothesis that personality factors are correlated
uith socio-ecanonic status. They shoued that there is a positive
correlation but lou batuean various measures of 5E.S and of
personality adjustment. That there is a tendency for the
incidence of psychiatric disorders to vary uith 5£S.
/ N4 1Heath \ 197 1j conducted a study on the relationship
betuaen school size and personal and social adjustment of
high school seniors. The specific problem is to ascertain
whether high school seniors attending different types of
schools in a certain geographical area and having similar
personal and parental characteristics differ in their
adjustment. The results raveal that the three groups differ
in certain areas of adjustment. Small school seniors .
had more uithin class and out-of-class contact uith the
Various groups of adults in tha schodl than large-school
seniors.
42Badami and Gosuami ( 1973) have studied social
adjustment and its relationship uith school achievement, sex,
age, pare.ntal education and socioeconomic status of the family
40. Haller, A.O., and Thomas, S., "Personality correlate of the Socioeconomic Status of Adolescent Wales", Sociometry. 1962, 25 : 398-404.
41. Heath, D.D., "The relationship betueen school size and personal and social adjustment of High School Seniors", Dissertation Abstracts International-A, vol, 32, Nos. 3-4, September-October, 197 1.
42. Badami, H.D«, and Gosuami, S.P., "Social adjustment in relation to some organiimic and environmental variables", Journal of Education and Psychology. vol, XXXI, No, 2,July, 1973, pp. 74-80.
8 2
among the high school students. They showed that the social
adjustment of the high achievers was found superior than
that of low achievers. The females were found socially
better adjusted than the males. Further, it was found that
the increase in the level of parental education was followed
by increase in the degree of social adjustment. No
relationship was observed between socioeconomic status and
social adjustment.
The personality differences among stars and isolates
in relation to the sociometric structure of fifth grade
classrooms have been studied by Rao ( 1 9 7 3 ) ^ . The results
show that stars have better adjustment towards home, school,
teachers and in total. Houevsr, it is interesting to note
that stars do not differ much from isolates on their
adjustment towards friends inspite of the fact that stars
are the liked ones and isolates are the rejected ones from
the first few preferences*stars also show better intelligence,
more classroom trust, and high activity level as compared to
isolateso
43. Rao, T. V., "Sociometric structure of the pre-adolescent classrooms and the personality differences among high choice receiving and low-choice receiving children", Indian Educational Review, vol. B, No. 1, January, 1973, pp. 2 15 -2 25 .
8 3
Goldman, Corsini and Deurioste (1981) sxamined
positive and negative sociometric status uith reference to
observed classroom behaviour and performance on tuo
laboratory measures of social skills : decoding emotion
from facial expression and referential communications.
Results reveal that children uho uere rated by their peers
as lou-liked uere the most deviant in classroom behaviours
and task scores. High-liked Ss spent more time in positive
interaction uith peers and less time in solitary play or
alone uith an adult.
Studies on Crea t iv jty :
There has been a spate of research in the area of
creativity during the past three decades. In this section
only those studies uill be revieued uhich are pertinent to
the present study. The effect of group behaviour and its
relationship uith creative productive sociometric status of
pupils antd the social structure of the schools as related
to creativity uill be discussed. Research on creativity
and adjustment uill also be revieued.
Research in the area of creativity training has
generally shoun that group productivity surpasses individual
productivity (Taylor and Faust, 1952; Torrance, 1970 and
197 1; Ouen, Renzulli and Callachan, 1972). Taylor, Serry and
4 4 o Goldman, 3.A., Corsini, D.A., and Deurioste, R.,"Implications of Positive and Negative Sociometric Status for Assessing the Social Competence of Young Children", Psychological Abstracts, vol, 65, No, 3, March, 198 T, P* 549.
\ 44
84
Block (1958) also found that fluency increased in group
situations. These researchers agreed that group conditions
may have the effect of channeling thinking in similar
directions on the one hand and helping them also in
thinking divergent ways on the other. Thomas and Fink
(1963) found that under csrtain conditions quality of
performance and group productivity improved as group size
increased. They also reported that under no conditions were
smaller groups superior.
Creativity and Social Acceptance : t '
Cacha (197 1)45 conducted a study uith the purpose of
determining the relationship betueen differing levels of
creativity of 5th-grade children and selected personality
factors. He shoued that verbal creativity thinking
abilities are significantly related to personality factors
such as warm-hearted, conscientious, relaxed, less anxious,
extraverted, emotionally stable, self-assured, intelligent,
conforming and willing to go with the group. Further, the
highly creative children appeared to conform the expected
behavioural norms of their peers.
Rehman and Hussain ( 1 9 7 3 ) ^ showed that a creative
person will be low on social desirability. He administered
45. Cacha, F.B., "A study of the relation of creative thinking abilities to personality factors and peer nominations of5th-grade children", Dissertation Abstracts_I ntern a t i o n a l -A.vol. 32, Nos, 3-4, September-Qct, 197 1, P. 1329.
46. Rehman, A., and Hussain, M»G., "Creativity and social desirability", Educational Tre n d s , vol. 8, Nos. 1-4,3anuar y-October, 1973, PP. 163-1650
85
five verbal and tuo non-verbal tests of creative thinking
to 40 EUSc students. The results reveal that a perons uith
high scores on creativity tests scores lou on the measure of
social desirability and vice versa. This is in conformity
uith Taylor's (i960) idea that a creative person uill be
lou on social desirability.
/ \47Slauson (.1975; conducted a differential study of
three groups of nursing students on creativity and social
behaviour factors. Results reveal that three groups of
students differ significantly on creative thinking abilities
and social behaviours.
\48i\lash and tfillikin ̂197 6) examined hou creative
adolescents perceive their oun social behaviour hypothesizing
that most uould not describe themselves as social isolates
nor as excessively group-reliant but uould locate themselves
betueen tha tuo extremes. S® uere asked to describe hou they
spent most of their time out of school by indicating (i) more
time alone than in group; (ii) about the same time in groups
as alone; or (iii) more time in groups than alone. They uere
then separated into three groups based on their choices:
Group I N =s 33; Group II N s 92; Group III N s 65. Results
indicate that the high creatives in group II tended to spent
more time in groups than alone as compared to group I and III.
47. Slauson, V.M., C r e a t i v e thinking~and related social behaviours of students in different nursing programmes'' Dissertation Abstracts-6. Vol. 36, No. 1-2, 1975,p . 653 .
48. IMash, U.R., and M i H i k i n , 3.L., "Creative adolescentsand social interaction", The Journal of Creative Behaviour. vol. 10, Nos. 1-3, 1976, PT"222»
88
However, it uas concluded that the majority of high creatives
tended to see themselves as free to moVs in and outside of
group interaction at their oun choosing.
/ l ̂1 QParamesh and Narayanan (1976) investigated uhether
creativity and intelligence have any affect on the normal
personality traits described by Thurstone under rubric
temperament. They have shoued that creativity has a
significant effect on the Sociable trait of the individuals
houever high creatives have a lou level of sociable tendency
than lou creative individuals. They enjoy relatively less
the company of others, experience difficulty to make friends
easily and are less sympathetic, less cooperative, and less
agreeaole in their relations uith other people. In short, -
the results indicate that creativity has an effect orr^y on
sociable and not other traits of Thurstone. The high creatives
are less sociaole than lou creatives. This is in conformity
uith the findings of Mackinon (1964) on architects and Rshman
and Hussain ( 1973 ) on adolescent college students.
Creativity and Adjustment:
The relationship betueen mental health and creativity
has also been studied by different researchers. Catell and
Butcher (1970) reported that emotional security and ego-
strength uere higher in scientists as compared to general
population. Dravdahl (1964) has also reported that t h e________49. Paramesh, C.R., and Narayanan, S., "Effect of Creativity
and Intelligence on temperament", J o u rnal of Education a n d Psychology, vol. 34, Nos: 1-4, 197 6-1977 :“159-161.
87
scientists possess adequate personal, social and emotional
adjustment. Turman ( 1954) has also arrived at the conclusion
that higher social adjustment and alround mental stability
is characteristic of the genius. Paramesh and Nathauat (1980)
have also reported the same results that creative potential
in adolescents is positively related to ego-strength. Maslou
( 1954); Andrews ( 1961) ; Raina ( 1968); Butcher ( 1968); LJhite
( 1968); Lytton (197 1); Rastogi and Nathauat (1982) have also
revealed that emotionally-secure adolescents have high
creativity level as compared to their emotionally insecure
counterparts and the most important variable which affects
creativity is emotional-security. Other various studies
concerned uith adjustment and maladjustment versus creativity
ara enumerated as under:
j- nKloss (1972) conducted a study on the relationship
betueen adolescent creativity and selected variables such as,
sex, adjustment, art-science perferenca, complexity-
simplicity and type of school. The results reveal that a
significant sax bias in favour of males did occur though
there usrs no sex differences on creativity tests. Adjustment
uas significantly related to female creativity but art-
science preference uas uncorrelated uith adjustment in
general. The predicted association betueen type of school
50. Kloss, n.G., "The Relation Betueen Adolescent Creativity, and Selected variables-Sax, Adjustment, Art-Science Preference, Complexity-Simplicity, and Type of school", D issertation Abstracts Internatio n a l -6. vol. 33, No: 5, T972, P7 2324.
88
and verbal figural creativity uas found houever co mplexity
preference was found uncorrelated.
A comparative study of craativity in disturbed,
delinquent, accelerated, and normal children showed that
socially and emotionally maladjusted children often have
higher creative potential than socially and emotionally
/ 1adjusted children, finch (1977) brought out this result
on 98 5s, ranging in age from 9 to 16 years.
Paget (1980)52 conauctsd a study on the creativity
of very young emotionally disturbed children. C o r relational
data were gathered on sixteen emotionally disturbed p r e
schoolers, r a nging in age from 3 to 6 years. The results
reveal no significant differences between the emotionally
disturbed p r a - schoo lers and the s t a n d ardiza tion sample on
the measure of creativity, however, significant c o rrelation s
between o v e rall creativity and the mastery of s o c i o -emotio nal
object ives and between length of time in treatment and
imagin ation were found.
53Asha (1980) investigated the relationship between
health adjustment and creativity of secondary school children-
51. Finch, 3.M., ,TComparison of creativity in disturbed, delinqued, accelerated, and mormal children", The Journal of Creative Behaviour, vol. 11, Nos: 1-4, 1977, P. 211©
52. Paget, K.D., "Creativity and its correlates in emotionally disturbed pre-school children", T h e Journal of Crea tive B ehaviour, vol. 14, Nos: 1-4, 1980, PP. 217-221.
53. Asha, C.8., "Health adjustment and creativity of the secondary school children", Psycho logical Studies. July, 1980, No. 2, PP. 122-125.
1100 in number - 5!f0 boys and 590 girls. The results show
that thera is no significant difference among either the
three groups of boys and the groups of girls in health
adjustment, however, boys and girls differ ,significantly
in health adjustment. Highly creative children do not have
more health problems than their less creative peers.^The
studies of Anastasi (1958) and Kirk (1962) on gifted
children reported superiority of gifted children in mental
and physical health. Anastasi (1958) also pointed out that
the incidence of alcboholis1»v, delinquency, and serious
maladjustments are less in the gifted children than in the
general population.
Amos ( 1 9 8 1 ) ^ conducted a differential study on the
personality differences of groups defined on the basis of
different criteria of creativity. Three groups of creative
persons were identified: (i) creative actualizers, (b) High
creative potential persons and (iii) Lou creative potential
parsons. The results reveal that creative actualizers uere
significantly more introversive in personal orientation than
the high creative potential group, with the lou creative
potential group intermediary on the extraversian - introversian
dimension. Further, both the creative actualizers and high
creative potential persons proved to be more self-actualized
than the lou creative potential group. The groups uere not
54. Amos, S.P., "Personality differences of groups defined on the oasis of different criteria of creativity",The J o u r nal of Creative Behaviour, vol. 15, iMos: 1-4,19 31 : 266-267 .
30
significantly different for the anxiety construct.
55One similar study was undertaken by Kumar (19 81)
to identify tuo personality traits (extroversion/ intro version
and anxiety) of high and lou creative children 13 years and
older. The results reveal that the high creative children
uere less anxious and significantly more 8xtrovetted than
the lou creatives.
5 6Singh (1982) tested whether adjustment, frustation,
and level of aspiration uould significantly affect creativity
by studying 135 high school studants uho were high, moderate,
or lou on all the three variables. As predicted, adjustment,
frustation, and aspiration had no effect on creativity either
alone or in interaction uith one another.
c 7Rastogi and IMathauat ( 1982) conducted a study on
100 students on the sffect of creativity on mental health.
The results reveal that the emotionally secure adolescents
have high creativity level as compared to their emotionally
insecure counterparts. No significant difference uas found
for sex. The most important variable uhich affects creativity
is the level of emotional security of the subjects.
55. Kumar, A., "Personality identification of high and low creatives at age 13 or older", The Journal of Creative 8 ahaviour. Vo 1 • 15, No S1 -4, 1981, 73.
56. Singh, R.P., "A study of creativity as a function of adjustment, frustation, and level of aspiration",PsycholoQical A bstracts, vol. 68, December, 82, No * 6, Part 1 : 1361.
57. Rastogi, lYi., and Nathauat, S.S», "Effect of Creativity on Mental Health", Psychological Studies, vol. 27, No* 2, July, 1982, 74-76.
91
Creativity and some Demographic Variables:
Castl8 (1965)58 conducted a comparative study of the
creativity of urban and rural students. The study aimed at
investigating the effects of different cultural environments
on the creativity of subjects. The results revaal that there
is no significant difference in the creativity of rural and
urban studentso Further, no significant differences in the
creativity of students uith sex, uith different religious
preferences, and uith different socio-economic levels uere
found.
\59McDaniel v 1974) also conducted one similar study
in which he investigated the relationship betueen creativity
and socio-econoTiic status, race and sex of the 7th-grade
students as measured by the Torrance Tests of creativity.
The study demonstrated that simple explanations of racial,
sexual, or SES differences in creative abilities are probably
not valid, however, generally high SES subjects scored better
than lou SES subjects; females scored b8tter than males;
Uhite and Asian subjects scored better than the Black and
Spanish surnamed performed at about the same level.
58. Castle, A., "A Comparison of the Creativity of Uroan and Rural Students in Qklahama".Dissertation Abstracts International, vol. 26, No. 3-4, Sept-Dee, 65 '• 1420-21«
59. McDaniel, E.R., “An investigation of the relationship betueen creativity and SES, race, and sex of the 7th- Grade Pupi 1 s" , D issertation Abstracts Internati o na l - A , vol. 34, Numoer7 7-8, 1974 : 3997 - 3998.
Aggarual and Verma ( 1977 ) ^ compared high creative
and lou creative students on internal-external control
dimension of personality at different levels of socio-economic
status. The results revealed that the high creative students
uere significantly more internal than the lou creative students.
.61Forman (1931) examined the effect of socioeconomic
status on creativity on elementary school children. The
results indicated that upper-class suojects score better
than louer-class suojects on creativity measures, but that
uhen 1Q or achievement level uas covaried, difference betueen
upper and louer-class subjects uere not significant.
li/right ( 1 9 8 1 ) ^ investigated the educational
backgrounds (both at home and school) of a group of highly
creative children to see if there uere commonalities. Their
preferences for classroom environments, learning styles,
teaching methods and teacher characteristics uere also
researched. The results revealed that 60/b of the students had
been given grouth experiences: 76/o had special lessons, 87$
60. Aggarual, Y.P., and llerma, L.K., "Internal-External Control of High Creative and Lou Creative High School Students at different levels of SES", The Journal of Creative Behaviour, vol. 11, No. 1-4, 1977 : 150.
61. Forman, S.G., "Effect of SES on creativity in ElementarySchool Children, "Psychological Abstracts, viol. 65, April, 1981, No. 4, 821. '
62o Wright, B.rt., "Common characteristics in the educational backgrounds of High Creative children and their preferences regarding classroom behaviour", The J o u r n a l of Creative Behaviour, vol. 15, N o : 1-4, 283-284 .
93
had recreational experiences and 55% had cultural
experiences. The high creatives did prefer teachers
uho encouraged independent thought and projects,
supported many responses to questions, encouraged
students to ask questions and laughed alonguith the
class if something funny happened.
Stone (1981) attempted to clarify the presumed
relationship oetueen creativity and misbehaviour in the
classroom by determining the extent to which creativity
test aoaoes predicted identification of student^by
teachers and/or pears as misbehavers. 154 second graders
uere given the Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking and a
9-item sociometric-type instrument. Intercorrelations
betueen creativity sub-tests and pear percaption of
creative behaviour suggested that subjects high in
elaboration and in originality were more likely to be
described by peers as exhibiting creative behaviour.
Results generally fail to support the hypothesis that high
creativity scores uould predict teacher identification of
subjects as behaviour problems. Houever, the sociometric
variables of popularity and misbehaviour uere significantly
correlated uith high creativity scores.
53. Stone, 3. G., "Relationship betueen creativity andclassroom behaviour", Psychological Abstra c t s . vol» 65, Ma r c h , 198 1, No. 3 : 669 .
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