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A Note on the Stability andMaturity of Jewish and Non-Jewish BoysFred Brown aa Child Study Department , Minneapolis PublicSchools , USAPublished online: 01 Jul 2010.

To cite this article: Fred Brown (1940) A Note on the Stability and Maturity ofJewish and Non-Jewish Boys, The Journal of Social Psychology, 12:1, 171-175, DOI:10.1080/00224545.1940.9713812

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00224545.1940.9713812

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SHORT ARTICLES AND NOTES

The Journal of Social Psychology, 1940, 12, 171-175.

A NOTE ON THE STABILITY AND MATURITY OFJEWISH AND NON-JEWISH BOYS·

Child Study Department, Minneapolis Public Schools

FRED BROWN

In this study an attempt has been made to determine whetherdifferences in nacio-racial affiliation influence results obtained ontests of neurotic tendency and developmental age or social maturity.The comparison groups consisted of 91 non-Jewish boys with amean chronological age of 13.5 years (u 2.0 years) and 67 Jewishboys with a mean chronological age of 12.4 years (u 1.7 years).Relatively constant environmental conditions were maintained byexamining each group in its own private summer camp.

The Brown Personality Inventory (2) was employed for thedetermination of neurotic tendencies. Corrected reliability coeffi­cients for this instrument range from +.860 and +.928 (1) to+.948 and +.971 (2). The Furfey Developmental Age scale (4)(Form B-3) was used to measure social maturity. The mean "split­half" reliability of this scale was found by Furfey to be +.91. Thisscale also appears to be slightly but not significantly related to mentalage and socio-economic status.

Socio-economic status was controlled by comparing the occupationsof the fathers and rating them on the Goodenough scale. Since mostof the occupations fell into Group III of this classification, it isobvious that we are dealing with children from a high averagesocio-economic background.'

In Table 1 we observe that the differences between the Jewishand non-Jewish boys are statistically insignificant for each category

-Received in the Editorial Office on March 28, 1939.

'This group includes various retail dealers, salesmen, jewelers, engraversosteopaths, real estate agents, etc., and comprises 14.42 per cent of th~general population of the nation.

171

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172 JOVRlI:AL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

TABLE 1

AVERAGE ~U~tUER 01' PSYCHONEUROTIC RESPONSES PER CATEGORY FOR EACII

CAMP GROUP COMPARED WITH URBAN GROUPS OF SIMILAR AND

DIFFERENT SoclO-EcONOMIC LEVEL----- - ~----

OhioJewish Gentile Ohio Ohio low S-E

campers D/««. tr. campers Jewish Gentile level----

Physical H7 .76 3.08 3.69 2.87 6.08Inserur itv 3.6+ .32 3.80 3.47 3.33 5.17I rritahility 2.5+ .+7 2'+0 2.69 2.35 3.29School AO 5.90 1.25 1.13 1.1+ 1.86Home 1.86 .33 1.97 2.26 1.84 2.81

(from 62 to 79 chances in 100 of a true difference greater thanzero) with the exception of school adjustment, in which the Jewishgroup obtains reliably superior scores. For comparison, we haveincluded data derived from a previous study of nacio-racial groupdifferences (3). These data, except for the school adjustment cate­gory, confirm our findings with regard to the absence of racialdifferences in neuroticism in children when socio-economic factorsare controlled. Critical ratios between the Ohio Jewish and non­Jewish boys were uniformly insignificant, while those between thesegroups and the Ohio Low S-E group were uniformly significant.This offers further evidence of the socio-economic equivalence ofour cases.

The results on the Furfey Developmental Age scale are shown

TABLE 2[)EVELOPMENTAL :\GE AND DEVELOPMENTAL QUOTIENTS OF JEWISH AND NON­

JEWISH Boys ON THE FUR FEY DEVELOPMENTAl. AGE SCALE

Jewish bon

Developmentalage 1+.86 yea rs

Developmentalquotient 120.11

l\' 67

3AO

10.71

Non-Jewishboys

13.83 years

103.+1

in Table 2 and indicate that the J ewish boys score reliably higherthan the non-Jewish boys in the maturity of their play preferences,fantasy life, ambitions, adjustment to the group, choices of booksand movies. and in their ability to accept responsibility.

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FRED BROWN 173

DISCUSSION

In their study of the personality characteristics of 625 high schoolstudents and their parents, Sward and Friedman (8) found thatthe Jewish group exceeded the mean score of the non-Jewish groupabout 60 per cent in the direction of unfavorable traits. Theyemployed the Bernreuter Personality Inventory and the HeidbrederI ntrouersicn-]njeriority Questionnaire. In another recent studySukov and Williams (7) conclude that u ••• the Jewish student hasa more marked tendency toward maladjustment than has the non­Jewish student, on the average." They point out, however, that"differences within each group are greater than differences betweenthe two groups."

Furthermore, Malzberg (5) has found that functional psychosesare relatively more prevalent among the Jewish insane than amongall foreign whites, while Brill and Karpas (1) also conclude thatJews contribute a high percentage of functional insanities to statehospitals, with manic-depressive insanity highest and undifferentiateddepression neuroses second. If, therefore, maladjustment, insofaras it can be measured reliably by objective tests, is no more char­acteristic of Jewish than of non-Jewish children of similar socio­economic status, whereas its incidence appears to increase as theindividual comes into closer contact with social and vocationalrealities, then, in view of the higher scores obtained by Jewish boyson the Furfey D. A. scale (assuming that these differences wouldhold at other socio-economic levels) we may tentatively advance anhypothesis which might partially account for these results.

Since developmental age is ostensibly related to social and culturalfactors existing and functioning in the home, we may assume thatthe emphasis upon achievement and maturation (social) in manyJewish homes tends to force a more rapid transition from one de­velopmental level to another than would normally take place. Toa considerable extent the child's acceptance by the parents is relatedto his ability or willingness to relinquish less mature interests andattitudes for the more advanced ones which are held out to him andtoward which he is virtually thrust. This process concomitantlyinculcates in the child an illusion of limitless vertical mobility, i.e.,the opportunity to mount upward from a less satisfactory socialclass to a more satisfactory one. This may be reflected in thesomewhat better school adjustment manifested by the Jewish boys.

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174 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

The vertical drive continues through secondary school and into theuniversity, at which time the choice of a profession becomes a diffi­cult and perplexing problem. In schools where personnel work iscarried on in an effort to prevent costly mistakes in the properselection of a vocation, the student is advised upon the basis of hismarks, interests, aptitudes, and temperament. When these are notsuited to the student's vocational choice, other suggestions are offeredand are generally acted upon. In any event, these suggestions arefairly valid scientifically and not too difficult to accept emotionally.

The personnel worker often encounters in the Jewish student adouble resistance to the realities of the counseling situation. Thisconsists of (a) a refusal to accept the reality of the numerous clausesas it applies to his individual case and (b) a virtual inability toaccept the far-reaching implications of unfavorable data becausethey corne into sharp conflict with the taken-for-granted goal so longago established by the parents and so deeply impregnated by themwith emotional coloring.

At this stage, if not somewhat earlier, the individual becomesaware of discrimination, both social and academic, against membersof the Jewish group. The realization that vertical mobility is ratherdefinitely limited brings with it disillusionment which may produceanxiety states and associated symptoms. The drive may, neverthe­less, continue in an upward direction, manifesting itself as over­reaction and compensatory behavior. The greater incidence offunctional psychoses among members of the Jewish population mayrepresent a later stage in the process which has been described, orperhaps a more severe reaction to the discrepancy between a strongindividual upward thrust and a relatively low social ceiling.

REFERENCES

1. BRILL, A. A., & KARPAS, M. J. Insanity among Jews. J. Nero, f:JMcnt, Dis., 1914, 71, 512-517.

2. BROWN, F. A psychoneurotic inventory for children between nine andfourteen years of age. J. Appl. Psyclzol., 1934, 18, 566-577.

3. . A comparative study of the influence of race and localeupon emotional stability of children. J. Gen. Psychol., 1936,49, 325-342.

4. FURFEY, P. H. A revised scale for measuring developmental age inboys. Child Dcoel., 1931, 2, 102-1 H.

5. MALZBERG, B. New data relative to incidence of mental disease amongJews. Ment. Hyg., 1936, 20, 280-291,

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FRED BROWN 175

6. SPRINGER, N. N. A comparative study of the psychoneurotic responsesof deaf and hearing children. J. Educ, Res., 1938, 459-466.

7. SUKOV, M., & WILLIAMSON, E. G. Personality traits and attitudes ofJewish and non-Jewish students. J. Appl. Psychol., 1938, 22, 487-492.

8. SWARD, K., & FRIEDMAN, M. B. Jewish temperament. J. Appl. Psychol.,1935, 19, 70-84.

Child Study DepartmentMinneapolis Public SchoolsCentral Avenue and S. E. FourthMinneapolis, iWinnesota

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