Rigidity and Ethnocentrism: A Critique

Abstract

The relationships between personality and the phenomenon of prejudice have been the concern of several recent investigations (1» 2, 3,14,15) Elsewhere (13) we have presented a general methodological critique of some of these studies (1. 2) One of the personality charactenstics reported to differentiate "the prejudiced" from "the unprejudiced," was that of rigidity (1, p 276) Evidence for this claim was based largely on clinical evaluations, while expenmental validation was said to be furnished by the findings of Rokeach (14) It is with the work of Rdkeach (14, 15) that we shall be concerned m the present report We shall deal not only with Rokeach's hypotheses and findings but also with the methods he employed to study rigidity and with the concept of rigidity which he presented It is hoped that the present critique will highlight some of the methodological and conceptual problems involved in understanding and measunng rigidity Rokeach set forth two hypotheses 1 the rigidity inherent in the ethnocentric person's solution of scx:ial problems is not an isolated phenomenon but is rather an aspect of a general rigidity factor which will manifest itself in solving any problem, social or non-social (IS. p 276)

The Relationship Between Social‐Cultural Attitudes and Behavioral Measures of Cognitive Style: A Meta‐Analytic Integration of Studies

“…It should be stressed that the validity of cognitive style tasks has been debated in the literature. In particular, the use of Einstellung rigidity scores as an indicator of general cognitive rigidity has been criticized (e.g., Levitt, 1956; Luchins, 1949). Other studies comparing different operational definitions of repeatedly measuring a cognitive style obtained weak intercorrelations among these measures (for intolerance of ambiguity, see Kenny & Ginsberg, 1958; for cognitive complexity, see Van Hiel & Mervielde, 2003; Vannoy, 1965).…”

The Relationship between Right–wing Attitudes and Cognitive Style: A Comparison of Self–report and Behavioural Measures of Rigidity and Intolerance of Ambiguity

“…Not only conceptual problems but also measurement issues have repeatedly plagued cognitive style research, and these issues pertain to behavioural as well as self-report measures. Indeed, the validity of Einstellung rigidity has been repeatedly criticized in the literature (Luchins, 1949;Levitt, 1956), and several studies demonstrated only weak intercorrelations among different behavioural measures for the same construct (e.g. for intolerance of ambiguity, Durrheim & Foster, 1997;Kenny & Ginsberg, 1958).…”

The Search for Complex Problem-Solving Strategies in the Presence of Stressors

“…Previous research on stressors has not been very informative on the persistence of using previously acquired knowledge in stressful circumstances. However, the work of Luchins (1942Luchins ( , 1949Luchins ( , 1952 on cognitive set or Einstellung-the blinding effect of an unduly persistent application of a complex solution strategy -may be informative in this respect.…”