The article itself is:
Cohen, D., Nisbett, R. E ., Bowdle, B., & Schwarz, N. (1996). Insult,
aggression, and the Southern culture of honor: An "experimental
ethnography." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 945-960.
I should stress that by no definition of which I'm aware is this an
ethnography.
The researchers are all from the U. of MIchigan, the U. of
Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, and Northwestern, and all "subjects" were
students at the U. of Michigan.
This work has also been published in book form. See
http://www.perseusbooksgroup.com/perseus-cgi-bin/display/0-8133-1993-5
http://reason.com/9702/bk.wright.shtml
where it is hailed as landmark research. One reviewer does offer the caveat
(amazingly, in "Reason Online") that:
A possible weakness in the study is that the subjects were students at the
University of Michigan, hardly a typical batch of small-town Southern
rednecks. To people in the South, "going North" to college usually means
Vanderbilt or Duke, or possibly Virginia, so Southern males who end up at a
place like the University of Michigan are highly self-selected. At the same
time, a "typical batch of rednecks" would almost certainly react even more
strongly to these experimental conditions.
To me, the characterization of typical Southerners as "rednecks" tells me
all I need to know about the reviewer's biases in lauding the study.
Peter
At 10:03 PM 1/12/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>Thanks, Peter, for another cheery example of the masquerade of reason!
>
>The U of Michigan IRB is, at least today, rather notoriously
>over-concerned about the least possibility of discomfiture to human
>subjects (or about the university's legal liability, reports differ). When
>was this study done?
>
>How can people DO this kind of research??? How can others not just LAUGH
>at its pretensions? How could anyone imagine that you could conclude
>anything seriously important or useful by doing such a study ... or were
>they just out to "test a hypothesis" about retrograde southerners? or try
>to add a publication to what must be a pretty needy CV?
>
>Could we maybe ban the word "because" from the social sciences?
>
>JAY.
>
>
>At 12:10 PM 1/12/2004 -0500, you wrote:
>>I've read the Cohen et al. article recently posted to xmca and have a
>>hard time believing that anyone could take it seriously. If it had been
>>sent to me as an external reviewer, I would have recommended that it not
>>be published.
>>
>>The population studied is a sample of students attending the University
>>of Michigan. One comparison group was deemed "Northern" and the other
>>"Southern" by virtue of having spent at least six years of their lives in
>>a region of states ranging from Delaware to Texas. All, however, were
>>students at Michigan. So, this study of the "Southern Culture of Honor"
>>took place in the upper midwest, where I imagine that a person of
>>southern upbringing would feel out of place. And I would infer from
>>general population tendencies that northerners (like the researchers, all
>>at universities in Michigan and Illinois) would not treat this population
>>as equals in general but as natives of a region characterized by
>>ignorance, poverty, Christian fundamentalism, and other negative traits
>>(at least to those making the judgments).
>>
>> From a CHAT perspective, I think it's irresponsible and unethical to
>> take an alien population, subject them to hostility, and then conclude
>> that they are aggressive. The research methodology is as follows: "In 3
>> experiments, [the participants] were insulted by a confederate who
>> bumped into the participant and called him an 'asshole.'" Among other
>> things, I must wonder how this study got through any responsible
>> institutional review board, given the potential psychological impact on
>> an alien being accosted in this manner.
>>
>>The researchers say that the American Souther has for centuries been
>>regarded as more violent than the North. "We think the best single
>>explanation has to do with the South being home to a version of the
>>Culture of Honor, in which affronts are met with violent
>>retribution." Anyone, however, who can read a demographic chart knows
>>that the South has historically been poorer than any other region of the
>>US, and that people in poverty are more violent than people living in
>>relative prosperity. So the fundamental assumption that a culture of
>>honor exists in the South because of higher rates of violence is
>>questionable. Extrapolating that the Southerners being called assholes
>>in an environment they likely perceived as hostile are acting out a
>>culture of honor when responding aggressively is just idiotic.
>>
>>Peter (who lived for 14 years in the Chicago area and found it pretty
>>violent)
>
>
>Jay Lemke
>Professor
>University of Michigan
>School of Education
>610 East University
>Ann Arbor, MI 48104
>
>Tel. 734-763-9276
>Email. JayLemke@UMich.edu
>Website. www.umich.edu/~jaylemke
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sun Feb 01 2004 - 01:00:10 PST