Search

The objectives of this paper are to propose a new concept for use in attitude studies; to explain one way in which this concept has been operationalized; to suggest an hypothesis for use in further studies of this concept; and to present some preliminary research findings concerning this hypothesis. Social scientists have long been interested in differences and similarities between people holding "liberal" and "conservative" attitudes toward various issues and problems of the day. Countless numbers of research studies have been conducted in this area. Perhaps most interesting among these studies have been several attempts to determine whether people tend to have a general liberal-conservative orientation, or whether we must expect their attitudes to vary in different situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws attention to a form of behavior that, because it is universal and obvious, has neither been clearly identified nor systematically studied. Self-role interaction is the general context in which will be sought the identification and location of the concept of "rolecentrism." The construct of role has a secure place both in sociology and in psychology. Despite widely divergent definitions, behavioral scientists continue to find it a highly useful explanatory concept. There is value in examining a network of interlocking roles in terms of behavior, expectations, or attributes for consensus or dissensus wherein the person is not the focus of interest. There can be no question of the value of such faceless research. In an earlier study that focused on the critical requirements for the foreman's position, foremen as well as their subordinates and immediate superiors shared with the writer critical incidents in which a foreman had behaved in an outstandingly effective or ineffective way.