2-30 SOCIAL FORCES

ATTITUDES VS. ACTIONSRICHARD T. LAPIERE

St{lnford University

By DEFINITION, a social attitudeis a behaviour pattern, anticipa­tory set or tendency, predis­

position to specific adjustment to desig­nated social situations, or, more simply, aconditioned response to social stimuli. 1

Terminological usage differs, but studentswho have concerned themselves with atti­tudes apparently agree that .they areacquired out of social experience andprovide the individual organism withsome degree of preparation to adjust, ina well-defined way, to certain types ofsocial situations if and when these situa­tions arise. It would seem, therefore,that the totality of the social attitudes ofa single individual would include all hissocially acquired personality which isinvolved in the making of adjustments toother human beings.

But by derivation social attitudes areseldom more than a verbal response to asymbolic situation. For the conventionalmethod of measuring social attitudes is toask questions (usually in writing) whichdemand a verbal adjustment to an entirelysymbolic situation. Because it is easy,cheap, and mechanical, the attitudinalquestionnaire is rapidly becoming a majormethod of sociological and socio-psycho­logical investigation. The technique issimple. Thus from a hundred or a thou­sand responses to the question ' 'Wouldyou get up to give an Armenian womanyour seat in a street car?" the investigatorderives the "attitude" of non-Armenianmales towards Armenian females. Nowthe question may be constructed withelaborate skill and hidden with con-

1 See Daniel D. Droba, "Topical Summaries ofCurrent Literature," The American Journal of Sociology,

1934, p. 513.

summate cunning in a maze of supplemen­tary or even irrelevant questions yet allthat has been obtained is a symbolicresponse to a symbolic situation. Thewords "Armenian woman" do not con­stitute an Armenian woman of flesh andblood, who might be tall or squat, fat orthin, old or young, well or poorlydressed-who might, in fact, be a goddessor just another old and dirty hag. Andthe questionnaire response, whether it be"yes" or "no," is but a verbal reactionand this does not involve rising from theseat or stolidly avoiding the hurt eyes ofthe hypothetical woman and the de­rogatory states of other street-car occu­pants. Yet, ignoring these limitations,the diligent investigator will jump brisklyfrom his factual evidence to the unwar­ranted conclusion that he has measuredthe "anticipatory behavior patterns" ofnon-Armenian males towards Armenianfemales encountered on street cars. Usuallyhe does not stop here, but proceeds todeduce certain general conclusions re­garding the social relationships betweenArmenians and non-Armenians. Most ofus have applied the questionnaire tech­nique with greater caution, but not Ifear with any greater certainty of success.

Some years ago I endeavored to obtaincomparative data on the degree of Frenchand English antipathy towards dark­skinned peoples.s The informal question­naire technique was used, but, althoughthe responses so obtained were exceedinglyconsistent, I supplemented them withwhat I then considered an index to overtbehavior. The hypothesis as then statedseemed entirely logical. "Whatever our

2 "Race Prejudice: France and England," SocialForces, September, 192.8, pp. lO2.-UI.

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TEACHING AND RESEARCH

attitude on the validity of 'verbalization'may be, it must be recognized that anystudy of attitudes through direct question­ing is open to serious objection, both be­cause of the limitations of the samplingmethod and because in classifying atti­tudes the inaccuracy of human judgmentis an inevitable variable. In this study,however, there is corroborating evidenceon these attitudes in the policies adoptedby hotel proprietors. Nothing could beused as a more accurate index of colorprejudice than the admission or non­admission of colored people to hotels.For the proprietor must reflect the groupattitude in his policy regardless of hisown feelings in the matter. Since hedetermines what the group attitude istowards Negroes through the expressionof that attitude in overt behavior andover a long period of actual experience,the results will be exceptionally free fromthose disturbing factors which inevitablyaffect the effort to study attitudes by directquestioning. "

But at that time I overlooked the factthat what I was obtaining from the hotelproprietors was still a "verbalized" reac­tion to a symbolic situation. The re­sponse to a Negro's request for lodgingsmight have been an excellent index of theattitude of hotel patrons towards livingin the same hotel as a Negro. Yet toask the proprietor "Do you permit mem­bers of the Negro race to stay here?" doesnot, it appears, measure his potentialresponse to an actual Negro.

All measurement of attitudes by thequestionnaire technique proceeds on theassumption that there is a mechanicalrelationship between symbolic and non­symbolic behavior. It is simple enoughto prove that there is no necessary cor­relation between speech and action, be­tween response to words and to therealities they symbolize. A parrot can

be taught to swear, a child to sing"Frankie and Johnny" in the Mae Westmanner. The words will have no meaningto either child or parrot. But to provethat there is no necessary relationshipdoes not prove that such a relationship maynot exist. There need be no relationshipbetween what the hotel proprietor sayshe will do and what he actually does whenconfonted with a colored patron. Yetthere may be. Certainly we are justifiedin assuming that the verbal response ofthe hotel proprietor would be more likelyto indicate what he would actually dothan would the verbal response of peoplewhose personal feelings are less sub­ordinated to economic expediency. How­ever, the following study indicates thatthe reliability of even such responses isvery small indeed.

Beginning in 1930 and continuing fortwo years thereafter, I had the good for­tune to travel rather extensively with ayoung Chinese student and his wife."Both were personable, charming, andquick to win the admiration and respectof those they had the opportunity tobecome intimate with. But they wereforeign-born Chinese, a fact that couldnot be disguised. Knowing the general"attitude" of Americans towards theChinese as indicated by the "social dis­tance" studies which have been made, itwas with considerable trepidation that Ifirst approached a hotel clerk in theircompany. Perhaps that clerk's eyebrowslifted slightly, but he accommodated uswithout a show of hesitation. And thisin the "best" hotel in a small town notedfor its narrow and bigoted "attitude"towards Orientals. Two months later Ipassed that way again, phoned the hoteland asked if they would accommodate

3 The results of this study have been withhelduntil the present time out of consideration for theirfeelings.

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SOCIAL FORCES

"an important Chinese gentleman." Thereply was an unequivocal "No." Thataroused my curiosity and led to this study.

In something like ten thousand milesof motor travel, twice across the UnitedStates, up and down the Pacific Coast, wemet definite rejection from those asked toserve us just once. We were received at66 hotels, auto camps, and · 'TouristHomes," refused at one. We were servedin 184 restaurants and cafes scatteredthroughout the country and treated withwhat I judged to be more than ordinaryconsideration in 72. of them. Accurateand detailed records were kept of all theseinstances. An effort, necessarily sub­jective, was made to evaluate the overtresponse of hotel clerks, bell boys, eleva­tor operators, and waitresses to the pres­ence of my Chinese friends. The factorsentering into the situations were varied asfar and as of often as possible. Controlwas not, of course, as exacting as thatrequired by laboratory experimentation.But it was as rigid as is humanly possiblein human situations. For example, Idid not take the "test" subjects into myconfidence fearing that their behaviormight become self-conscious and thusabnormally affect the response of otherstowards them. Whenever possible I letmy Chinese friend negotiate for accom­modations (while I concerned myself withthe car or luggage) or sent them into arestaurant ahead of me. In this way Iattempted to "factor" myself out. Wesometimes patronized high-class estab­lishments after a hard and dusty day onthe road and stopped at inferior autocamps when in our most presentablecondition.

In the end I was forced to conclude thatthose factors which most influenced thebehavior of others towards the Chinesehad nothing at all to do with race.Quality and condition of clothing, ap-

pearance of baggage (by which, it seems,hotel clerks are prone to base their quickevaluations), cleanliness and neatness werefar more significant for person to personreaction in the situations I was studyingthan skin pigmentation, straight blackhair, slanting eyes, and flat noses. Andyet an air of self-confidencemight entirelyoffset the "unfavorable" impression madeby dusty clothes and the usual disorderto appearance consequent upon some hun­dred . miles of motor travel. A super­cilious desk clerk in a hotel of nobleaspirations could not refuse his master'shospitality to people who appeared totake their request as a perfectly normaland conventional thing, though theymight look like tin-can tourists and twoof them belong to the racial category"Oriental;" On the other hand, I becamerather adept at approaching hotel clerkswith that peculiar crab-wise manner whichis so effective in provoking a somewhatscornful disregard. And then a blandsmile would serve to reverse the entiresituation. Indeed, it appeared that agenial smile was the most effective pass­word to acceptance. My Chinese friendswere skillful smilers, which may account,in part, for the fact that we received butone rebuff in all our experience. Finally,I was impressed with the fact that evenwhere some tension developed due to thestrangeness of the Chinese it would evapo­rate immediately when they spoke in unac­cented English.

The one instance in which we wererefused accommodations is worth record­ing here. The place was a small Cali­fornia town, a rather inferior auto-campinto which we drove in a very dilapidatedcar piled with camp equipment. It wasearly evening, the light so dim that theproprietor found it somewhat difficult todecide the genus voyageur to which webelonged. I left the car and spoke to

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TEACHING AND RESEARCH 2.33

him. He hesitated, wavered, said hewas not sure that he had two cabins,meanwhile edging towards our car. Therealization that the two occupants wereOrientals turned the balance or, morelike!y, gave him the excuse he was lookingfor. "No," he said, "I don't take Japs!"In a more pretentious establishment wesecured accommodations, and with anextra flourish of hospitality .

To offset this one flat refusal were themany instances in which the physicalpeculiarities of the Chinese served toheighten curiosity. With few exceptionsthis curiosity was considerately hiddenbehind an exceptional interest in servingus. Of course, outside of the PacificCoast region, New York, and Chicago, theChinese physiognomy attracts attention.It is different, hence noticeable. But theprincipal effect this curiosity has upon thebehavior of those who cater to thetraveler' s needs is to make them moreattentive, more responsive, more reliable.A Chinese companion is to be recom­mended to the white traveling in hisnative land. Strange features when com­bined with "human" speech and actionseems, at times, to heighten sympatheticresponse, perhaps on the same principlethat makes us uncommonly sympathetictowards the dog that has a "human"expression in his face.

What I am trying to say is that in onlyone out of 2.51 instances in which we pur­chased goods or services necessitatingintimate human relationships did the factthat my companions were Chinese ad­versely affect us. Factors entirely un­associated with race were, in the main, thedeterminant of significant variations inour reception. It would appear reason­able to conclude that the "attitude" of theAmerican people, as reflected in the be­havior of those who are for pecuniaryreasons presumably most sensitive to the

antipathies of their white clientele, isanything but negative towards theChinese. In terms of "social distance"we might conclude that native Caucasiansare not averse to residing in the samehotels, auto-camps, and "Tourist Homes"as Chinese and will with complacencyaccept the presence of Chinese at an ad­joining table in restaurant or cafe. It doesnot follow that there is revealed a dis­tinctly "positive" attitude towards theChinese, that whites prefer the Chinese toother whites. But the facts as gatheredcertainly preclude the conclusion thatthere is an intense prejudice towards theChinese.

Yet the existence of this prejudice, veryintense, is proven by a conventional"attitude" study. To provide a com­parison of symbolic reaction to symbolicsocial situations with actual reaction toreal social situations, I "questionnaired"the establishments which we patronizedduring the two year period. Six monthswere permitted to lapse between the timeI obtained the overt reaction and thesymbolic. It was hoped that the effectsof the actual experience with Chineseguests, adverse or otherwise, would havefaded during the intervening time. Tothe hotel or restaurant a questionnairewas mailed with an accompanying letterpurporting to be a special and personalplea for response. The questionnairesall asked the same question, "Will youaccept members of the Chinese race asguests in your establishment?" Twotypes of questionnaire were used. In onethis question was inserted among similarqueries concerning Germans, French,Japanese, Russians, Armenians, Jews,Negroes, Italians, and Indians. In theother the pertinent question was unen­cumbered. With persistence, completedreplies were obtained from 12.8 of theestablishments we had visited; 81 restau-

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SOCIAL FORCES

rants and cafes and 47 hotels, auto-camps,and' 'Tourist Homes. " In response to therelevant question 91. per cent of the formerand 91 per cent of the latter replied "No. t,

The remainder replied "Uncertain; dependupon circumstances." From the womanproprietor of a small auto-camp I receivedthe only "Yes," accompanied by a chattyletter describing the nice visit she hadhad with a Chinese gentleman and hissweet wife during the previous summer.

A rather unflattering interpretationmight be put upon the fact that thoseestablishments who had provided for our

It is impossible to make direct com­parison between the reactions securedthrough questionnaires and from actualexperience. On the basis of the abovedata it would appear foolhardy for aChinese to attempt to travel in the UnitedStates. And yet, as I have shown, actualexperience indicates that the Americanpeople, as represented by the personnelof hotels, restaurants, erc., are not at allaverse to fraternizing with Chinese withinthe limitations which apply to social re­lationships between Americans them­selves. The evaluations which follow are

TABLE I

DISTRIBUTION OF RESULTS FRO M QUESTIONNAIRE STUDY OF ESTABLISHMENT "POLICY" REGARDING

ACCEPTANCE OF CHINESE AS GUESTS

Replies are to the question: . 'Will you accept members of the Chinese race as guests in your establishment?"

HOTELS. ETC •• HOTELS, ETC •• ~ESTAURANTS. ETC •• ~ESTAURANTS. ETC ••VISITED NOT VISITED VISITED NOT VISITED

Total .......................... 47 32 81 96

1* :z.- I :z. I :z. I :z.--- --- --- --- ------

Number replying ................ 22 25 2.0 12 43 38 51 45No ............................ 2.0 23 19 II 40 35 37 41Undecided: depend upon circum-

stances ......... , .......... " . 1 2. 1 I 3 3 4 3yes ............................ I 0 0 0 0 0 0 I

* Column (1) indicates in each case those responses to questionnaires which concerned Chinese only. Thefigures in columns (2.) are from the questionnaires in which the above was inserted among questions regardingGermans, French, Japanese, etc.

needs so graciously were, some monthslater, verbally antagonistic towards hy­pothetical Chinese. To factor this experi­ence out responses were secured from 31.hotels and 96 restaurants located in ap­proximately the same regions, but unin­fluenced by this particular experience withOriental clients. In this, as in the formercase, both types of questionnaires wereused. The results indicate that neitherthe type of questionnaire nor the fact ofprevious experience had important bearingupon the symbolic response to symbolicsocial situations.

undoubtedly subject to the criticism whichany human judgment must withstand.But the fact is that, although they begantheir travels in this country with con­siderable trepidation, my Chinese friendssoon lost all fear that they might receivea rebuff. At first somewhat timid andconsiderably dependent upon me for guid­ance and support, they came in time tofeel fully self-reliant and would approachnew social situations without the slightestheistation.

The conventional questionnaire un­doubtedly has significant value for the

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TEACHING AND RESEARCH

measurement of "political attitudes."The presidential polls conducted by theLiterary Digest have proven that. But a"political attitude" is exactly what thequestionnaire can be justly held to meas­ure; a verbal response to a symbolic situa­tion. Few citizens are ever faced withthe necessity of adjusting themselves tothe presence of the political leaders whom,periodically, they must vote for-or

men may meet and adjust in some wayone to the other.

The questionnaire is probably our onlymeans of determining "religious atti­tudes." An honest answer to the question"Do you believe in God?" reveals allthere is to be measured. "God" is asymbol; "belief"a verbal expression. Sohere, too, the questionnaire is efficacious.But if we would know the emotional

TABLE II

DISTRIBUTION OF RESULTS OBTAINED FROM ACTUAL EXPERIENCE IN THE SITUATION SYMBOLIZED IN THE

QUESTIONNAIRE STUDY

HOTELS, ETC. RESTAURANTS, ETC.

CONDITIONS

Total .

Chinese not so Chinese not SO

A~comp~ied by accompanied at Accompanied by accompanied atInvestigator inception of investigator inc.epti~n of

situation- situanon

55 12. 165 19

Reception very much better than investigator wouldexpect to have received had he been alone, butunder otherwise similar circumstances .

Reception different only to extent of heightened curi­osity, such as investigator might have incurredwere he alone but dressed in manner unconventionalto region yet not incongruous .

Reception "normal" .Reception perceptibly hesitant and not to be ex-

plained on other than "racial" grounds .Reception definitely, though temporarily, em-

barrassing .Not accepted .

2.2.

9

3

6

32.

oo

762.1

4

1

o

9

6

3

oo

* When the investigator was not present at the inception of the situation the judgments were based uponwhat transpired after he joined the Chinese. Since intimately acquainted with them it is probable that errorsin judgment were no more frequent under these conditions than when he was able to witness the inceptionas well as results of the situation.

against. Especially is this true withregard to the president, and it is in relationto political attitudes towards presidentialcandidates that we have our best evidence.But while the questionnaire may indi­cate what the voter will do when he goesto vote, it does not and cannot revealwhat he will do when he meets CandidateJones on the street, in his office, at hisclub, on the golf course, or wherever two

responsiveness of a person to the spokenor written word "God" some othermethod of investigation must be used.And if we would know the extent towhich that responsiveness restrains hisbehavior it is to his behavior that wemust look, not to his questionnaire re­sponse. Ethical precepts are, I judge,something more than verbal professions.There would seem little to be gained from

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SOCIAL FORCES

asking a man if his religious faith pre­vents him from committing sin. Ofcourse it does-on paper. But "moralattitudes" must have a significance in theadjustment to actual situations or they arenot worth the studying. Sitting at mydesk in California I can predict with ahigh degree of certainty what an"average" business man in an averageMid-Western city will reply to the ques­tion "Would you engage in sexual inter­course with a prostitute in a Parisbrothel?" Yet no one, least of all theman himself, can predict what he wouldactually do should he by some misfortunefind himself face to face with the situationin question. His moral "attitudes" areno doubt already stamped into his person­ality. But just what those habits arewhich will be invoked to provide himwith some sort of adjustment to this situa­tion is quite indeterminate.

It is highly probable that when the"Southern Gentleman" says he will notpermit Negroes to reside in his neighbor­hood we have a verbal response to a sym­bolic situation which reflects the "atti­tudes" which would become operative inan actual situation. But there is no needto ask such a question of the true"Southern Gentleman." We knew it allthe time. I am inclined to think that inmost instances where the questionnairedoes reveal non-symbolic attitudes thecase is much the same. It is only whenwe cannot easily observe what people doin certain types of situations that thequestionnaire is resorted to. But it isjust here that the danger in the question­naire technique arises. If Mr. A adjustshimself to Mr. B in a specified way we candeduce from his behavior that he has acertain "attitude" towards Mr. Band,perhaps, all of Mr. B's class. But if nosuch overt adjustment is made it is im­possible to discover what A's adjustment

would be should the situation arise. Aquestionnaire will reveal what Mr. Awrites or says when confronted with acertain combination of words. But notwhat he will do when he meets Mr. B.Mr. B is a great deal more than a series ofwords. He is a man and he acts. Hisaction is not necessarily what Mr. A."imagines" it will be when he reactsverbally to the symbol "Mr. B."

No doubt a considerable part of thedata which the social scientist deals withcan be obtained by the questionnairemethod. The census reports are basedupon verbal questionnaires and I do notdoubt their basic integrity. Ifwe wish toknow how many children a man has, hisincome, the size of his home, his age,and the condition of his parents, we canreasonably ask him. These things he hasfrequently and conventionally convertedinto verbal responses. He is competent toreport upon them, and will do so accu­rately, unless indeed he wishes to dootherwise. A careful investigator couldno doubt even find out by verbal meanswhether the man fights with his wife(frequently, infrequently, or not at all),though the neighbors would be a morereliable source. But we should not expectto obtain by the questionnaire methodhis "anticipatory set or tendency" toaction should his wife pack up and gohome to Mother, should Elder Son getinto trouble with the neighbor's daughter,the President assume the status of adictator, the Japanese take over the restof China, or a Chinese gentleman come topay a social call.

Only a verbal reaction to an entirelysymbolic situation can be secured by thequestionnaire. It may indicate what theresponder would actually do when con­fronted with the situation symbolized inthe question, but there is no assurancethat it will. And so to call the response

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havior is time consuming, intellectuallyfatiguing, and depends for its success uponthe ability of the investigator. Theformer method gives quantitative results,the latter mainly qualitative. Quantita­tive measurements are quantitatively ac­curate; qualitative evaluations are alwayssubject to the errors of human judgment.Yet it would seem far more worth whileto make a shrewd guess regarding thatwhich is essential than to accurately meas­ure that which is likely to prove quiteirrelevant.

TEACHING AND RESEARCH

a reflection of a "social attitude" is toentirely disregard the definition commonlygiven for the phrase" attitude." If socialattitudes are to be conceptualized aspartially integrated habit sets which willbecome operative under specific circum­stances and lead to a particular patternof adjustment they must, in the main, bederived from a study of humans behavingin actual social situations. They mustnot be imputed on the basis of question­naire data.

The questionnaire is cheap, easy, andmechanical. The study of human be-

THE ROCKEFELLER FOUNDATION

237

Social Science Program for I9JJ

President Max Mason, in commenting upon the work of the Foundation during 1933, directedattention to the fact that because this period' 'has been marked by economic, social, andpolitical stress in many parts of the world, giving rise to pressing problems of national andInternational scope," the Foundation, while carrying on its regular program in the advance­ment of knowledge through selected fields, has chosen for intensive study and work "thosesubfields which contribute more directly to the general problem of human behavior, withthe aim of control through understanding." Accordingly, "in the social sciences the prob­lems of economic structure and process, international relations, and community organiza­tion and planning have been considered of principal importance."

Of a total of $9,890,806.31 contributed during 1933, for various philanthropic projects,$1,636,000 was appropriated for the social sciences. Information Service of the RockefellerFoundation summarizes these grants as follows:

In a general program aiding the social sciences as a whole, support was given to twentyinstitutional centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Near East, and the Orient.

In support of a program of specific research in economic planning and control, appropria­tions were made in 1933 to the National Bureau of Economic Research, New York City; tothe Financial Section and Economic Intelligence Service of the League of Nations; to theEconomic Foundation, New York City, for a study of the history of prices; to the Uni­versity of Louvain, Belgium, for researches on the business cycle; and to the Industrial Rela­tions Counselers, New York City, for unemployment studies. In the field of internationalrelations, grants were made in 1933 to the Foreign Policy Association, New York City; theFiscal Committee of the League of Nations, for a study of international taxation problems;the Geneva Research Center, Switzerland; the American Council of the Institute of PacificRelations; the German School of Politics, Berlin; and the American Geographical Society,for the preparation of a map of Hispanic America on a 1 to 1,000,000 scale. For researchin community organization and planning, grants were made to the Social Sciences ResearchCouncil's Committee on Government Statistics and Information Service, Washington, D. c.;to the Science Advisory Board, Washington, D. c.; and to the Joint Committee on Researchof the Community Council of Philadelphia, Pa.

During 1933, the Rockefeller Foundation provided funds with which 2.08 active fellow­ships were maintained in the social sciences. A special fellowship program in agriculturaleconomics and rural sociology which had been supported over a five-year period came to anend, June 30, 1933. In the final year there were 2.2. men holding fellowships.

Emergency Grants: Grants totaling $589,000 were made by a special trustee committee ofthe Foundation in support of studies of pressing economic problems. Six research agenciesand two universities received such aid in conducting special investigations: the BrookingsInstitution for three concurrent economic studies; the Social Science Research Council forstudies of relief cases, unemployment reserves and relief, national policy in internationaleconomic relations, and the Tennessee Valley development; the American Municipal Asso­ciation for the work of its Advisory Service on Public Works; the Slum Clearance Committeeof New York for its preliminary program; Columbia University for a study of the effects ofsales taxes; the University of California for field studies of barter groups; and the New YorkAdult Education Council and the Committee on the Use of Leisure Time for their generalprograms. In addition, the Foundation arranged for visits to the United States by certainforeign authorities on social and economic subjects, in order that American institutionsmight profit by their comment and advice. .

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