Suchergebnisse

The changing function of downtowns from dominant centers to specialized service and office centers has made the maintenance of a vital downtown more problematic. The data are derived from a telephone survey of 735 city and suburban residents of metropolitan Atlanta. The analysis explores the impact of demographic, social background, and familiarity variables, as well as cognitive images, affective responses, and evaluative assessment on the use of downtown dining and entertainment facilities. Findings include the following: (1) people who go downtown regularly or work downtown and people who have a greater affective attachment to the area are more likely to participate in downtown drinking and dining activities and (2) younger, better educated, higher status adults and people who have a greater affective attachment to the area are more likely to go downtown for entertainment.

An urban social psychological approach suggests that shared social meanings aid in organizing the complex reality of an urban environment and that place preference may motivate and influence behaviors. The application of procedures for the measurement of roles to urban images suggests the use of discriminant analysis to identify dimensions that distinguish the meanings of downtown Atlanta, city residential areas, suburbs, and small towns. Findings include: (1) the identification of urbanism of place, middle‐class social status, and impersonal or quasi‐primary interaction as three social dimensions that distinguish places; (2) males, females, whites, and blacks appear to share a common set of meanings about urban areas but they differ somewhat more in their assessments of the areas and in their place preferences; and (3) some of the preferred place images significantly influence the use of downtown Atlanta for instrumental and entertainment activities.

Objectives. We investigate how college student identities and ethnic identities vary among black, white, and Asian students and among immigrant, second‐, and third‐generation students at a large public urban university (in counterpoint to recent studies at highly selective schools). In addition, we explore how those identities are related to college students' sense of self‐esteem and efficacy and their academic performance.Methods. We use survey data from a sample (N=652) of students attending a large diverse public urban university to create new indexes for several dimensions of college identity and ethnic identity and use existing self‐esteem and efficacy indexes to compare black, white, and Asian students, as well as immigrant, second‐generation, and third‐generation students.Results. Among several significant identity differences, we find: (1) whites are lower than blacks on college identity indexes, and immigrant students are higher than subsequent‐generation students on college student identity measures; (2) whites are lower than blacks and Asians on ethnic identity measures; only the ethnic activities index declines linearly from immigrant to second‐ to third‐generation students; (3) blacks have higher self‐esteem and efficacy than whites or Asians; whites have higher GPAs than blacks or Asians, while immigrant students have higher GPAs than third‐generation students; and (4) at least one college student identity dimension and one ethnic identity dimension is related to self‐esteem, efficacy, and GPA.Conclusions. How young adults conceive of themselves as college students and the way they formulate their own racial‐ethnic identities is related to their self‐esteem, efficacy, and academic performance. Moreover, the pattern that these relationships take is somewhat different at a large diverse public urban university than at highly selective universities.

We explore racial-ethnic identity in three ways: (1) by assessing the importance of racial-ethnic identity for self-concept; (2) by comparing the importance of racial-ethnic identity in different settings (at home, in one's neighborhood, in public, at work); and (3) by contrasting the importance of racial-ethnic identity with other identities (gender, age, occupation, marital status, and social class). Data were gathered in a random national telephone survey. Results indicate that for blacks racial-ethnic identity is a more important component of self-concept than it is for multiracials and whites (both of whom say they place little importance on it). Other findings show that the importance of racial-ethnic identity varies across settings (e.g., it is most important for blacks at work and least important at home) and that in general the multiracials are not highly distinguishable from both blacks and whites. Moreover, an interesting and unexpected finding is that for all three groups, the single most important identity is sex/gender.

A career perspective is used to highlight the temporal variations, self-processes, & social-structural factors in adult human development, using national longitudinal data on men aged 45-54 interviewed in 1966 & reinterviewed in 1971 & 1976. Analysis indicates that: (1) past poor health, past work experiences, job satisfaction, job complexity, & the physical demands of the job, as well as assets, influence labor force participation; & (2) past poor health, past work disability, job satisfaction, & education influence health. 1 Table, 1 Figure, 51 References. HA

Underlying Saul D. Alinsky's community organization strategies is a theoretical orientation that recognizes: (1) the fragmented, partial, & multiple levels of community social structure; (2) that communitywide identification is less the product of mechanical solidarity than a conscious response to perceived adversaries; & (3) that the task of community organization is to represent the community in negotiations with external organizations & institutions. A community of limited liability approach is used to synthesize Alinsky's perspective & to argue for a broader appreciation of his application & extension of community theory. HA.