Community Social Structure and Issue Differentiation: A Study in the Political Sociology of Welfare

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze a case of cross-cultural interaction as it bears on attitude formation and attitude change. Three hypotheses on the relationship between interaction, perception, and attitude are tested. Two sets of survey data on the Arab students' experience in the United States were collected before and after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. In absence of conflict (before the war) the Arab students' attitudes toward Americans seemed to be a function of (a) the students' perception of Americans' attitude toward the Arabs, and (b) the extent to which the students interact with Americans. Under conditions of crisis or conflict, however, the students' attitudes toward Americans seemed to be mainly a function of how they perceived Americans' attitudes toward the Arabs.