Cultural IQ

Basic Tools for Bridging the Divide

These quotes offer thoughtful ways to respond when online conversations grow heated.

 

“In god we trust; all others bring data.”

             

William Edwards Deming, American statistician and management guru

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“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”    

 Investor and Philanthropist Warren Buffett

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“People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid. "

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Soren Aabye Kierkegaard

(1813-1855)

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"Not  everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."

Albert Einstein

(1879-1955)

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“A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on. "

     

Sir Winston Churchill

(1874-1965)

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“I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have."

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Thomas Jefferson

(1743-1826)

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"Each problem that I solved became a rule which served afterwards to solve other problems. "

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Rene Descartes

(1596-1650)

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"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. "

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Martin Luther King Jr.

(1929-1968)

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"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident."

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Arthur Schopenhauer

(1788-1860)

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"Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open."

 

Sir  James Dewar, Scientist (1877-1925)

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   " Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

            

George Santayana

(1863-1952)

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   " I can’t understand why people are frightened by new ideas. I’m frightened of old ones."

           

John Cage

(1912-1992)

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"History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon."

           Napoleon Bonaparte

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"What luck for rulers that men do not think."

           

Adolf  Hitler

(1889-1945)

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Mother Nature & Father Time decide all arguments.

 

                           -- Michael Schefer, Philadelphia

 

 

Hidden Barriers to Academic Success, New Report Says

– Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union are calling upon the US government to prohibit corporal punishment in all public schools and urge state governments, school boards, superintendents, and administrators to eliminate physical punishment in their schools.  

 More than 200,000 US public school students were punished by beatings during the 2006-2007 school year, the groups concluded in a joint report released today. In the 13 states that corporally punished more than 1,000 students per year, African-American girls were twice as likely to be beaten as their white counterparts.

 

In the 125-page report, “A Violent Education: Corporal Punishment of Children in US Public Schools,” the ACLU and Human Rights Watch found that in Texas and Mississippi children ranging in age from 3 to 19 years old are routinely physically punished for minor infractions such as chewing gum, talking back to a teacher, or violating the dress code, as well as for more serious transgressions such as fighting. Corporal punishment, legal in 21 states, typically takes the form of “paddling,” during which an administrator or teacher hits a child repeatedly on the buttocks with a long wooden board. The report shows that, as a result of paddling, many children are left injured, degraded, and disengaged from school.  
 
“Every public school needs effective methods of discipline, but beating kids teaches violence and it doesn’t stop bad behavior,” said

Alice Farmer, Aryeh Neier Fellow at Human Rights Watch and the ACLU, and author of the report. “Corporal punishment discourages learning, fails to deter future misbehavior and at times even provokes it.”  

The report found that in the 13 southern states where corporal punishment is most prevalent, African-American students are punished at 1.4 times the rate that would be expected given their numbers in the student population, and African-American girls are 2.1 times more likely to be paddled than might be expected. There is no evidence that these students commit disciplinary infractions at disproportionate rates.  
 
“Minority students in public schools already face barriers to success,” said Farmer

. “By exposing these children to disproportionate rates of corporal punishment, schools create a hostile environment in which these students may struggle even more.”  
 
Students with mental and physical disabilities are also punished at disproportionate rates, with potentially serious consequences for their development. In Texas, for instance, 18.4 percent of the total number of students who were physically punished were special education students, even though they make up only 10.7 percent of the student population.  
 
“A Violent Education” is based on four weeks of on-the-ground research in Mississippi and Texas in late 2007 and early 2008, including more than 175 interviews with children, teachers, parents, administrators, superintendents, and school board members.  
 
The report documents several cases in which children were beaten to the point of serious injury. Since educators who beat children have immunity under law from assault proceedings, parents who try to pursue justice for injured children encounter resistance from police, district attorneys, and courts. Parents also face enormous, sometimes insurmountable, obstacles in trying to prevent physical punishment of their children. While some school districts permit parents to sign forms opting out of corporal punishment for their children, the forms are often ignored.  
 
In the report, Human Rights Watch and the ACLU cite experts on best practices in school discipline, who emphasize traditional approaches such as detention, and modern approaches such as positive behavior support systems. Positive behavior support systems, which are school-wide discipline systems that stress a clear structure of rewards and consequences for student behavior, have been effectively implemented in major

US school systems. States and school boards that fail to implement best practices allow the status quo, or school beatings, to remain in place.  
 

Source: Human Rights Watch Press Release 
 

'They just beat us up because of the color of our skin'

As the Democrats prepare to nominate an African American as their presidential nominee, it is tempting to think that the battle for inclusiveness is over.

If the fear-driven emails arriving regularly in my In-box are any indicator, a fresh round of battles have just begun. The nomination of Barack Obama has set off waves of fear that can create either a perfect opportunity, or an blustery storm.

 We should emphasize this battle is not between blacks and whites,but rather between those who see  America as one family of many cultures, and those who see it as a family where their race is dominant.

The Philadelphia Daily News reported this week a story of two young African Americans who were chased down, they said, because of their skin color:

LEVI LEE and Bryson Mills arrived on the doorstep of the Daily News last week looking bruised and battered. Even hard-bitten reporters - their eyes widening - seemed taken aback by the appearance of the two young men.Their clothes were smudged with blood. Mills gingerly pressed an ice pack to his right eye, which was swollen shut. Lee sported gashes in his lip and head.But the worst injuries weren't visible. As victims of an alleged hate crime, he and Mills said they suffered the kind of soul-penetrating wounds that may never completely heal. "They didn't know us,"" Lee said.

Then, there's the Wall Street Journal report on the arrest of a Florida man who was being held without bond after he threatened to shoot Barak Obama if the he wins the presidential election. 

In the next few months we should expect amazing breakthroughs and powerful backlashes. Which side will prove to be strongest? It depends largely upon which community is better organized and prepared to advance its agenda. (Inclusion v. control)

The community connectors are working to foster inclusive breakthroughs. On August 25, the National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia is hosting a forum for teachers to help them manage diversity-related debates in the classroom this fall. The Center for Healing of Racism in Houston is hosting a dialog on the election on Tuesday night - where the unspoken community fears can emerge.

Are you aware of the forces at work in your community? Is your church, synagogue or mosque waiting around, hoping for a loving and happy outcome?  How many of us are ready to take a stand and seize this moment in history? 

 

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Radio station KPFT and the Center for the Healing of Racism will host a dialogue called “Toward A More Perfect Union” on Tuesday, August 19 from 7-9 pm at Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church.

The community conversation is the first in a series of scheduled discussions on race and other issues that create divisions.   The program will be in the Fondren Hall at St. Paul’s,  located at 5501 Main Street at Binz/Bissonnet, across from the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Parking is free of charge in two lots across Fannin Street from the Sanctuary. The church is within a block of both Museum District MetroRail stops.

 

 

Check Your Bias At the Office Door

 

When it comes to our gender, religious and racial biases, one strategy is especially attractive: Don’t ask, don’t tell.

 

If our biases don’t get us into trouble, we can feel safe and secure toting them around. That is a high risk strategy in today’s conflict-driven world. At any given moment, a bias can get out and expose our hidden preferences and feelings.

 

Today I am offering a few ideas for managers, teachers and principals, and judges who want to create bias-free zones in their domains. Michael Morris, an American business professor who researches cultural preferences and cultural lenses, provided input for some of these recommendations.

• Rely on multiethnic strategies and culturally competent systems, not solely on good intentions. A company might implement a mentoring program to help employees access organizational intelligence and learn how to adapt to cultural values and norms. A teacher might use words and language that allow the fullest range of student views and opinions to emerge. Judges and court room officers might use open-ended questions in examining potential biases and have written processes in place to ensure fairness.

 

• Train managers and teachers so they feel comfortable providing constructive feedback to workers across the cultural divide. The fear of being labeled racist or sexist sometimes prevents supervisors from providing honest reviews. This deprives workers of an opportunity to strengthen their skills and overcome deficits.

• Conduct cultural assessments to survey employee or juror attitudes. People won’t always tell you when something is wrong. But they do tell friends, neighbors and strangers at the grocery store. Surveys help to provide truthful feedback. Ask them to identify corporate values, and note how often and where "fairness" emerges.

•  Provide cultural competence training for managers and staff; court workers, and students. Give them the appropriate tools to manage and resolve conflicts and workplace differences. Gather data on common causes for cultural collisions. Build programs that target these specific weaknesses and strive to create a culture of trust. (Where honesty and accountability intersect)  Provide the necessary resources to conduct fair performance appraisals and support staff in career development.

• Ask managers to look for specific strengths related to workforce diversity. Most organizations spend more time discussing diversity challenges than diversity solutions or benefits. This frames the conversation in a negative manner and adds to friction and tension.

• Monitor cultural boundaries and build a culture of trust. Strong cultural boundaries risk engendering intergroup competition. Managers and employees may become more concerned with furthering the well being of their cultural group than with fairness. 

              

• Teachers and supervisors should be sensitive to obstacles facing members of certain cultural groups, and provide flexibility to adjust performance evaluations in order to even the playing field.

• Put members of different groups into key performance-appraising positions and encourage managers to call on those with cultural expertise much as they would call on those with technical expertise for an IT problem.  Organizational connectors model th skills everyone must have. Organizations must identify them and support their efforts, for they are on the job teachers.

• Include all employees and all ethnic groups in discussions related to diversity. Fair-minded companies don't limit cross-cultural understanding to the experiences of communities of color. Diversity should include: diversity of thought and ideas; job functions, class differences (in courts and classrooms especially) and age differences. 

Sometimes Two Won't Go Into One

 

Imagine that It’s My Company merges with It’s My Life.

 

It’s My Company is a corporation that builds widgets, and It’s My Life is a up-and-coming retailer which sells gadgets.

 

How do you take two different cultures, work groups, and services and blend them into one efficient money-making machine?

 

Alas, change is more difficult for some than others. The new culture may not work for all. Holding "let's all get along" workshops may not be the solution. Sometimes, two does not fold easily into one.

 

Glenn Carroll, the Laurence W. Lane Professor of Organizations at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, managers need to make it clear to workers that, if  they do not fit in,  they may wish to look elsewhere for opportunities. In other words, they might encourage a employee to leave on his or her own accord.

 "Although the implication of this finding for managerial policy is straightforward, it should be treated with caution—it is based on specific assumptions in a theoretical model. It is also only one of several effective demographic factors to merge the cultures; other options might be more attractive," Caroll says.

His book, Culture and Demography in Organizations, provides further details. . A merger can fail for any number of reasons,  but cultural differences are increasingly thought to be a major cause of post-merger dysfunction, according to Carroll. 

Examples abound of merged organizations that failed to come together culturally, the Stanford Graduate School of Business reports. There's the merger of Compaq and Digital Equipment Corp. that was unsuccessful largely due to a culture clash that pitted Compaq's high-volume, fast-to-market strategic focus against DEC's more convoluted and lengthy sales cycles. Indeed, the business challenges created by the culturally troublesome merger are viewed as a reason that Compaq lost its position as the No. 1 computer maker to Dell, its longtime competitor.

"These problems can linger on for years after the merger has been completed," he says. "Failing to successfully integrate the cultures is a very serious thing."

Talk about integrating two corporate cultures typically revolves around "cultural content"—the norms, beliefs, and values that lead to general descriptions of the firms such as bureaucratic, entrepreneurial, free-wheeling, or conservative. The predicted success or failure of any given merger is based upon an analysis that takes this cultural content into consideration.

"The problem is that people can make up any number of stories that can justify any type of merger," he says. "You'll hear that a merger will be successful because two organizations are very similar in their cultural content. Another merger will be hailed as a good one because the organizations' cultures are so different, and will therefore complement each other."

Carroll and his co-author, J. Richard Harrison of the  University of  Texas Dallas,, reasoned that it would make sense to analyze cultural integration by looking at the demographics of the merging organizations. Demography is the study of population dynamics.

Carroll and  Harrison developed a demographic model of culture that encompasses a host of factors, including the growth rates of the firms, the selectivity of the hiring processes, the type and extent of socialization that occurs once employees are members of the organization, the rates of employee turnover, and the degree of alienation felt by employees.

Hiring selectivity refers to how carefully management selects new workers who fit into the culture. Selectivity can include personality testing as well as extensive interviewing by multiple employees—both peers and management—before a candidate is hired.

Socialization refers to how employees are indoctrinated into the new corporate culture. This can involve the pressure exerted by colleagues on each other to adapt to the new organization—or socialization by management, which can include such things as incentive bonuses, training classes, and corporate retreats.

Finally, alienation is the degree to which employees who don't fit in come to leave of their own volition. Either peers or management could ignore the employee in question, or give him or her difficult or unpleasant assignments until the employee simply quits.

Although the success of post-merger cultural integration is influenced by many demographic processes, the strongest effects seen in the Harrison-Carroll model are associated with hiring selectivity, management-based socialization, and alienation.  Although alienation was found to be a strong factor, Carroll says it wasn't the only one.

"The demographic way of thinking about mergers and acquisitions could be very useful to firms considering such a step," he says. . "It provides a whole new set of insights."

Credit line: Information and material for this blog provided by Stanford University Graduate

School of Business

Fact Vs. Fiction: Studies Refute Stereotypes about Obese Workers

EAST LANSING, Mich. — New research led by a Michigan State University scholar refutes commonly held stereotypes that overweight workers are lazier, more emotionally unstable and harder to get along with than their “normal weight” colleagues.

 

With the findings, employers are urged to guard against the use of weight-based stereotypes when it comes to hiring, promoting or firing.

 

Mark Roehling, associate professor of human resource management, and two colleagues studied the relationship between body weight and personality traits for nearly 3,500 adults. Contrary to widely held stereotypes, overweight and obese adults were not found to be significantly less conscientious, less agreeable, less extraverted or less emotionally stable.

 

The research, done in conjunction with Hope College near Grand Rapids, appears in the current edition of the journal Group & Organization Management.

 

“Previous research has demonstrated that many employers hold negative stereotypes about obese workers, and those beliefs contribute to discrimination against overweight workers at virtually every stage of the employment process, from hiring to promotion to firing,” Roehling said.

 

“This study goes a step further by examining whether there is empirical support for these commonly held negative stereotypes. Are they based on fact or fiction? Our results suggest that the answer is fiction.”

 

The findings are based on two separate but convergent national studies. Roehling, who’s also a lawyer, said the practical implication of the research is that employers should take steps to prevent managers from using weight as a predicator of personality traits when it comes to hiring, promoting or firing. He said such steps could include:

 

• Adopting a policy that explicitly prohibits the use of applicant or employee weight in employment decisions without a determination that weight is relevant to the job.
• Structuring the interview process to reduce the influence of subjective biases.
• Using validated measures of the specific personality traits that are relevant to the job if personality traits are to be considered in hiring decisions.
• Including weight-based stereotypes as a topic in diversity training for interviewers.

 

“Employers concerned about the fair and effective management of their work force,” Roehling said, “should be proactive in preventing negative stereotypes about overweight workers from influencing employment decisions.”

 

Contact: Andy Henion, MSU University Relations, Office: (517) 355-3294, Cell: (517) 281-6949, Andy.Henion@ur.msu.edu; Mark Roehling, Labor and Industrial Relations, Office: (517) 355-3335,

Carrying Around the Weight of the World

 

 

 

 Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity is a feisty non-profit research and public policy organization that is taking on two tough opponents: prejudice and discrimination.

 

Its own research suggests that weight discrimination is a prevalent today as racial discrimination, and the tentacles are reaching deep into the health care system, workplaces, and schools.

 

Moreover, weight bias is still deemed socially acceptable, while other biases are not. What's a civil society to do? Rudd as a plan.

 

“Despite increased attention to the obesity epidemic, little has been done to stop the bias and discrimination that obese children and adults face every day, “ the Center states on its web site. “The social consequences of obesity include discrimination in employment, barriers in education, biased attitudes from health care professionals, stereotypes in the media, and stigma in interpersonal relationships. All these factors reduce quality of life for vast numbers of overweight and obese people and have both immediate and long-term consequences for their emotional and physical health. (We) aim to stop the stigma through research, education, and advocacy. We’re working to draw attention to weight bias and develop strategies to address the issue with various groups, including young people, families, teachers, employers, and health care professionals.”

As much as two-thirds of the nation’s population is currently overweight, some government data  suggests. Moreover, in the African American and Latino populations, where curvy women are viewed as sexy, the percentages of individuals considered overweight or obese are higher. (Among African- American women, for instance, 78 percent are currently overweight or obese)

 

The obesity and weight discrimination research offers bridge builders and civil rights organizations food for thought: When a plus-size person of color encounters discrimination, is it race or size that matters to others most? When plus-size white women are discriminated against, does gender or weight matter more? The Rudd Center's research found that women were twice as likely to report weight discrimination than their male counterparts. Men did not begin experiencing a significant level of weight discrimination until they reach a BMI level of 35 of higher, while women developed a high risk at a BMI level of 27. The Rudd Center concludes this suggest shows women are held to higher standards.

 

 America's minority population reached 100.7 million last year; one in three  of us now is a member of a minority group. Every racial and ethnic community should begin with an honest examination of self, an exploration of  the cultural beliefs, attitudes and behaviors that lift and limit individual progress. Those of us in the Latino and African American communities might opt to view healthy lifestyles as a rich legacy, one that can help children be more powerful and productive. When fewer dollars are spent on hospitals, doctors and medicines, there's more left to invest in education, housing, professional development, summer camps, and trips around the world. Extra weight can contribute to a host of medical problems and conditions which, in turn, reduces disposable income and profits.

 

Communities, corporations, and schools, for their part, must also probe their beliefs, attitudes and values: Does every neighborhood have access to fresh fruit and vegetables? Should PTAs and diversity councils add healthy food and snacks to their agendas? Should health education and physical exercise be required in schools? Every of us has something at stake here.

 

Overall there are a variety of factors that play a role in obesity the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. This makes it a complex health issue to address.

1) Overweight and obesity result from an energy imbalance. This involves eating too many calories and not getting enough physical activity. 

2) Body weight is the result of genes, metabolism, behavior, environment, culture, and socioeconomic status. 

3) Behavior and environment play a large role causing people to be overweight and obese. These are the greatest areas for prevention and treatment actions.

 Are gender discrimination and race discrimination and poverty prompting some individuals to turn to food for comfort? If we eliminated discrimination and despair, might we be a richer community?

  Dr. Lan Liang, a researcher with the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, estimates at the healthcare costs directly related to excess pounds will double with each decade, reaching $957 billion in 2030 -- accounting for one of every six US healthcare dollars.

 Workforce Diversity Councils can increase their corporate value by putting healthly lifestyles and weight bias on their agendas right away.

(Photo credit: Freefoto.com)

A Patient Who Seeks A Healing Conversation

Dwight Fryer survived an auto accident that sent his body on a flight through a windshield; then, a nasty battle with colon cancer, and then, the death of his 16-year-old daughter who passed away on his birthday. She died of meningitis, just 24 hours after coming down with flu-like symptoms.

 

This ordained African American minister survived on a regular diet of hope and faith, and a belief that the turmoil ultimately would provide a path to his true purpose in life. Today, Fryer, an author/motivational speaker, lectures on his tragic experiences.

 

What's interesting is that he seeks cultural competency - on the part of patients and health care professionals - not mean-spirited discussions and arguments.

 

Fryer speaks ever so calmly of the doctor who treated him following the car accident – and asked if this patient wearing a $1,000 suit had had teeth before the collision. (The accident knocked out his teeth and required significant plastic surgery.)

 

He speaks gently of the doctor who examined him after his bouts of rectal bleeding yet declined to use a scope to look in the colon. Fryer, sensing something was wrong, finally offered to pay for the test out of his own pocket. The test found that he had colon cancer.

 

Fryer's philosophy is simple: One man's troubles are another man's road map to survival. His close encounters have led him to a ministry: He seeks to discuss the challenges minorities and health professionals face when the patient is outside the mainstream of society or different from those delivering the service.

 

The Patient in Room 3053, his motivational speech available on his website, www.dwightfryer.com is a session recorded at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. He says the audio program and the accompanying slides are a reminder of some the struggles medical professionals often face in their patient relationships:

- Is a patient a customer and how much should they be listened to when determining the appropriate health care options?

- Will excluding patient feedback omit significant symptoms and degrade the health care level delivered?

- Should the health professional be more willing to collaborate with their clients in determining the best possible care options or should the age-old adage that the doctor knows best be followed?

 

Dwight Fryer has transformed adversity into a curricula for healing - for medical professionals, patients, and parents.He was that patient in Room 3053. He believes that we all know someone who has or is facing a medical challenge.

 

There is much to be learned from an average guy who gained cultural intelligence the hard way.

 

Raise Your Hand if You Are Wondering: Can I Say That?

NATIONAL LIBERTY MUSEUM

In the heart of the nation’s historical shrines of liberty
  321 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2779
 Ph: 215-925-2800 • Fax 215-925-3800 • www.libertymuseum.org

  As teachers head back into their classrooms, an historic presidential campaign is providing a contemporary backdrop. Students of all ages are certain to bring their opinions and biases to school with them.

Are classroom teachers ready to rise to this challenge?

The National Liberty Museum in Philadelphia embraces an inclusive freedom, which is a free and fair exchange of ideas. On August 25, the Center's Teacher Training Institute is offering a special workshop: Can I Say That?

Betty T. Solley,new teacher coach, retired, with the School District of Philadelphia and I, Linda Wallace, will team up for this presentation.

Each National Liberty Museum teacher training course provides 15 hours of Act 48 Continuing Professional Education Credits approved by both the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Departments of Education. A fee of just $25 per course covers the cost of lunch & materials. Register Online at www.libertymuseum.org/education  

?Classroom Management / Can I Say That

Managing your class is like putting together a puzzle. You need all the parts fit together to help your students succeed. What preparations do highly effective teachers make to assure smooth running of their classrooms? What are the components of a well-managed classroom? This Presidential campaign provides an even greater opportunity to discuss diversity issues in the classroom, what can you say to build trust, open dialog and avoid cultural collisions. A veteran educator and a cultural coach will provide practical tools to manage your class and these differences. Discover how to spark curiosity, boost confidence, avoid arguments and benefit from our increasingly smaller world. Both new and experienced teachers will benefit from a proactive approach to managing their classrooms.

Can Poll Locations Influence Voting Outcomes?

 

June 2008

STANFORD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF BUSINESS—What would you say influenced your voting decisions in the most recent local or national election? Political preferences? A candidate's stance on a particular issue? The repercussions of a proposition on your economic well-being? All these "rational" factors influence voting, and peoples' ability to vote, based on what is best for them, is a hallmark of the democratic process.

But Stanford Graduate School of Business researchers, doctoral graduates Jonah Berger and Marc Meredith, and S. Christian Wheeler, associate professor of marketing, conclude that a much more subtle and arbitrary factor may also play a role—the particular type of polling location in which you happen to vote.

It's hard to imagine that something as innocuous as polling location (e.g., school, church, or fire station) might actually influence voting behavior, but the Stanford researchers have discovered just that. In fact, Wheeler says "the influence of polling location on voting found in our research would be more than enough to change the outcome of a close election." And, as seen in the neck-to-neck 2000 presidential election where Al Gore ultimately lost to George W. Bush after months of vote counting in Florida, election biases such as polling location could play a significant role in the 2008 presidential election. Even at the proposition level, "Voting at a school could increase support for school spending or voting at a church could decrease support for stem cell initiatives," says Wheeler.

Why might something like polling location influence voting behavior? "Environmental cues, such as objects or places, can activate related constructs within individuals and influence the way they behave," says Berger. now an assistant professor of marketing at the Wharton school. "Voting in a school, for example, could activate the part of a person's identity that cares about kids, or norms about taking care of the community. Similarly, voting in a church could activate norms of following church doctrine. Such effects may even occur outside an individual's awareness."

Using data from Arizona's 2000 general election, Berger, Meredith, a visiting lecturer at MIT, and Wheeler discovered that people who voted in schools were more likely to support raising the state sales tax to fund education. The researchers focused on Proposition 301, which proposed raising the state sales tax from 5.0 percent to 5.6 percent to increase education spending. What they found was that voters were more likely to support this initiative if they voted in a school versus other types of polling locations (55.0 percent versus 53.09 percent).

This effect persisted even when the researchers controlled for—or removed the possibility of—other factors such as:

• Where voters lived. People who have kids may be pro-education and more likely to live near, and hence vote at, schools;
• Political views. Those who voted for Gore or positively on other propositions; and
• Demographics including age, sex, etc.

In regards to the first control, for example, people were still more likely to support Proposition 301 if they had voted in schools than if they had voted in places that were not schools but had schools nearby. No matter how they cut and spliced the data, the researchers found that voters in schools were more likely to support Proposition 301.

"We want factors like political views—whether someone thinks a candidate is going to make our country a better place—to sway elections," said Berger. "But in forming election policy, we also want to make sure that arbitrary factors such as polling location don't ultimately influence voting behaviors."

To further test their hypothesis, the researchers even conducted the same analysis for the other 13 propositions on the Arizona ballot. They reasoned that if voters who cast their ballots in schools were more likely to vote positively for other unrelated propositions on wildlife or property taxes, for example, then the researchers would know that their model was not adequately accounting for some other factor beyond polling location, and that something such as voting preferences was having an effect. But such additional testing only supported the researchers' hypotheses further.

The researchers also followed up with a lab experiment that allowed for random assignment of voters to pictures of different voting environments that the researchers thought might influence voting behavior. Participants were shown 10 images from well-maintained schools (e.g. lockers, classrooms) or churches (e.g. pews, alters), plus five additional filler images of generic buildings. A control group was shown images of generic buildings.

The participants then voted on a number of initiatives including California's 2004 stem cell funding initiative, Arizona's education initiative, and several others. Initiative wording was taken right from each state's legislative council documents. As predicted by Berger, Meredith, and Wheeler: Environmental cues contained in the photos influenced voting.

Results from the second study showed that participants were less likely to support the stem cell initiative if they were shown church images than if they were shown school images or a generic photo of a building. The subjects also were more likely to support the education initiative if they were shown school images versus church or generic building images. The results further demonstrated that environmental cues present in different polling locations can influence voting outcomes, even when voters are randomly assigned to different environmental cue conditions.

"What our research suggests is that it might be useful to further investigate influences such as polling location to better understand how such factors affect different types of voting situations. From a policy perspective, the hope is that a voting location assignment could be less arbitrary and more determined in order to avoid undue biases in the future," says Wheeler.