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This paper uses a survey of social science authors to address the link between causal attribution of a "real" achievement event and future behavior. The achievement event studied is the decision of a refereed journal not to publish a submitted paper. Using regression procedures designed to handle interaction effects, we relate author's attributions, sex, professional status variables, and past experience to immediate publication strategy following the rejection. We find that this behavioral response is directly influenced by past experience, and, among women, the stability of causes attributed for the rejection. Sex interacts with stability attribution and status in predicting whether an author will continue trying to publish the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates, through the application of causal modeling, that inferences currently being drawn from research employing simulations may be incorrect, and as a result may mislead the researcher. Such faulty inferences may be made under certain conditions: (1) when the epistemic coefficients vary across situations; (2) when unintended effects occur, such as demand characteristics, experimenter effects, etc.; (3) when confounding variables elicit the desired results; and (4) when alternative theoretical explanations are empirically indistinguishable. This paper critically reviews previous research on simulations and shows how faulty inferences may have arisen. It then demonstrates that some of these logical flaws are due to underidentification of the hypothesized models in simulations and experiments, and can be alleviated through the use of multiple indicators. However, the logic of "bridging the gap" between simulations and experiments still remains problematic, and the rationale for performing simulations as substitutes for experiments is discussed in light of the issues raised here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Does gender affect cooperation? In this paper we analyze the effects of gender and group gender composition on prosocial behavior. We make two competing predictions: one based on literature suggesting that women are more cooperative than men, the other building on research regarding the effect of expectations on behavior. Using data drawn from micro-credit borrowing groups, we find that gender composition, not gender per se, is correlated with the likelihood that individuals will default on loan payments. The findings suggest that behavior which might appear to be a consequence of inherent gender differences more likely results from expectations associated with group gender composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elaborates and refines a theory of evaluations and expectations by Fisek, Berger, and Norman which is an integration of status characteristics and expectation states theory with source theory. The elaboration of evaluations and expectations theory is achieved by incorporating ideas from Moore's role enactment and second-order expectations theory. The new formulation can generate predictions for situations where the sources of evaluations are not only designated evaluators but also interactants; it also can differentiate between situations where enactment of evaluations does and does not occur. The formulation is tested against data from five experimental studies and agrees well with the results of these studies. Among other results, our research shows how a theoretical formulation that deals with a classic sociological problem, one concerned with the effect of others' evaluations on actors' behaviors, can be formalized mathematically and investigated experimentally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we focus on a long-standing debate surrounding the measurement of interruptions in conversational behavior. This debate has implications for conversational analysts interested in turn-taking structures, researchers interested in close relationships who interpret them as an exercise of power, and group processes researchers studying status-organizing structures. We explore two different measurements of interruptions: (1) a syntactic measurement that operationalizes an interruption as simultaneous talk initiated more than two syllables from the end of a current speaker's sentence, and (2) a more contextual measurement that takes into account situational factors such as the current speaker's intentions and the content of what both speakers say when judging whether a speech act is an interruption. We coded transcripts from 86 task group discussions using West and Zimmerman's (1983) syntactic criteria and Murray's (1985) context-sensitive method for identifying interruptions. Factor analyses found a one-factor solution, an indication that both measurements capture the same underlying construct. Confirmatory factor analyses identified more subtle variations, however, suggesting that gender and subcultural differences affect how coders construe interruptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I propose an expansion of the theory of planned behavior that considers how attitudes toward competing behaviors affect a focal behavior. Specifically, I explore how attitudes toward childbearing and the competing behaviors of educational attainment, career development, and consumer spending affect childbearing behavior. The empirical analyses use data from an eight-wave longitudinal study of mother-child pairs, the Intergenerational Panel Study of Parents and Children. The results indicate that positive attitudes toward children and childbearing increase rates of marital childbearing, while positive attitudes toward careers and luxury goods reduce rates of premarital childbearing. I conclude that theories and models of the attitude-behavior relationship should be expanded to include attitudes toward competing behaviors, and that social scientists who study childbearing behavior would benefit from greater emphasis on social psychological explanations of behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is proposed that attitudes are stronger predictors of behavior when the amount of effort required for the behavior is high than when little effort is required. The first study found support for the effort hypothesis among undergraduates who participated in a high-effort recycling program. A second study of undergraduates found a strong positive relationship between attitudes of environmental concern and the amount of effort they were willing to exert to recycle. The third study, a meta-analysis of studies on the relationship between environmental concern and recycling, showed that studies conducted in (high-effort) drop-off recycling programs typically found a stronger relationship than studies conducted in (low-effort) curbside recycling programs. Across all three studies the results consistently support recent theoretical findings: Effort is a strong moderator of the attitude-behavior relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the possible effects of the social composition of authority structures on interaction in same-sex task groups in organizations. We derive predictions about the effects of authority structures and gender on group members' task and positive socioemotional behavior from two theoretical explanations: status characteristics theory (SCT) and its extension, and the socialization/normative approach. To test the predictions, we compare members' behaviors in all-male and all-female groups in a male- dominated coeducational college and all-female groups in a female-dominated women's college. Contrary to several often-cited previous studies, we find few gender differences between same-sex groups in task and positive socioemotional behavior. Women and men in same-sex groups have similar rates of active task behaviors, directive behaviors, positive socioemotional behaviors, and passive task behaviors; these findings support the original formulation of status characteristics theory. Two gender differences emerge, however, providing some support for the socialization/normative approach: Women have higher rates of agreements than men, and men have higher rates of counterarguments. Finally, the social composition of authority structure has little effect on group members' task and socioemotional behavior in these organizational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on work on the matching law, this paper proposes a model of choice behavior that includes both costs and benefits. We compare our model with alternative models in the behavioral literature, and use the results of two experiments with human subjects to assess the predictive accuracy of the various models. Comparing the models for both obtained and scheduled reinforcement, we find our model superior. The results support two general principles of choice behavior: In accord with the matching law, subjects do not maximize payoffs or produce a step-wise function in making choices, and the elements in choice situations interact multiplicatively. We discuss the implications of these principles for assessing choice behavior in social situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grant and Holmes (1981) present an investigation of the effects of stereotypic beliefs about Chinese and Irishmen on judgments of individuals. On the basis of their analysis of their data, they conclude that social stereotypes strongly influence judgments of individuals even when case information is available. As they emphasize, this conclusion runs counter to the results of a series of experiments by Locksley and her colleagues (Locksley, Borgida, Brekke, and Hepburn, 1980; Locksley, Hepburn, and Ortiz, /982), which demonstrate that the presence of case information significantly and substantially reduces effects of stereotypes on judgments of individuals. The contention of the present paper is that this apparent difference in results is not real. It is established that the design of Grant and Holmes's study does not permit evaluation of the argument advanced by Locksley and her colleagues, thus precluding comparisons between the two sets of data. Moreover, reanalyses of the Grant and Holmes data demonstrate that their subjects relied more heavily on case information than on social category information to make target judgments, and did not adjust the weight they assigned to case information as a function of social category information. Both of these effects are consistent with the line of reasoning developed by Locksley and her colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the results of a laboratory experiment on two structural variations in social contingencies: (1) the extent to which one person's rewards are contingent on another's behavior, either completely (dependence) or partially (interdependence); and (2) the correlation of the reward opportunities of members of interdependent dyads, either uncorrelated (social exchange) or positively correlated (cooperation). Their effects on dyadic exchange and cooperation were investigated under condition of no prior contingency information and concurrent availability of an individual response. Fifty-four experimental subjects interacted via human test consoles to earn money. The results indicate a strong effect of dependence/interdependence; dependent dyads seldom maintained exchange in the presence of an individual alternative but most interdependent dyads did. Reward correlation had no effect on interaction. Both results are explained by (1) the actual reinforcement received for social and nonsocial responses during deviations from exchange, and (2) the effects of an individual alternative on attempts to recover disrupted interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an assessment of the current state of social psychology in the light of its historical and social context. The discipline is viewed as a social system, and an attempt is made to show how the properties of this system have influenced the research techniques, substantive content, and theories of contemporary social psychology. It is suggested that the field's basic mission should be defined as the attempt to understand how society influences the cognition, motivation, development, and behavior of individuals and, in turn, is influenced by them. It is proposed that this definition provides a basis for integrating all of social psychology, including its two main subdivisions and several areas of specialization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a recent critique Allen Liska (1984) pointed out a potential weakness in the Fishbein/Ajzen model (1975): by assuming a fully recursive model, Liska believes that Fishbein and Ajzen miss some of the subtleties of the relationship between beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and behavior. In this paper the Wisconsin model is used to test Liska's notion that social status does not exert its total influence on behavior through attitudes, subjective norms and, finally, behavioral intentions, as Fishbein and Ajzen contend. While the results do not fully accord with Liska's contention, neither do they fully support the Fishbein/Ajzen model: the centrality of intentions is not lost, but neither are the effects of social slams totally mediated by behavioral intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The attitude-behavior relationship has had a prominent place in social and behavioral science for more than a half-century. The initial expectations of strong asymmetrical causality have not been borne out, and contemporary research suggests that attitude-behavior consistency is a highly complex phenomenon. This paper undertakes a conceptual analysis based on the simplest longitudinal case in order to make explicit some overlooked features of the attitude-behavior relationship. Empirical examples are presented, and problems for further work are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both participants in ongoing interaction and analysts who subsequently may examine records of such are continually required to interpret the ongoing interaction, to disambiguate behaviors which are unclear both as to producer's intended "meanings" at different levels and producer's interactional goals, and to adjudicate among possible interpretations of "literal meaning" and "speakers utterance meaning" (i.e., illocutionary point/illocutionary force). Work about interactional accomplishment in conversation is necessarily also about disambiguation of meanings of social acts; it must necessarily also attend to the positive role of ambiguity in the maintenance of harmonious social relations. I have used a heuristic `facet sentence" to identify: (1) principal varieties and sources of interpretive ambiguity for participants and for analysts: (2) possible effects of the several varieties; and (3) possible participant and/or analyst responses (i.e., attempted disambiguation or inaction) and resources for disambiguation. Two fragments of talk from a dissertation defense are used as illustrative texts. Partial analyses are presented and some implications briefly discussed. I attempt to demonstrate three points: (1) that ambiguity is endemic in at least some talk: (2) that ambiguities are differently perceived by analysts and participants; and (3) while not all ambiguities perceived by cointeractants need be resolved for talk to continue, and while some resolutions are only partial, some ambiguities require resolution and may, for the short term, become foci for interactional attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kenny and La Vole's Social Relations Model (I 984) is a promising approach to the analysis of social interaction data which simultaneously and independently assesses individual differences and relationship-specific effects among interacting subjects. Unfortunately, some authors have used one-replication studies (which confound error and relationship-specific variance) and have interpreted the confounded relationship/error variance component as a relationship effect. We reanalyzed behaviorally coded data from four experiential groups. Side by side one-replication and two-replication Round Robin Analyses of Variance of two behaviors demonstrated the danger of interpreting the confounded relations/zip/error component of one-replication analyses as a relationship effect. With questioning behavior, one-replication analyses suggested a relationship-specific effect, but a two-replication analysis indicated that this finding was error variance. For self-disclosing behavior, the two-replication analysis confirmed the suggested relationship effect from the one-replication analyses. Researchers interested in relationship-specific effects using the Social Relations Model should design their studies to allow for two or more replications and report relationship variance terms unconfounded with error. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following Simmel, Blau, and Coser, we assume that people are segmentally drawn into a web of institutional affiliations and involvements. The major objective of this paper is to describe the interconnections among people's commitments to various institutions. Specifically, we focus upon how commitments to particular institutions either transcend an institutional realm and effect other institutional commitments or are compartmentalized (i.e., inconsequential). Data are obtained from a probability sample of connecticut adults drawn in 1981 and reinterviewed in 1982. The results of varied analyses are consistent in suggesting that people's commitments to economic, educational and political institutions are interconnected. They are also important antecedents of a more general and diffuse sense of alienation. People's familial and religious commitments, by contrast, appear to be consequential neither in relation to other institutional commitments nor as antecedents of alienation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1981 Lindenberg presented his discrimination model of repetitive choice, which offered several advantages over earlier models of such behavior. In the present paper we present an alternative, the "satisfaction balance" model, which has the virtue of including within its domain many of the principles of learning theoretic approaches to probability learning. Examination of several sets of data indicate that the predictions of the satisfaction balance model are equal or superior to those of the discrimination model. Since the terms of the satisfaction balance model are multiplicative, while those of the discrimination model are additive, it appears that two different cognitive processes are being modeled in these formulations. The importance of this modeling for social psychology is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sociologists have generally contended that high-status members of a group are less likely to incur sanctions for deviant behavior than are low-status group members. Traditional explanations for this phenomenon do not adequately specify the processes which underly such differential treatment, nor can they account for the less frequent instances in which high-status individuals are actually more harshly sanctioned. This paper focuses on the perceptual work facing the potential sanctioner, and uses attribution theory as a framework for understanding the specific areas of advantage enjoyed by high-status group members. An examination of each stage in the attribution process allan's a reconceptualization of the sanctioning process as dynamic, and context-bound. Thus, using the same theory, we also specify the conditions under which we would expect the potential sanctioner to levy more harsh sanctions against the high-status deviant. Finally, factors which increase the likelihood of bias or distortion in the attribution process are examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A telephone survey of Michigan residents provided statistics about the economic conditions and undesirable behavior of white Americans and asked respondents to estimate the corresponding statistics for blacks. Data from white respondents showed that the greater the perceived racial difference (PRD) in rates of undesirable behavior, the more blacks were seen as not trying to better themselves and the less blacks were viewed as experiencing discrimination. The greater the PRD in economic status, especially controlling for education, the more respondents saw racial discrimination as continuing. Controlling for the PRD in Undesirable Behavior, however, the PRD in economic status had little effect on the belief that blacks do not make effort. Implications of these results for status generalization processes are discussed. Because respondents underestimated all racial differences, accurate knowledge of racial statistics might increase both the belief that discrimination continues and the belief that blacks fail to make an effort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I analyze the process by which we react cognitively to information that contradicts our culturally held sentiments in the context of affect control theory. When bizarre, unanticipated events come to our attention and we have no opportunity to act so as to alter them, we must reidentify at least one event component: the actor, the behavior, or the person who is the object of the action. Currently, however, affect control theory includes no formal model predicting which concept will undergo reidentification. I consider theoretical reasons why actors, behaviors, and object persons each might be predicted to undergo reidentification more than the others. I also present an alternative prediction, consistent with affect control theory logic, based on the contribution made by each concept to the total deflection of the event; I label these discrete contributions "component deflections." I then test these possibilities in two separate experimental studies, using event vignettes. By far, the most commonly reidentified event component is the behavior; this finding suggests a dynamism in the conceptualization of behaviors which has been underappreciated in a social psychological literature that focuses on self-identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Network structures both enable and constrain the development of social relations. This research investigates these features by comparing the development of commitments in structurally enabled and structurally induced exchange relations. We integrate ideas from the theory of relational cohesion and the choice process theory of commitment. In an experiment we manipulate and compare a structurally enabled relation with a structurally induced relation. The main hypotheses are that a structurally enabled relation generates a greater sense of control, more positive emotions, greater perceived cohesion, and more commitment behavior than a structurally induced relation. The results of the experiment support these hypotheses. The implication is that enabling and constraining features of network structures exert important effects on cohesion and commitment in relations within those structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explain how interpersonal behavior in relational contexts usually reproduces but sometimes modifies macro structural patterns, I outline a conceptual framework within which to understand existing theories and evidence and to develop new ones. Actors create and enact structure by means of several types of shared cultural schemas ("ordering schemas") that represent or imply relations between specific or abstract actors. "Modular" ordering schemas such as fundamental sentiments, social identities, or status beliefs disaggregate the meanings of identities, settings, and events from their embedded contexts and represent them in abstract form. Generative theories view actors as possessing shared "vocabularies" of modular ordering schemas and shared schemas for combining those modular meanings to generate interpersonal behavior that responds flexibly to situational contingencies. The generated behavior largely reproduces structural patterns represented in modular schemas, but can produce novel patterns through unique combinations of cultural information. I then discuss how modular ordering schemas develop and become widely shared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Symbolic interactionism suggests that one of the main tasks for individuals in interaction is the establishment of a definition of the situation. Individuals can control this definition in three main ways: by behaving in ways consistent with their identity, by influencing the behavior of others, and by resisting the identities that others, in turn, seek to impose on them. It is unlikely, however, that individuals are equally able to control meanings in the situation. Using a sample of newly married couples, this research examines how husbands" and wives' relative structural and relationship power affects their ability to control meanings in the situation. Results suggest that those with more power are more able to behave in ways consistent with their identity, more able to impose an identity on their spouse, and more able to resist the identity that the spouse, in turn, seeks to impose. Occupying an advantaged position in both structures confers even greater ability to control meanings in the situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ridgeway argues that we can increase our understanding of the creation and perpetuation of gender inequality in the workplace by applying micro-level theories of social psychological processes that operate in such settings. We go beyond her arguments to propose that the degree of mixed-sex interaction in the workplace be viewed as a factor that produces differences in gender workplace inequalities. Specifically, we hypothesize that when the collective task-directed behavior in a work group involves face-to-face mixed-sex interaction, gender workplace inequalities will be greater than in settings where such behavior involves women and men working largely independently of each other This hypothesis is supported strongly by natural-setting data that compare gender workplace inequalities in agricultural research teams, where face-to-face interaction is present, with the same inequalities in agricultural extension settings, where there is little face-to-face interaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Built on the empowerment literature, this study develops and tests two hypotheses: the structural-approach and the motivation-approach hypothesis. The structural-approach hypothesis predicts that the structural opportunities and constraints embedded in jobs and organizations are the main factors explaining empowerment outcomes (e.g., proactivity and fatigue). In contrast, the motivational-approach hypothesis predicts that one of the key motivational constructs in the psychological literature, self-efficacy, mediates the structural effects of organizations and jobs to empowerment outcomes. The two hypotheses in this study were tested with a sample drawn from two large organizations in Korea. Overall the motivational hypothesis received more support in explaining proactive behavior. With few exceptions, most direct effects of the structural conditions on proactive behavior are mediated by the employees' self-efficacy. In support of the structural approach, however, some direct effects of structural conditions decreased the level of fatigue more than the indirect effects through self-efficacy. Implications of these findings are discussed in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite psychological and sociological evidence that self-efficacy beliefs predict goal striving and a variety of achievement-related behaviors, self-efficacy has been neglected in studies of educational attainment. Using data from a longitudinal study of 1,000 adolescents, we examine the sources of adolescents' self-efficacy beliefs and the effects of these beliefs on educational attendance immediately after high school. Both social background and personal achievements are found to influence economic self-efficacy; this, in turn, fosters educational attainment. This self-concept dimension exerts its effects on postsecondary achievement both directly and indirectly, through relevant expectations and students' behaviors during the last year of high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using recent developments on "second-order expectations" from status characteristics theory, we examine how the weighting of three motives (task performance, avoidance of status loss, and facilitation of interaction) affects an actor's orientation toward task performance and other group members, as well as an actor's behavior towards others. We propose that a differential weighting of these motives affects the extent to which actors in the same status position behave assertively in a group. We also argue that the scope conditions of status characteristics theory (i.e., task orientation and collective orientation) may correspond to a situation in which the three motives are explicitly weighted equally. Results from our experiment support our arguments. This research clarifies (1) earlier theorizing and research on the relation between first- and second-order expectations and (2) how the scope conditions of task and collective orientation relate to an actor's motivations in problem-solving groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Violence is often used to control the behavior of others. Some scholars hypothesize that this motive is particularly common when men attack their female partners. To measure the control motive we determine whether the offender in assaults threatened the victim before the attack; threats typically are used to control others' behavior. We predict a statistical interaction involving offender's gender, victim's gender, and offender-victim relationship. Analyses based on data from the revised National Crime Victimization Survey reveal such an interaction, suggesting that assaults by husbands against their wives are more likely than other assaults to be motivated by efforts at control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research reported here is a test of the applicability of an identity theory model, developed with samples of blood donors, to two other forms of institutional helping: volunteering and charitable donation. The model fits all three forms of helping; perceived expectations, parental modeling, personal norms, past behavior, and role-identity as a donor are significant predictors of intentions to donate. Role-identity is predicted from perceived expectations, modeling, personal norms, and past behavior. Past behavior is consistently influenced by perceived expectations and modeling. Although the fit of the model is very similar across forms of giving, the past volunteering of time--the most "public" form of donation--appears to be affected more strongly by others' expectations than are gifts of blood or money. Past blood donation is affected more strongly by modeling from parents than is volunteering. Feelings of moral obligation have a stronger effect on role-identity as a blood donor than as a donor of time or money. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article applies the social psychological theory of reasoned action to processes of homelessness; this application extends the breadth of the theory and illuminates the study of homelessness. The theory of reasoned action links attitudes to voluntary, unconstrained, temporally proximate behaviors by means of behavioral intentions. It is argued here that behavioral intentions, once formed, also can alter both perceived and actual opportunities for behaviors, thus linking attitudes to a wider range of social behaviors. Hypotheses derived from this intentions-altering-opportunities reformulation are tested with data about homeless persons' intentions for leaving the streets for conventional housing. As hypothesized, intentions for conventional housing predicted, to a significant degree, future departures from homelessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines gender as status, and gender and control (which share the meaning of dominance) as identities by analyzing negative and positive behavior of married couples whose task is to resolve disagreements in their marriage. On the basis of recent extensions of expectation states theory dealing with emotion-based behavior, we hypothesize that husbands will be more likely than wives to use negative behavior in conversation. On the basis of identity theory and the meanings of emotion-based behavior, we also hypothesize that those with a more masculine and more dominant control identity will be more likely to use negative behavior in interaction, and that those with a more feminine and less dominant control identity will be more likely to use positive behavior. We test these predictions on a representative sample of newly married couples, using videotaped conversations. Although the results are consistent with predictions from identity theory, they are inconsistent with predictions following from the extension of expectation states theory. Specifically, wives rather than husbands employ more negative behavior in conversation. The results, paradoxically, are different for being female than for being feminine, and different for being male than for being masculine; nonetheless, we argue that understanding the implications of gender as both status and identity helps to resolve the paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines the relationship between the meanings contained in one's identity and the meanings attributed to one's behavior by both oneself and others in small-group interaction. The goal is to provide an empirical test of expectations derived from identity theory and from the structural symbolic interaction perspective concerning the link between persons' identities, their behaviors, their own interpretation of their behaviors, and others' interpretations of their behaviors. Of interest are three issues: whether others attribute the same meanings to one's role performance as does the self, whether the meanings attributed both by the self and by others verify (correspond to) the meanings contained in one's identity, and the consequences when these meanings fail to correspond. The results suggest that a shared meaning structure does develop among actors in a small group and allows all members similarly to interpret each other's behavior, and that this shared interpretation tends to verify the group members' identities. In addition, it was found that when discrepancies exist between the meanings of a group member's role performance and the meanings of his or her identity, the group member is less satisfied with his or her role performance in the group. The implications of these results for identity theory are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent reports of a relationship between self-identity and behavioral intentions independent of the role of attitudes were examined skeptically in a study of attitudes towards the consumption of organically produced vegetables. We hypothesized that an adequate operationalization of the components of the theory of planned behavior would result in no independent relationship between a measure of self-identity and a measure of behavioral intentions. Two hundred and sixty-one randomly sampled members of the general public returned postal questionnaires relating to this theme. Contrary to expectations, regression analyses showed a substantial independent effect for self-identity; this effect persisted when a measure of past consumption was included in the regression equation. The findings are discussed in relation to the expected-utility origins of the theory of planned behavior and to the range of considerations taken into account when people express their attitudes via the standard questionnaire measures employed in research of this kind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research analyzes the impact of offensive and defensive punitive tactics in two-party bargaining. The basic predictions are that defensive use of punitive tactics produces a lower rate of damaging action by another than does offensive use of punitive tactics, and that higher-power actors use punitive tactics offensively, whereas lower-power actors use them defensively. These predictions were tested in a two-party bargaining setting that allowed parties to exchange offers and counteroffers and to take punitive action against each other. The results generally support the implications of bilateral deterrence; parties facing opponents who took strong offensive measures used more punitive tactics than those who did not, whereas parties facing opponents who took strong retaliatory measures combined with weak offensive measures used fewer punitive tactics. Contrary to expectation, low-power actors did not differ from high-power actors in their use of offensive or defensive tactics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the impressions that are created when individuals direct activity toward the self (e.g., the widow pampered herself). Ratings of evaluation, potency, and activity (EPA) for 256 combinations of identity and self-directed behavior were regressed on EPA measurements of the component identities and behaviors. The prediction equations show that actors and behaviors involved in self-directed activity generally seem less good, less powerful, and less active than before the event; a decline in potency is the largest effect. Specific outcomes, however, are influenced by the character of the actor, by the behavior, and by interactions between the two. Females and males develop impressions of self-directed action in the same ways, but tentative findings suggest that female actors are processed somewhat differently from male actors and that impressions of one's own self-directed action may differ from impressions of others'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two major propositions from equity theory are that inequity causes distress and that this distress leads people to restore equity. A role-playing vignette study was conducted to test these propositions further and to examine how the individual variables--gender and exchange orientation--affect responses to inequity. Subjects expected to become distressed in response to underbenefiting inequity and to be likely to restore equity to this situation. Although subjects did not believe they would become distressed overall in response to overbenefiting inequity, they expected that they would feel guilty and would engage in equity-restoring behaviors. Women were more likely than men to expect to become distressed and to engage in equity-restoring behaviors in response to both types of inequity. Furthermore, subjects' scores on the exchange orientation scale were associated positively with their expectations of becoming distressed and of engaging in equity-restoring behaviors, particularly for underbenefiting inequity orientation and overbenefiting inequity orientation. The implications of the results of this study for equity theory are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most workers believe that they are entitled to receive higher wages than they are presently receiving. Analysis shows that subjective wage entitlement is affected by the perceived difference between the comparison others' and the individual's wages, and by the relative deprivation it may create. The findings reveal that men and women who work in female and in male-type occupations base their claims for higher wages on different and somewhat unexpected principles of justice: women in female-type occupations use equity considerations; women in male-type occupations turn to structural factors: men in female-type occupations want equality of outcomes; men in male-type occupations invoke "needs." Furthermore, women do not report high levels of entitlement, and their expressed entitlement is not only lower than men's but also lower than their comparison group's earnings. These findings are explained in terms of status value theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that both message discrepancy (the difference between the position advocated in a message and the position of the receiver) and message disconfirmation (the degree to which the position advocated is unexpected) affect opinion change. Their combined effects have been unclear, however. They are typically confounded, and studies of their effects generally use different types of dependent opinion measures. To disentangle their effects, we use an experimental design in which discrepancy and disconfirmation are orthogonal and in which we measure both the subject's position along the same scale as the position advocated and his or her comparative evaluation of the attitude object. Using structural equation models, we find that discrepancy affects position positively (via a weighted averaging process) but does not directly affect comparative evaluation. Disconfirmation affects the comparative evaluation of the attitude object positively (via an attributional process) but not the position. Effects of comparative evaluation on position appear to require substantial cognitive elaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The social identification approach to intergroup relations emphasizes the role of social categorization as a cognitive variable in causing group behavior. The acceptance of a social category as self-defining is assumed to lead to ingroup formation and preferences. The present study does not focus on the causality question but rather argues that the social identification model does not pay enough attention to the different levels of group identification and to the evaluative orientation toward social categories. Adolescents from ethnic minorities participated in this study. The results show that the mere self-description in terms of their ethnic origin was not associated with more in group formation and stronger preference. Adolescents who considered their ethnic identity as very important, however, showed more in group preference. The same was true for adolescents who evaluated their ethnic identity positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980) and two versions of theory of planned behavior (Ajzen 1985) are compared in terms of their ability to predict intentions and behavior. Two behaviors are examined: one involves a high degree of volitional control (voting), and the other is goal-directed; i.e., it involves a low degree of volitional control (weight loss). By using recently advocated confirmatory analytic procedures, we show that for voting behavior, the first version of the theory of planned behavior offers a more parsimonious model for predicting behavioral intention than the theory of reasoned action. For weight loss, the second version of the theory' of planned behavior offers the more parsimonious representation for predicting behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was designed to test the idea that blacks' and whites' attitudes reflect fundamentally different ways of conceptualizing the issue of capital punishment. It was hypothesized that support for the death penalty among whites is based on whether they attribute criminal behavior to characteristics of the criminal or to the environment. Support among blacks, however, is predicted to be influenced primarily by perceptions of sentencing equity and by a lack of trust in representatives of the criminal justice system. Analysis of a sample of respondents from the Detroit area provides evidence in favor of the responsibility attribution model for whites, whereas support among blacks is found to relate primarily to degree of trust in the police but not to the perception of sentencing inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that face management (Goffman 1967) is an important variable affecting how speakers phrase their remarks. The present research examines the possibility that face concerns also could affect the interpretation of remarks. Subjects read scenarios and target utterances, and then stated their judgments of the likelihood of various interpretations of the remarks. As expected, subjects perceived indirect interpretations to be more likely when the situation was threatening than when the situation was nonthreatening. The likelihood that a remark would be interpreted indirectly also was affected by type of question (conventional means were more likely than hints to result in an indirect interpretation) and by gender (females were more likely than males to interpret replies indirectly). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three studies of everyday helping behavior are described. Study 1 reveals that most everyday helping occurs between friends, family members, and other familiar individuals; providing assistance to strangers is less common. Furthermore, much of the help given to familiar others is planned, whereas help given to strangers is almost always spontaneous. Study 2 describes the construction of an instrument to measure self-reports of helping. A multidimensional scaling analysis reveals three regions of helping: planned formal, planned informal, and spontaneous. Study 3 finds that characteristics of individuals, in general, are related more strongly to planned forms of helping than to spontaneous forms of helping. Social network variables also are found to be better predictors of self-reported helping behavior than are traditional personality variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It was hypothesized that the degree of intention formation moderates the way in which attitudes influence behavior. Degree of intention formation-how well-formed intentions are-was manipulated by facilitating or disrupting the process of intention formation in a field experiment. As predicted, the degree to which intentions were well formed affected the way in which attitudes influenced behavior. When intentions were well formed, they completely mediated the effects of attitudes on behavior, in keeping with the theory of reasoned action. When intentions were poorly formed, however, the mediating role of intentions was reduced, and attitudes had a direct effect on behavior. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for understanding the attitude-behavior relationship are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research indicates that males perceive people to be more interested in sex than do women and are less able than women to differentiate among liking, love, and Lexual involvement. Does this mean, as Abbey (1982) hypothesized, that males cannot differentiate between friendly and sexually interested behavior? Videotapes were prepared of five couples, each showing a male and a female behaving in either a friendly or a sexually interested fashion. The design was 2 (sex of subject) x 2 (male intent) x 2 (female intent) x 2 (sex of actor), with sex of actor as a within-subject factor. The data were analyzed by means of a MANOVA. Results of subjects' ratings of videotapes indicate that 1) males perceive both males and females as having more sexual interest than do females, and 2) both males and females differentiate between friendly and interested behavior. We concluded that 1) males and females have different thresholds for the perception of sexual intent, and 2) members of either sex can make errors, depending upon their perceptual threshold and the emotivity of the actors. The gender difference in the perception of sexual intent is thought to result from the male's greater sexual appetite, which the male uses as a model for the attribution of the appetites of others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gray and Tallman s (1984) model of individual choice is extended to explain the choice behavior of groups. Experimental data on dyads tend to support the model and, when compared to comparable data on individuals, show how group choice behavior differs from individual choice behavior. Groups are less likely than individuals to choose a behavior whose relative worth is low, and are more likely to engage in a behavior of its relative worth is high. A general application of the model to groups larger than dyads is also presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theories of choice are divided into those that deal with obtained events, such as reinforcements, and those that deal with scheduled events, such as the expected rate of a reinforcer. We find those models dealing with scheduled events to have policy implications which are not easily derivable from models of obtained events. Two general models based on scheduled events are compared in both positive reinforcement and positive punishment situations. One model is based on sensitivity to reward, while the other is based on sensitivity to cost. in both applications we find that the cost sensitivity model provides good a priori predictions of behavior, while the reward sensitivity model does not. We suggest that conventional ideas of "rational" choice based on game theoretic or economic principles need to be closely examined and new principles of behavioral choice developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The moderator variable approach to the attitude-behavior relationship is applied to an understanding of the role of self-interest in predicting voting behavior. The present study addresses the question. "Under what conditions does self-interest more strongly relate to voting behavior?" This relationship may be moderated kv the extent of personal involvement in the issue of interest, considered in terms of "personal agendas." Personal agendas are subjective rankings of issues in terms of their personal importance to the individual as well as their perceived importance for others. We hypothesized that only for people who accord a high ranking to a particular issue on their personal agendas would self-interest relate to their vote choice in the 1984 Presidential election. Using economic issues and related self-interest activities, clear support for this pattern was found in post-election Gallup Poll data. Such findings are consistent with research in social cognition that underscores the importance of individual difference variables such as personal involvement. In the present case, personal agendas may have moderated the issue's cognitive accessibility, and as a result, the relationship between self-interest and voting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nonexperimental (homicide) and experimental data are used to study the effects of the certainty and severity of punishment. Many deterrence researchers, working without systematic theory of how punishments should operate to influence behavior, have opted for a simple additive model of certainty and severity. However, a satisfaction balance model-a social psychological theory representing a modification of the matching equation and positing interactive effects of certainty and severity-fits both sets of data well and substantially better than an additive model. The implications of the satisfaction balance mode! for a theory of deterrence are discussed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]