Masters Theses

Date of Award

8-1969

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Major

Sociology

Major Professor

Dr. Louis Dotson

Committee Members

Dr. Virgil Long & Dr. James Black

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate the family as a socializing agency from the standpoint of a possible relationship between kindred connectedness and inner-other direction.

The concept of kindred connectedness, developed by Whiteside and used in this study, is defined as the degree to which kin are bound to­gether by mutual assistance, affective support, and commonly held values and norms. Whiteside argues that persons from a close kindred have been socialized to be more sensitive to the expectations of others than persons from a non-close kindred.

There have been numerous attempts to develop empirical measures of the dimensions involved in Riesman's inner-other typology of personality. Research in this area has shown inner-other directedness to be related to susceptibility to influence from others, socioeconomic status, age, and sex. However, most of these studies have assumed that inner- and· other-direction form poles of a single dimension. Peterson takes ex­ception to this approach and conceptualizes inner-other direction as cells in a property-space model. Inner-other direction is defined by affiliation-achievement, introversion-extroversion, external conformity­ individuality, and the like.

It is hypothesized that subjects from high connected families are more likely to be other-directed and subjects from low connected families are more likely to be inner-directed. It should follow that high connected subjects would show more of the characteristics defined as other-directed on the Peterson I-0 scale while the reverse should be true for low connected respondents .

The measure of kindred connectedness is developed from a matrix analysis of visits between each member of the respondent ' s relatives . Quartile distributions are developed for the kindred connectedness scores.

The measure of inner-other direction is a modification of the measure used by Peterson. Four factor and seven factor summary scales are developed from the individual factors of the I-0 scale as well as summated scales for the individual factors. Quartile distributions are developed for the scales.

A convenience sample of 692 students on the Knoxville Campus of The University of Tennessee was taken during the Spring and Summer of 1967. Questionnaires were administered to the students in lower level sociology classes and one of the women's dorms on the campus .

Analysis of the data was conducted through use of the card sorting machine and the IBM 7040 computer. The X^2 test of association was used for statistical analysis.

The results of the study do not support the hypothesized relationship nor the direction of the relationship between kindred connectedness and inner-other direction. The data show a tendency toward other-direction for low connected respondents and inner-direction for high connected respondents. Although the first three factors of the Peterson I-0 scale are related to kindred connectedness at the .05 level, the relationship between kindred connectedness and all of the first four factors of the Peterson I-0 scale are in the opposite direction from that hypothesized .

Discussion as to what might have affected the outcome of the study included the question of the adequacy of visitation as a sufficient index of kindred connectedness, sensitivity as an outgrowth of high kindred connectedness, the homogeneity of the sample, and the restrictions on the number of measures due to limits of time and space. In an attempt to ex­plain the unexpected findings, a theoretical rationale was developed in­volving the relationship among kindred connectedness, dependency, and inner-other direction. A replication of the study is suggested, incorporating these factors.

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