Deconstructing Brotherhood An Examination of Morehouse Culture EMANUEL
Deconstructing Brotherhood: An Examination of Morehouse Culture EMANUEL WADDELL ADVISORS: DR. DAVIS AND DR. RICE
What’s This About? Morehouse College is renowned for many things. Chief among them is the intense brotherhood that students from the school claim to share. It is not uncommon to hear the brotherhood mentioned by students and administration, and even to find it on materials distributed by the institution. But what is this “brotherhood” really? What does it mean to students? And, perhaps most importantly, does it have detrimental effects on the academic achievements of the students it is supposed to help?
Intro/Literature Collectivist Cultures ◦ Triandis et al on Collectivism/Individualism (1990) ◦ Liou on Collectivist Cultures and their organizational impact (2013) Competition ◦ Constructive Competition (Erev et al 1993, Tjosvold et al 2003) ◦ Competition in Classrooms (Rosol, 2013)
Research Question/Hypothesis 1. How do students define and relate to the Morehouse Brotherhood? 2. Does Morehouse foster a collectivist culture that leads to a diminished environment of competitiveness among students? Hypothesis: Students that identify most strongly with collectivism and the brotherhood will be the least competitive and demonstrate lower academic achievement.
Methods Participants: Current Morehouse Students Basic Demographic data collected: Name, major, years at Morehouse 1. Open ended questions about brotherhood Ex: What does brotherhood mean to you? Is there a brotherhood at Morehouse? 2. Adapted version of Matsumoto’s scale for measuring collectivism (Matsumoto et al, 1997) ◦ Cronbach’s α = 0. 86 Ex: I am willing to sacrifice my goals for classmates. I find it important to adhere to norms established by classmates. 3. Self Report of GPA and competitiveness
Results Participant Total: N = 19 Collectivism Mean: 81 (0 -133, SD = 17. 04) Competitiveness Mean: 15. 7 (0 – 21, SD = 3. 89) Mean GPA: 3. 17 (0 – 4, SD = 0. 50)
Collectivism and GPA Analysis: Pearson Correlation N = 16 r = -. 642 p =. 007 (significant at. 01 level)
Competitiveness and GPA Analysis: Pearson Correlation N = 18 r =. 576 p =. 012 (significant at. 01 level)
Collectivism and Competitiveness Analysis: Pearson Correlation N = 15 r = -. 134 p =. 634
Open Ended Results • What is Brotherhood? • Having the back of fellow students, assisting fellow students • Family like relationship • Everyone agrees there is a brotherhood • Over time, understanding of brotherhood became more nuanced; students with more years were more likely to simultaneously call it imperfect but deeper and more engaging • Most students say Morehouse has strengthened or evolved their sense of community in some way
Conclusions • Competitiveness and GPA positively correlated • Collectivism and GPA negatively correlated But… • Lack of correlation between competitiveness and collectivism implies some mediating factor
Discussion • Collectivism’s impact on GPA • Is collectivism brotherhood? • Competitiveness impact on GPA • Is GPA reflective of learning? • Why aren’t the two correlated? • Pre-existing factors • Further Research • Broader sample • Deeper qualitative exploration
References Triandis, H. C. , Mc. Cusker, C. , & Hui, C. H. (1990). Multimethod Probes of Individualism and Collectivism. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 59(5), 1006– 1020. Liou, S. -R. , Tsai, H. -M. , & Cheng, C. -Y. (2013). Acculturation, collectivist orientation and organisational commitment among Asian nurses working in the US healthcare system. Journal of Nursing Management, 21(4), 614– 623. doi: 10. 1111/j. 1365 -2834. 2012. 01447. x Erev, I. , Bornstein, G. , & Galili, R. (1993). Constructive Intergroup Competition as a Solution to the Free Rider Problem: A Field Experiment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 29(6), 463– 478. doi: 10. 1006/jesp. 1993. 1021 Rosol, S. B. (2013). Adding Constructive Competition to Enhance a Cooperative Learning Experience: A Quest for Kudos. Journal of Management Education, 37(4), 562– 591. Tjosvold, D. , Johnson, D. W. , Johnson, R. T. , & Sun, H. (2003). Can Interpersonal Competition Be Constructive Within Organizations? Journal of Psychology, 137(1), 63.
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