Prejudice among Afrikaans- and English-Speaking South African Students

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Abstract
Important previous research indicates that white South Africans are extremely prejudiced and suggests that cultural norms might be the dominant determinant of these prejudices. In the present study it was argued that a distinction should be made between Afrikaans- and English-speaking whites and that a comparison with previous research would be justifiable only if similar measuring instruments were used. Consequently, 134 Afrikaans- (40 males and 94 females) and 112 English-speaking (21 males and 91 females) university students were used as Ss, while the 29 item F scale and final version of the E scale of Adorno et al., as well as Wilson and Patterson's conservatism scale, were used to measure authoritarianism, prejudice, and conservatism. The results indicate that only the Afrikaans-speaking Ss manifest a considerable amount of prejudice, authoritarianism, and conservatism. Although it is clear that cultural norms do influence the development of prejudice, factors such as conservatism and authoritarianism cannot be disregarded.