Assessing Prejudice toward Negroes at Three Universities Using the Lost-Letter Technique

Bibliographic Data

ID13670649
AuthorsTheodore Montanye (Brigham Young University, corresponding author), Ronald F Mulberry (Brigham Young University), Kenneth R Hardy (Brigham Young University)
Year1971
Volume29
Issue2
Pages531-537
Publication date1971-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychological Reports (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0033-2941 • E-ISSN: 1558-691X
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2466/pr0.1971.29.2.531
OpenAlexW2101136746
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited3

The lost-letter technique was used to assess attitudes toward Negroes at Brigham Young University as compared to Arizona State University and the University of Cincinnati. 200 letters were “lost” at each school, half addressed to the “Medical Research Association,” half to the “Negro Equal Rights Movement.” Findings showed that B. Y. U. students acted most responsibly (highest return rate), but such behavior was significantly attenuated by prejudice (fewer Negro than Medical returns). A. S. U. students, contrastingly, were least responsible but were relatively unaffected by prejudice. Cincinnati students were similar to B. Y. U. students in prejudice, but more like Arizona students on level of responsibility. Difficulties in interpretation are partly based on the inadequacies of the lost-letter technique used as a non-reactive measure

Interpretation (philosophy · Medical education · Medical school · Prejudice (legal term · Academic Freedom and Politics · Communication in Education and Healthcare · Medicine · Philosophy · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub