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Imitative Behavior as a Function of Success‐Failure and Racial‐Socioeconomic Factors 1
Author(s) -
Turner Samuel M.,
Forehand Rex
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1976.tb01310.x
Subject(s) - imitation , psychology , white (mutation) , race (biology) , socioeconomic status , developmental psychology , social psychology , significant difference , racial differences , demography , ethnic group , medicine , population , biochemistry , chemistry , botany , sociology , biology , gene , anthropology
This study examined whether success‐failure experiences, race, and social class are related to the likelihood that young children will engage in imitative behavior. Black subjects imitated significantly more than white subjects on a pre‐experimental measure of imitation. Analysis of a difference score between pre‐ and post‐experimental measures of imitation indicated that prior success was associated with less imitation than failure or a neutral condition. In addition, a white model was imitated significantly more than a black model in both the failure and the success conditions, with little difference between models in the neutral condition. No significant difference was found between the nondeprived and deprived groups. The results were discussed in terms of an outer‐directedness hypothesis.