THE INFLUENCE OF ATTITUDES OF "RESSENTIMENT" ON SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND THEIR STUDENTS WAS ASSESSED. (THE TERM "RESSENTIMENT" WAS USED TO REFER TO A KIND OF FREE-FLOATING ILL-TEMPER THAT IS PART OF THE SYNDROME PRODUCED BY HOSTILITY REPRESSED OVER LONG PERIODS OF ADULT LIFE, AND WHICH IS CHARACTERIZED BY FEELINGS OF SEVERE AND PERVASIVE IMPOTENCE AND A HIGH DEGREE OF EMOTIONAL CONSTRICTION.) IT WAS HYPOTHESIZED THAT PUBLIC EDUCATION IS ONE OF THE SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS MOST STRONGLY AFFECTED BY "RESSENTIMENT", AND THAT THIS IS A MAJOR FACTOR IN MAKING IT HOSTILE TO CREATIVE YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR POTENTIAL GIFTS. SEVERAL HUNDRED STUDENTS FROM PUBLIC AND INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS WERE ADMINISTERED NUMEROUS ITEMS DESIGNED TO LOCATE AND DESCRIBE THE EFFECTS OF "RESSENTIMENT" PRACTICES AND ATTITUDES. THE RESULTING DATA WERE USED FOR PLACING THE MAJORITY OF THE PARTICIPANTS INTO TWO BROAD, RESIDUAL CATEGORIES--(1) THE "CONVENTIONALS," OR THOSE STUDENTS WHO GENERALLY ACCEPT THE CONVENTIONS OF THEIR INSTITUTION AND EXHIBIT BEHAVIOR PATTERNS INDICATIVE OF RESIGNATION, AND (2) THE "ADOLESCENTS," OR THOSE WHOSE PRIMARY CONCERN IS WITH THE MEANING OF THEIR OWN IDENTITY AS THEY DEVELOP IN THE SCHOOL SETTING. BASED ON THESE CATEGORICAL CHARACTERISTICS, IT WAS POSSIBLE TO DETERMINE, TO A LIMITED EXTENT, THE PREDOMINANCE OF "RESSENTIMENT" IN THE PARTICULAR SCHOOLS SURVEYED. (JH)