Social Orientation among Israeli Youth a Cross-Cultural Perspective

McClintock, Bayard, and McClintock (1983) argue that the more competitive and less cooperative orientation of Anglo-American versus Mexican American children is a product of underlying cultural differences in mediating familial factors such as interdependence, size, and delegation of authority, as well as peer exposure. The cultural distinction between Western and Middle Eastern Jews in Israel displays parallel differences in these socialization factors, thereby offering an opportunity for cross-cultural validation of their model. Knight and Kagan's (1977a) social behavior scale was completed by a sample of 480 students, balanced for ethnicity (Western/ Middle Eastern), age (10-11 / 16-17 years), and ecology (urban/ rural). The central finding was that Middle Easterners were more cooperative than Westerners in rural settings, but not in urban ones. Discussion focused on differential pace of acculturation among rural Middle Easterners and the implication of ethnic differences for educational programming.