Childhood Exemplar

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Introduction

The purpose of this study is to examine childhood exemplars in the United States. This will be done with two primary goals in mind. First, this study will serve as a replication of findings reported by Greenstein (1965) and others (e.g, Stoughton, and Ray, 1946; Hill, 1930; Hill, 1911; Chambers 1903). These findings have been used to illustrate trends in the societal culture at the time in which they originated, but are outdated and the findings are not likely to represent the current reality. The present study seeks to update these findings by recreating these previous studies. Second, this study aims to expand the previous findings by using the concepts of social identity and generational transmission in order to determine …show more content…
What constitutes an exemplar can be differentiated between those that are within one's social environment and those that exist to a child in a purely mediated form (Gash and Conway, 1997). An example of a social exemplar would be one's parent or teacher while and example of a mediated exemplar would be a historical figure or current celebrity (Carr et al, 2004). Put simply, an exemplar is an individual whom one wishes to emulate or model him or herself after. The oldest of the studies Greenstein (1965) refers to is one by Chambers (1903), who conducted a survey of an entire elementary school in New Castle, Pennsylvania. Two later studies by Hill (1911; 1930) both of which were conducted in schools in Nashville, Tennessee and three cities in Alabama respectively are those discussed next by Greenstein. The fourth study discussed is one conducted by Stoughton and Ray (1944) in which 344 second, fourth, and sixth graders from several schools in Springfield, Massachusetts. Finally, Greenstein compares this to his own data collected in New Haven, …show more content…
The number seems to follow a steady increase from 22.4% in 1903 to 44.4% in 1944. However after that, in Greenstein’s own study the number plummets to a mere 2%. This category is the least comparable across the studies as in all four previous studies the exact wording of the question was “Of all persons whom you have heard, or read about, or seen whom would you most care to be like or resemble?” (p. 131). This question may have the tendency to prompt respondents to consider exemplars that are mediated, however a significant number of respondents continue to report individuals in their immediate social environment. This is in contrast to the question in Greenstein’s New Haven surveys, the exact wording of the question being used, which was “Name a famous person you want to be like,” (p. 131). This question obviously prompts respondents to consider exemplars that are outside of their own immediate environment and consider those with fame. The difference between the first four studies and Greenstein’s own work is inflated then, by a discrepancy in
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