The Effects of Contextual Dissonance on the Self-Concept of Youth from a High versus Low Socially Valued Group

Abstract The present study examined the self-concept of subjects from either a high or low socially valued group who were immersed in a contextually dissonant school setting. Subjects were 315 seventh- and eighth-grade black and white boys and girls. Of this group, 54 were bused to a school where their group was in the minority (dissonant context). The remaining subjects stayed in the school where their group was in the majority (consonant context). The results supported the contextual dissonance theory for the subjects from the lower socially valued group but not for those from the higher socially valued group. A significant interaction for the former group of subjects involving Dissonant Versus Consonant Context × Male Versus Female × Fall Versus Spring Semester showed that the number of negative attributes ascribed to the self was higher for the subjects bused into a dissonant context than for those remaining in a consonant context; this difference was, however, significant for the fall testing only. Also, change in self-concept from fall to spring semester differed depending on whether the subjects were male or female as well as on whether or not they were bused into a dissonant context.