Robert Merton Points Out That People Remember Abraham Lincoln, One

question 120

Multiple Choice

Robert Merton points out that people remember Abraham Lincoln, one of America's great heroes, as frugal, thrifty, and sparing, yet they describe these same traits differently when a member of a racial or ethnic minority possesses them. Merton suggests that a Japanese American might be described as stingy, miserly, and penny pinching. What explains this double standard?

• A) Because of historical change, standards of behavior that were considered appropriate in Lincoln's time are now looked down upon.
• B) Lincoln was miserly, but remembered differently because American textbooks are not permitted to say negative things about presidents.
• C) Lincoln was a truly remarkable individual who acted in these ways selflessly, something everyday people can't hope to do.
• D) Lincoln was following his conscience; people who act in these ways today are responding to peer pressure.
• E) Lincoln was a part of the in-group of those who disparage the Japanese American, a member of the out-group.

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