Perceived Threat of Affirmative Action Policy

This study was an attempt to measure the degree of perceived affirmative action threat held by white Command and General Staff College officer students. Simply stated, affirmative actions are positive steps or measures which go a step beyond "de jure" equal opportunity, and attempt to make allowances for social and economic deprivations experienced by some soldiers. The researcher hypothesized that a significant threat feeling was perceived by these officers. An implicit assumption was made that affirmative action threat was a phenomenon which was separate and distinct from general racial feelings. The hypothesis was not rejected, as measured by the research instrument. In fact, a very high degree of affirmative action threat feelings were expressed by the respondents. However, affirmative action threat was found to be differentially related to general racial feelings at the.001 confidence level. Thus affirmative action threat feelings were not independent from general racial feelings. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that better race relations/equal opportunity education be intensified within the Army. Further, special emphasis should be given to insuring a better understanding of the Army's affirmative action policies.