CONGRUENCE AND INCONGRUENCE IN PERCEIVED ETHNIC ACCEPTANCE AMONG ISRAELI STUDENTS

Interethnic and intraethnic contacts of Israeli students were analyzed in terms of congruent and incongruent perception and acceptance. The sample comprised 112 higher status majority students and 48 lower stat us minority students, from the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades of a desegregated junior high school, who rated their classroom climate and their readiness to maintain close contact with classmates. Results in dicate that (a) direct ratings of ethnic climate showed a symmetrical and positive description of ethnic contact; (b) indirect measures of c ross-ethnic interaction showed an incongruous ethnic contact (the mino rity tended to deemphasize the social differences between itself and t he majority, whereas the majority felt free to indicate the difference s between itself and the minority); (c) prolonged and close ethnic con tact was associated with improved ethnic relations in spite of these g roup differences. These data seem to indicate that whenever the majori ty served as a normative reference group for members of the minority, perceived ethnic climate in class may have reflected considerations of social status and social aspirations, as well as the measures used, r ather than actual ethnic differences or openness.