in Lincoln)
71 of the children were White. These children were randomly selected from
the classrooms containing black respondents.
In the town of Lincoln at the time 1.4% of the total population were
Black, and in the first five schools used in the study the proportions of
Black children were 3%, 3%, 3%, 7% and 18%.
Also, 70% of the Black children in the study reported that they had White
friends.
The sample therefore seems to consist of children in an interracial
setting.
As Hraba & Grant’s study was a replication of Clark & Clark (1947), they
followed the same procedures as far as possible.
The children were interviewed individually using a set of four dolls: two
Black and two White, but identical in all other respects. The children
were asked the same questions used by the Clarks. They were as follows:
Questions Asked What it Measured
(1) Give me the doll that you want to play with
(2) Give me the doll that is a nice doll Racial
Preference
(3) Give me the doll that looks bad
(4) Give me the doll that is a nice colour
(5) Give me the doll that looks like a white child
Awareness or
(6) Give me the doll that looks like a coloured child Knowledge
(7) Give me the doll that looks like a Negro child
(8) Give me the doll that looks like you Racial Self-identification
Items 1-4 were attempting to measure racial preference, items 5-7
measuring awareness or knowledge, and item 8 measuring racial
self-identification.
Hraba & Grant also asked the children and their teachers to name the race
of the child’s best friends to assess the behavioural consequences of
racial preference and identification.
Hraba & Grant controlled for the race of the interviewer, by assigning the
children to both black and white interviewers.
Results/Findings
It shows that, in the Hraba & Grant, Lincoln study, Black children
and White children preferred the doll of their own ‘race’.
The White children were significantly more ethnocentric (i.e. preferring
dolls of the same colour) on items 1 and 2, there was no difference on
item 3 and the Black children were significantly more ethnocentric on item
4.
The earlier studies by the Clarks had found that Black children had
preferred White dolls at all ages - although this preference did decreased
with age.
Hraba & Grant found that Black children of all ages preferred a Black doll
and this preference increased with age.
The Clarks had classified their subjects by skin colour into three
categories: light (practically White), medium (light brown to dark brown),
and dark (dark brown to black). Hraba & Grant therefore used the same
criteria and found no trend whereas the earlier Clarks’ study found that
children of light skin colour showed the greatest preference for the White
doll and the dark children the least.
For items 5 to 8 (racial awareness and self identification) Hraba & Grant
obtained similar results to those of Clark & Clarks. The children made
very few errors.
They also found that the race of the interviewer had no effect on the
choices of either the Black or the White children.
Finally they found that there was no relationship between race of friends
for both Black and White children on their doll preference.
Evaluation of Procedure
The questionnaire used a ‘forced choice technique’ and this method does
not give any indication of the strength of the attitude. Therefore the
attitude that is expressed may appear to be much more strongly held than
it is. If a child prefers the white doll this does not mean he or she is
rejecting the black doll.
One of the questions is slightly dubious. The question which states,
‘Give me the doll that looks bad,’ could be interpreted in a number of
ways. Does the question mean does it look horrible, or does it look
naughty? This also raises the question that perhaps some of the results
may have been due to the children responding to demand characteristics and
trying to work out what the experimenters wanted them to say. This may
have been more evident in the 1939 study when racial discrimination was
far more in evidence universally than it is nowadays.
The children in Lincoln might not have been representative of the
population as a whole. The black community in Lincoln was only 1.4% of
the whole and the chances are that they would have integrated far more
with the white community than if they had been a much larger group. Their
cultural differences would also therefore have been small, whereas if
there is a large group of people of a certain ethnicity then they are more
likely to stay together and retain their cultural norms.
It can be argued that doll choice is not really a valid measure of racial
preference or identity. This is a very limited way of measuring something
as complex as an individual’s identity.
The main methodological strength of the study must have been the amount of
control the study had. The researchers were able to keep as far as
possible much of the procedure constant. For example they could control
the order of the questions, the dolls and even the race of the
interviewers. Such control enables the researchers to be more precise
about statements of cause and effect and allows the study to be easily
replicated.
Explanation
Hraba & Grant give a number of explanations for why their results in 1969
are very different from the doll choices in 1939.
Firstly it is likely that Black children in 1969 were more proud of their
race than they were in 1939.
Secondly it is possible that children in Lincoln, unlike those in the
cities, might have chosen Black dolls in 1939. Obviously this explanation
can not be examined further.
Thirdly, the growth of organisations in the Black community might have
enhanced Black pride. During the periods 1967-1969 a black pride
campaign, sponsored by organisations which were black conscious was aimed
at adolescents and young adults in Lincoln. Black children through their
interactions with kin and friends may have modelled these attitudes.
Fourthly, inter-racial contact such as in nursery or school might create
Black pride.
Evaluation of Explanations
It is difficult to say which explanation is correct but what is important
is that we see psychological studies in an historical context.
Clark and Clark’s study was carried out towards the end of the 1930s when
most states had policies on segregation, and Black people were excluded
from White areas and denied access to education, housing, welfare,
politics and jobs.
Hraba and Grant’s study was carried out in 1969. The 1960’s saw the
growth of the civil rights movement and the growth of the Black religious
and political organisations and figures. These changes led to some
improvement in the opportunities and expectations for Black people in the
USA.
Since that time, Black people have made many advances within US society
and now occupy an important place in the democratic structure. Despite
this, the majority of Black people are still economically disadvantaged
and the object of considerable racism.
