Three reference systems-the self, the professional, and the membership-are variables bearing on behavior in moral dilemmas. These are used to explain the apparent inconsistency between attitude and behavior of ministers in the racial crisis current in Little Rock, Arkansas. Centrain institutional characteristics compelled the minister to give a peaceable atmosphere in his congregation precedence over social reform. Certain institutional arrangements, working propositions, techniques of communication, and the reactions of extremists helped the minister to control the development of guilt while remaining inactive during his city's racial crisis.
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Campbell et al. (1959) studied this question.