Assessing the Oppositional Culture Explanation for Racial/Ethnic Differences in School
Performance
Author(s): James W. Ainsworth-Darnell and Douglas B. Downey
Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No. 4 (Aug., 1998), pp. 536-553
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657266
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ASSESSING THE OPPOSITIONAL CULTURE EXPLANATION FOR
RACIAL/ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN SCHOOL PERFORMANCE*
James W. Ainsworth-Darnell Douglas B. Downey
The Ohio State University The Ohio State University
The oppositional culture explanation for racial disparities in school perfor-
mance posits that individuals from historically oppressed groups (involun-
tary minorities) signify their antagonism toward the dominant group by re-
sisting school goals. In contrast, individuals from the dominant group and
groups that migratedfreely to the host country (immigrant minorities) main-
tain optimistic views of their chances for educational and occupational suc-
cess. Because of its historical and cross-cultural appeal, this explanation
has been well-received by academics, although key implications of the theory
have not been carefully tested. Proponents have failed to systematically com-
pare perceptions of occupational opportunity and resistance to school across
involuntary, dominant, and immigrant groups. Using a large sample of Afri-
can American, Asian American, and non-Hispanic white high school sopho-
mores from the first follow-up of the National Education Longitudinal Study,
we provide the first rigorous test of the oppositional culture explanation.
Upon close scrutiny, its key predictions fail.
DR espite recent improvement on some
measures, the gap in educational per-
formance across racial groups persists. Find-
ing explanations for that gap continues to
frustrate academics. Some scholars point to
characteristics of the minority family itself
(Moynihan 1965), while others see differ-
ences in educational performance as prima-
rily a function of social structural conditions
(Bourdieu 1977; Bowles and Gintis 1976),
such as the types of neighborhoods students
live in (Massey and Denton 1993) and con-
sequently the kinds of schools they attend.
The oppositional culture explanation draws
from both of these traditions, recognizing
that social structural conditions shape oppor-
tunities but arguing that these conditions
form students' motivation for schooling.
* Direct all correspondence to Douglas B.
Downey, Department of Sociology, 300 Bricker
Hall, 190 N. Oval Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210
(downey.32@osu.edu). This research was sup-
ported by a Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship to
Downey. The authors' contributions are equal.
We appreciate the comments of Lowell Hargens,
Robert Kaufman, Lauren Krivo, Roslyn
Mickelson, Brian Powell, Rob Robinson,
Catherine Ross, Ruben Rumbaut, and Maureen
Tobin.
However, we challenge the main tenets of the
oppositional culture explanation.
THE OPPOSITIONAL CULTURE
EXPLANATION
Ogbu's (1978, 1991a) explanation for racial
differences in school performance, referred
to here as the oppositional culture explana-
tion (or the resistance model), has gained
considerable acceptance among scholars. A
key component in the explanation is the dis-
tinction between immigrant minorities-
groups who migrated to the host country of
their own free will-and involuntary minori-
ties-groups historically enslaved, colo-
nized, or conquered. Immigrant minorities
tend to compare their condition to that of
relatives in their homelands, and because this
comparison is usually favorable, they de-
velop optimistic attitudes regarding both
their chances for success in the new country
and the payoff for efforts aimed at promot-
ing achievement. In comparison, involuntary
minorities are in a psychologically vulner-
able position; their members did not migrate
with an expectation to improve their condi-
tion, but were incorporated into society
against their will. Lacking an identifiable
536 American Sociological Review, 1998, Vol. 63 (August:536-553)