Southern The Culture of Honor
The Problem
The South is more violent than the rest of the country
The difference is concentrated among white males Poverty/Inequality Legacy of slavery Temperature Culture of Honor
But why?
The Problem
The Southern Culture of Honor
In cultures of honor, violence is used to defend one's own and family honor Most likely to emerge when...
Individual is at economic risk from others The state is weak and insufficient
Where did the Southern one come from?
Cultures of honor common among herders Herding requires proving willingness to defend property South was settled by herders, Scotch-Irish, but North was settled by farmers
The Problem
South was also historically rural, low population density
Contributed to weak state But much of West is culturally similar
South = deep South plus WV, TN, KY
TX, OK, Mountain states
Patterns of Crime
Higher murder rate
Especially argument-related murders, rather than felony-related
Less true in Southern cities
The Problem
South has different attitudes towards violence
Greater support for murder to defend self, home, family Greater support for police violence In vignettes, Southerners support more violence in response to...
Leering at someone's wife, insulting wife's morals
Also in vignettes, Southerners approve of hitting a drunk after a bump more Southerners more supportive of physical punishment of children
The Problem
South has different attitudes towards violence, cont'd
More Southerners buy and carry guns Support free access to guns Believe guns make homes safer
But how can we be sure that Southerners are more violent due to the culture of honor claim?
Perhaps challenge Southern and Northern men's honor and see if they respond differently
Study 1: The "Asshole" Study
Procedure (Study 1a) Northern and Southern white males recruited for study at Univ. of Michigan Given questionnaire and asked to go down long, narrow hallway Confed at file cabinet let P pass When P finished survey and came back down hall, Confed bumped into him and called him an "asshole" Half of P's were not bumped
Study 1: The "Asshole" Study
Procedure (Study 1a)
Two planted witnesses coded P's response
Anger/Amusement
P's were then given a story scenario to complete wherein a someone hits on a man's girlfriend at a party Southerners showed less amusement and more anger upon being bumped Southerners were more likely to complete story with violence after being bumped:
Results
Bumped Southerners: 75%, Unbumped: 20% Bumped Northerners 41%, Unbumped 55%
Study 1: The "Asshole" Study
Procedure (Study 1b)
Same exact study: S's and N's bumped and called "assholes" or not But then took saliva samples before and after bump to measure....
Cortisol (Stress) Testosterone (Preparedness for aggression)
Results
Bumped Southerners showed DOUBLE the cortisol levels of umbumped Southerners, or either bumped or unbumped Northerners Bumped Southerners showed almost TRIPLE the testosterone levels of umbumped Southerners, or either bumped or unbumped Northerners
Study 1: The "Asshole" Study
Procedure (Study 1c)
Same exact study: S's and N's bumped and called "assholes" or not But after bump had S's be approached quickly by 6'3 250lb Michigan football player (Confed) Planted confederate estimated how close P got before budging (a "chicken game") Then P introduced to a another Confed
Confed had witnessed the bump Silently shook hands P was supposed to guess what the Confed thought of him
Study 1: The "Asshole" Study
Results
Distance before budging in Chicken Game
Unbumped Southerners: 110", Bumped: 36" Unbumped Northerners: 75", Bumped: 60"
Bumped Southern P's gave firmer handshakes after Evaluator ratings of "domineering"
S's more domineering after insult, no effect for N's
Insulted Southerners thought the Evaluator who witnessed bump would view them as less manly, courageous, more wimpy, etc.
No effect for Northerners
Study 2: Job Applications
An "Audit" Study
Investigated tolerance of violence
Mailed 912 letters requesting applications around the country to...
Wal-Mart, motel chain, hotel chain, family restaurant, motorcycle dealer Half had a blemish:
Study 2: Job Applications
"There is one thing I must explain because I feel I must be honest and want no misunderstandings. I have been convicted of a felony, namely manslaughter. You will probably want an explanation for this before you send me an application.....I got into a fight with someone who was having an affair with my fiancee....one night this person confronted me in front of my friend's bar. He told everyone that he and my fiancee were sleeping together. He laughed at me to my face and asked me to step outside if I was man enough. I was young and didn't want to back down from a challenge in front of everyone. As we went into the alley, he started to attack me. He knocked me down, and he picked up a bottle. I could have run away and the judge said I should have, but my pride wouldn't let me. Instead I picked up a pipe that as laying in the aley and hit him with it. I didn't man to kill him, but he died a few hours later at the hospital. "I what realize I did was wrong..."
Study 2: Job Applications
Control condition: Grand theft auto Results
112 responses
Southern employers more likely to send honor killer an application than Northerner employers Southern employers actually more likely to send application to honor killer than to auto thief
Study 2: Job Applications
Results, cont'd
Warmth of responses higher among Southerner employers Including...
"As for your problem of the past, anyone could probably be in the situation you were in. It was just an unfortunate incident that shouldn't be held against you. Your honesty shows that you are sincere...I wish you the best of luck for your future. You have a positive attitude and a willingness to work. Those are the qualities that businesses look for in an employee. Once you get settled, if you are near here, please stop in and see us."
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
Motivation: The South is known for...
High rates of violence, and also... Politeness But how can this be?
Cohen et al. (1999) suspected that the two may be related
Perhaps in the North people give you signs that a conflict is brewing But in the South politeness prevents these (very useful) warnings
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
Setting: "Art Therapy Study"
Southern and Northern subjects participated "Relaxed drawing" with crayons Video camera in room Confederate showed up late After instructions RA leaves ("What a loser") Then annoyances by confederate every minute:
1) Grabs 2 of Ps crayons ("Let me get a couple of your crayons, Slick. I'll give them back later")
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
"This really sucks, I hate drawing." Wadded up drawing and threw it out. 2) Confederate threw another paper ball and "accidentally" hit P ("Watch out there, Slick") 3) Confederate hit P again ("Oh, sorry, Slick. Trying to hit the basket.") 4) Took 2 more crayons ("I need these ones now, Slick.") 5) Confederate hit P with paper again. ("Slick, man, you keep getting in my way.") Followed by another ("He shoots, he scores!") 6) Went up to P ("Great art work, Slick. I can tell you're really in touch with your inner feelings. But you need to put your name on it.") Then wrote "Slick" on P's drawing
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
7) Hit with paper again ("You're sitting there like a sitting duck. Maybe I'll call you Duck instead of Slick.") 8) Another paper wad ("Sorry about that, Duck.") 9) ("Duck, you need to duck.") And hit P again 10) Confed looked at P's drawing ("You know, Slick, your drawing is pretty weak.") 11) Hit P again ("I don't know about your drawings, Slick, but you make a pretty good target.")
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
Ratings: Anger/Amusement rating, and risk of verbal and physical confrontation ratings Results:
Two participants made physical contact with confederate, so study was stopped early
Both of these were Southern
For first few annoyances Southerners didn't react much, but Northerners showed agitation and anger
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
Results, cont'd:
So Northerners more angry up to a "line in the sand" (Annoyance #6) After that Northerners stayed about the same in level of anger But Southerners spiked way upward Also analyzed biggest spikes on a per-participant basis Southerners generally showed bigger anger spikes
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
Results, cont'd:
After the study, Confeds reconciled with participants Measured forgiveness via willingness to shake hand, and memory of Confed by mailing them pictures 6 months later Southerners who blew up were more forgiving and didn't remember Confed later
But those who didn't blow up were less forgiving and did remember
Northerners had the opposite pattern
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
Results, cont'd:
Thus, Southerners got more and more angry and either blew up or continued to stew Northerners either got angry or didn't Southerners and Northerners shown tapes of some of the most and least peeved participants, but cut them off before blow-ups Southerners were not as good at predicting blow-up's ahead of time
Study 2
Study 3: The Effects of Politeness
Study 3
Investigated relationship between city politeness and homicide rates
Past research assessed city politeness: Donations per capita, willingness to help blind person cross street, willingness to make change, help pick up dropped items, etc.
In the North, the more polite the city, the less the murder In the South, no relationship, but slight trend towards more politeness correlating with more murder
Southern Culture of Honor
Conclusions:
Studies 1a, b, & c: Insulted Southerners...
More angry, less amused More likely to project violence Have higher cortisol and testosterone levels More physically challenging More domineering Believe they are perceived as unmanly, weak
Study 2: Honor-related violence is tolerated more in the South than North Also, politeness in the South may function to promote violence Small signs of anger deter big blow-ups Also, Southerners are worse at picking up small warning signs (possibly from lack of exposure)