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 .