Publication Date

12-1977

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Raytha Yokley, Paul Wozniak, Thomas Madron

Degree Program

Department of Sociology

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

Inter-regional migration within the United States was studied in order to ascertain its effects on changes in civil rights attitudes. From a nationwide sample, white respondents were initially classified as being from the South or the non-South. Within these two groups, respondents were further classified as being original inhabitants or migrants from the other region. Civil rights attitude was measured with an index constructed from attitudinal items employed in the national survey. Relationships among variables were analyzed using Multiple Classification Analysis.

White Southerners were found to be more conservative in regard to civil rights attitudes than white non-Southerners. Migrants from the non-South to the South held more conservative civil rights attitudes than original Northerners, but were not as conservative in this regard as original Southerners. Migrants from the South to the non-South exhibited more liberal civil rights attitudes than original Southerners. However, these migrants were not as liberal in this area as original non-Southerners. These findings lend support to the migrant resocialization hypothesis. Inter-regional migration tends to bring about a shift in reference group affiliations. This shift in reference groups leads to a modification in civil rights attitudes.

Disciplines

Migration Studies | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Sociology

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