Social Mobility Aspirations and Fraternity Membership.

This paper reports a more systematic study of the relationship between fraternity membership and mobility aspirations. Controls for relevant social background variables (income, education, and religious identification) are added so that a better indication of the true relationship between aspirations and fraternity membership can be made. Based on the findings of Levine and Sussmann and those of Jackson and Winkler, it is hypothesized that the higher one's mobility aspirations, the more likely one is to join a fraternity. A caveat must be interjected here. It is not assumed that only social mobility aspirations determine whether or not one joins a fraternity. Related research by the author indicates that other variables, especially peer and familial pressures, are very important in determining membership in fraternities. What is attempted here is an analysis which focuses on one small part of the membership process so as to shed some light on a hitherto neglected research area, viz., the relationship between mobility aspirations and fraternity membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]