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The Effect Of Intercultural Training On Ethnocentrism, Victor Pedro Padilla

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

The problem of changing individual ethnic prejudice through a type of social intervention in the workplace was investigated. Intercultural Synergy Training, an intervention method with potential usefulness for many types of organizations, was administered. Elements of the method were drawn from theories of prejudice and intercultural training literature. A randomly-selected group (n=l7) of staff members at a Job Corps center in a southwestern U.S. city was given a four-hour course in intercultural relations (Intercultural Synergy Training). The group trained and a randomly-selected control group (n=18) were then administered an ethnocentrism measure called the Association Questionnaire. Analysis of the results showed …