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This work focuses on the variations in societal responses perceived by male homosexuals in various group settings of interaction and on the relationship of these responses to their social status and related behavioral characteristics. Conclusions were based on the analysis of data collected from a sampling of 148 male homosexuals in and around a large midwestern city. These are as follows: (1) stereotypic responses are more likely to occur under the interactional prescripts characteristic of secondary groups due to their impersonal and one-way interaction; and, (2) lower class homosexuals are more likely to perceive stereotypic responses due to their closer approximation to the stereotypic image of a homosexual. It is suggested that the display of stereotypic behavior is a manifestation of the lower class homosexual's desire to be identified with the homosexual community. This identification may provide a meaningful self definition and an opportunity for upward mobility unattainable in the larger society. (Author/WS)

This paper analyzes past studies of outdoor recreational behavior from the point of view of symbolic interactionism. This perspective focuses directly on the manner in which individuals interpret the words and behavior of others, as well as their own physical environment. The first part of the analysis examines some recent definitions of recreation and data on outdoor recreation. The second part is devoted to a social-psychological scrutiny of this form of human action. Specific attention is given to demonstrating the usefulness of symbolic interactionism as a way to regard outdoor recreational behavior as a learned and symbolically transmitted social action. (Author/BRB/CL)