Authors:
Dorottya Kisfalusi | Institute for Sociology Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences | Hungary
Béla Janky | Institute for Sociology Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Károly Takács | MTA TK ‘Lendület’ Research Center for Educational and Network Studies (RECENS)
In this study we examine ability attribution processes among male and female Roma and non-Roma primary school students. Girls and members of certain minority groups are often evaluated as less competent than boys and majority students even with the same level of performance. Double standards theory (Foschi, 2000) provides an explanation for why this might happen: people use different standards for making inferences about others’ competence based on social status. Because of status generalization processes low status individuals such as women and members of minorities might be judged by a stricter standard than high status individuals. Social identity processes, however, might also play a role in ability attributions. Social identity theory (Tajfel, 1982; Tajfel & Turner, 1979) suggests that social groups try to establish a positive distinctiveness from other groups, and therefore, people evaluate in-group members more positively, than out-group members. We posit that students’ ability attributions are interdependent, therefore, they need to be addressed by proper social network methods.
We analyse cross-sectional dyadic peer nomination data from 21 primary school classes in Hungary (392 students from 16 schools, mean age=13 years) using exponential random graph models (ERGMs). Our findings are mostly in line with the predictions of social identity theory: controlling for grades, students are more likely to nominate their in-group peers as clever compared to classmates from the out-group, in terms of both gender and ethnicity. One exception has been found: boys are similarly likely to nominate both boys and girls as clever. In line with double standards theory we have found that non-Roma students are less likely to consider those peers as competent whom they perceive as Roma compared to those whom they perceive as non-Roma. However, similar association has not been found with regard to gender. We have also found that Roma students are less likely to consider those peers as clever whom they perceive as Roma, but who identify themselves as non-Roma, than those Roma peers who also identify with the Roma group. This phenomenon might also be driven by social identity processes: Roma students try to distance themselves from those peers who are perceived as Roma but who declare themselves having different ethnic identification.