Summary
The present study investigated psychological conservatism in Indian and white schoolchildren in South Africa. Forty-eight 8-year-old boys and girls completed separate social desirability and psychological conservatism scales. Responses were analyzed by means of 2 × 2 (race x sex) covariance analyses, with the social desirability scales as the covariate. White children were more ethnocentric but less conservative regarding sex and religion than their Indian counterparts. Females were more conservative than males regarding punitiveness, religion, and sex. These results may well be a function of the South African racial situation, while the utility of a global index is questioned.