Nature of Co-Operative Attitudes between the Bangalees and the Santals of Naogaon District

Abstract

The study focused on some socio-political attitudes, like attitudes towards co-operation, voting attitudes, and attitudes towards conservative radical ideas. And its relation with ethnic demographics like ethnic group (Bangalese/santal), residential background (urban/rural) and sex (Male/Female) in the socio-political context of Bangladesh. Different Theoretical approaches were taken such as 1. Three Psychological Approaches to Minority-Majority Conflict: (a) Realistic Group Conflict Theory (b) Social Identity Theories ( c) Psychodynamic Theories 2. SOCIAL INGROUP-OUTGROUP MODEL: 3. PSYCHOANALYTIC APPROACHES: 4. SOCIOLOGICAL APPROACHES: The study tried to find the relationships existing among various dimensions of ethic relations, voting attitudes and attitudes towards conservative and radical ideas. The broad objective of the study was to explore the patterns of socio­political attitudes of co-operation of the ethnic groups in Bangladesh. Objectives of the Study The main objective of the study was to find out the similarities and differences in attitudes towards co-operation by the Bangalee respondents and sandals ethnic groups, and its relation with their sex and residential backgrounds of the subjects. More specifically the main objectives of the study were as follows: 1. To study patterns of similarities and differences in attitudes towards co-opð€€ ration of Bangalee respondents and santal ethnic groups in-irrespective of their sex and residential background. 2. To find out the characteristic differences between males and females of the two groups in attitudes towards co-operation. 3. To study the similarities and differences between urban and rural respondents of the two groups in attitudes towards co-operation. Objectives extended further: 4. To study similarity and differences among Bangalees and santals in voting attitudes. 5 To study patterns of similarities and differences among Bangalee and santals as related to socio-political attitudes of conservatism-radicalism. More specifically the objectives of the study were as follows: To study pattern of similarities and differences in socio-political attitudinal constellations on ethnic co-operation, voting, and ideological orientations by the bangalee and santal as related to residential background and sex. The measures used in this study were as follows: 1. Attitudes towards the co-operation between Bangalee and santals scale (ATTCBBASS) 2. Voting Attitude scale (VAS) 3. Conservatism-Radicalism Scale (C-R) The study used student sample. A total of 320 Ss equally divided into Bangalee (majority) and Santai (minority) groups were used. Each group was again equally sub-divided into Urban and Rural. Each Urban and Rural categ01y was again sub-divided into Male and Female according to their residential background. Thus a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design involving 2 levels of Ethnic grooup (Bangalee/Santal), 2 levels of residential background (Urban/Rural) and 2 levels of sex (Male/Female) were used. Analysis of results was computed in two parts. In the first part a factorial ANOV A using 2 x 2 x 2 design was used on the scores of Attitudes towards the co-operation between Bangalee and santals scale, Voting Attitude Scale and conservatism-radicalism scale. In the second part, t-test was computed on the scores of these scales. Hypothesis of the Study The study made three main hypotheses. These were as follows: Santal respondents would show significantly more positive attitude towards co-operation than its bangalee counterpart. 2. Male respondents would show significantly more positive attitude towards co-operation than female subjects. 3.Urban respondents would show significantly more positive attitude towards co-operation than its rural counterpart. Extended hypothesis: 4. Bangalees respondents would show more favorable attitudes towards voting than their Santals counterpart irrespective of sex and residential backgrounds. 5. Male Ss irrespective of ethnic compositions and residential back grounds would show higher voting attitudes than female Ss. 6. Urban Ss irrespective of ethnic status and sex would show higher voting attitudes than their rural counterparts. Bangalees respondents would show more conservative attitudes towards than their minority counterpart. 8. Male Ss inespective of ethnic compositions and residential backgrounds would show more radical attitudes than female Ss. 9. Urban Ss irrespective of ethnic status and sex would show more radical attitudes than their rural counterpa1ts. The findings of the results strongly supported the predictions. It showed that regardless of sex and residential background, santal Ss expressed significantly more favourable Attitudes towards towards the co-operation between bangalee and santal as compared to bangalee Ss. Regardless of group composition and Sex, Residential backgrounder (urban/rural) did not emerge as an imp01tant factor in the study of attitudes towards the co-operation between Bangalee and Santals . Regardless of group composition and Residential background, the overall means scores showed that the male Ss expressed comparatively higher attitudinal preference towards the co-operation as compared to the female Ss. It showed that Regardless of Residential background and Sex Bangalee Ss scored higher than santal Ss and differed significantly on voting attitudes scale. Again, irrespective of group composition and sex, Residential background emerged as less important factor in the study of voting attitudes. It was found that urban Ss showed no significant difference in preference for voting attitudes in comparison to rural Ss. Irrespective of Group Composition and Residential background of the Ss, sex failed to account for differential voting attitudes. The overall mean scores showed that the female Ss expressed more attitudinal preferences. Towards voting as compared to the male Ss. Furthe1more, the results revealed that Regardless of Residential background and Sex, Bangalee Ss expressed significantly more conservative attitudes as compared to santals Ss. Regardless of Group Composition and Sex, the results indicated that rural Ss expressed more socio-political attitudes in the direction of conservatism as compared to urban Ss but the difference among them was not statistically significant. It was found that irrespective of group composition and Residential background Of the Ss, Sex was found to account for socio-political attitudes. The results revealed that male Ss expressed significantly more conservative attitudes as compared to female Ss