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The article presents information about several journals. The International Journal of Psychology, which started publication in 1966, is devoted to cross-cultural comparative and co-operative research in general, genetic and social psychology throughout the world. It reports on comparative field or laboratory studies, inquiries, experimental replications, critical reviews, theoretical or methodological papers in relationship with cross-cultural research, projects or cross-cultural studies are also published. Sociological Studies will be international in scope and will offer a professional, coordinated and disciplined review and appraisal of research trends in different areas of sociology. Each issue will consist of a collection of papers integrated around a particular theme. In particular it is hoped to provide an avenue for the publication of longer working papers which are at present too extensive for most journals. Sociological Studies will be published annually in English by the Cambridge University Press. The first issue will appear in 1968.

This article provides an overview of the Cornell Study of Occupational Retirement, introducing some papers which are progress reports of a longitudinal project in the area of aging and retirement. The Project, which was initiated in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Cornell University, began in 1951 with pilot studies, a review of literature and other research reconnaissance. During 1952 and 1953 the original phase of data gathering was completed at the site of participating organizations throughout the country. The social aspects of aging have become the focus of increasing interest from the standpoints of basic research and social action programs. This growth of research activities and social concern with the process of aging is closely related to three fundamental demographic and social changes which have occurred over a fifty year period: (1) the life span of persons has been extended appreciably; (2) the absolute numbers and the relative proportion of the aged in the general population has been steadily increasing; (3) there has been a marked increase in the number of older persons who retire. Overall, the notions of personal and social adjustment, when carefully used, are useful research tools, and it is in this sense that the concepts are employed in the project's analyses and, presumably, in other analyses which seek clearer understandings of social, psychological and biological processes associated with aging and retirement.

In this article, the author describes how Leo Pfeffer, the author of the paper entitled, "Issues That Divide," has contributed among other things a unique, highly useful, and systematic cataloguing of the principal issues around which Catholic-non-Catholic tensions and conflicts have developed and exist in America today. This brief postscript to his paper is intended to highlight some of the sociological and social psychological implications of what he has to say on this subject. As it is implied, the essential nature of Catholic-non-Catholic conflict makes it unlikely that such conflict will disappear in the natural course of events in the foreseeable future. Its control requires a more adequate understanding of its process than the social sciences can supply at present.

This article presents Peter M. Hall's response to Rosabeth Moss Kanter's comments toward his article "A Symbolic Interactionist Analysis of Politics," published in the 1972 issue of "Sociological Inquiry." The author concludes that Kanter misunderstands his perspective by subsuming it under American liberalism. If there is anything that he is not, it is an American liberal, and if there is anything he is criticizing in American sociology, political sociology, and symbolic interaction, it is consensual, pluralistic, and liberal bias. Hall also does not deny the need to see the totality of the society, its interdependencies, feedbacks, and impacts, in short, society as a system. To settle misconceptions, Hall emphasized that his paper had a special focus and set limits as to its goals and coverage. It was not intended to be a complete analysis of politics nor a complete analysis of American politics.

In this article, the author comments on methodologies in social psychological work proposed by participants of the roundtable discussion conducted by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issue in the U.S. The techniques of surveying, has had exceptional use in solving the practical problems encountered in administrative work. With regards to the dynamics of face-to-face human groups, the clinical approach to social psychological problems was appropriate in that the former isolation between social psychologists and clinicians has been breaking down. The author suggested that there are no really unique methods in the field.

The author of this article presents a rebuttal to comments on his paper entitled, "How Scientific Are the Social Sciences?" He particularly refers to the brief observations on social engineering at the end of the paper. The commentator's pessimistic view of the present situation refers to the situation in Canada and the U.S. where, for somewhat different reasons, there is an institutional inertia that is not to the same extent present in some other countries.

This paper focuses on industrialization, development or modernization. The author will start with the division of individual societies into functional sub-systems evolved by various researchers. This is an attempt to categorize aspects of social interaction in terms of the four functional imperatives which, it is postulated, all viable social systems must cater for. In sum, the decade after the end of World War II may be taken as a peak in the prestige-standing of economics. Economists were accorded considerable deference, largely because of the functional emphasis on economic problems in the post-war world; whilst at the same time the strategic status of the economist helped to sustain the narrow economic perspectives of national elites. Some of the most significant early inroads into the domination of economics can be located not so much in existing dissatisfaction with the policy tools of governments as in the academic sphere. The priority of changing emphasis was to a large extent in the hands of academic critics. Notable breaks with the dominance of almost exclusively economic interpretations of the problems of deprived nations occurred during the 1950's.

The article focuses on the concept and meaning of social processes in context with rural areas. The achievements of any science are determined in large part by the comprehensiveness of the problem the scientist sets for himself. In rural sociology people have asked many questions such as, "What?", "When?", and "Where?", questions which involve no essential problem and the answers to which are usually in terms of simple factual statements. The question immediately arises as to the importance of processes in any complete scheme of sociological analysis. The answer binges on the importance of change and action in the analysis being made. If the problem is one of explaining how a given social situation came to be, there is no possibility of generalization except in terms of process. The same is true if one is dealing with function: i.e., how a given system works.

This article presents Sidney R. Waldman's comments to David Easton's article "Some Limits of Exchange Theory in Politics," published in the 1972 issue of "Sociological Inquiry." In rebuttal to Easton's suggestion that the author is not clear as to the nature of the five propositions that form the core of exchange theory, Waldman emphasizes that exchange theory does not imply that men consciously calculate costs or benefits, that they consciously try to satisfice, or that they consciously calculate the probable outcomes of the various actions they see open to them. Also, Easton argues that exchange theory, despite its claims, is only a special theory which attempts to explain variation in support for political institutions and practices. However, in the author's opinion, a reading of the basic propositions should readily convince the reader that the theory is intended to explain all behavior, not merely behavior that involves support for regime, government, political party, or other institutions.

The article presents the summary of the article "If The Social Scientist Is to Be More Than a Mere Technician," by Muzafer Sherif that was published in January 1968 issue of the periodical "Journal of Social Issues." The author emphasizes that it is necessary that the work of the social scientist cross disciplines and search its historic past if there is to be an examination of persistent and recurrent social psychological problems, which go beyond mere technicianship.

This article introduces social gerontology as a new field of research and teaching which is not directly concerned with the biological aspects of aging but concentrates rather upon its economic, social psychological, sociological and political aspects. As this field of research is becoming well established, many scholars in the social sciences are planning to teach a course or courses in social gerontology. Occupational retirement has a central position in social gerontology. Retirement from work rather than any specified age marks the end of the main activity which gives meaning and purpose to the lives of a great majority of people. To date the research on occupational retirement has been limited. It has been confined to a single company, or it has dealth with only a few items or it has been concerned either with pre-retirement or post-retirement data. The Cornell Study of Occupational Retirement is, by contrast, outstanding in its methodology and scope. It is a large scale investigation requiring time and effort in securing the data. Several partial reports of the project are published in the May 1958 issue of "The Journal of Social Issues" and may become a valuable contribution to the social psychology of aging and retirement.

Focuses on the suggestion of the authors that the least adequate definitions in social psychology are those real definitions which state the essential nature or attributes of some entity or theoretical construct. Emphasis on the concept of altruism; Suggestion that the necessary components for a complete description of an intentional act include what the actor wanted, what he knew, what he knew how to do, his performance, and the actual achievement of his behaving; Problem on the explanation of the development and maintenance of altruistic behavior.

The environmental crisis in human dignity lies not just in the overuse, the misuse, and the decay of physical settings, but far more significantly in how we conceive of the individual in relation to any such setting. In the design and organization of physical settings, the human properties of the individual are ignored, oversimplified, or implicitly assumed, because of the influence of such socioenvironmental values as scientific-technological progress, urbanism, pseudoprogress (novelty and change), and the value placed on an ever increasing acceleration of technological change. Spaces and places are improperly designed not only in physical terms; designs overlook human needs for privacy, territoriality, freedom of choice, etc., and the conceiving of the individual as a simple ‘machine man.’ Unintended consequences are often ignored and no attempt is made to evaluate just how well the setting actually works. The danger is that the person will adjust and at the price of a continuing erosion of the properties that make him distinctively human. It is imperative that as behavioral scientists turn to the systematic study of man/environment problems they recognize the need to maintain the contextual reality and integrity of any such problem as it evolves, develops, and becomes modified in the time framework of a complex society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the sentimental basis of group solidarity. Ascertaining the conditions of group solidarity is one of the perennial problems of sociology. Some groups are able to maintain their identity and way of life even when others around them collapse and disappear. When confronted with adversity, the unity of some groups is enhanced, others disintegrate into bickering factions. In conjunction with other hypotheses on organizational patterns, ideologies, conflict with external foes, and special techniques of social control, however, statements about interpersonal relations may provide an important segment of a theory of group cohesion. The importance of sentiments is widely recognized in daily life, and the literature of the world abounds with descriptions of love, hatred, jealousy, resentment, pride, and hero worship. Since sentiments are so difficult to define and to measure, social scientists on the whole have shied away from them. It is apparent, then, that sentiments play an important part in sociologist George Homans' treatment of group solidarity. What is his conception of sentiments? In his earlier work he defines the term very broadly, using it to include various "internal states of the human body." He includes drives, emotions, feelings, affective states, attitudes, and "more complicated psychological states as liking or disliking for individuals, approval or disapproval of their actions."

The article sheds light on the response generated by the work of sociologist George Homans. There is no lack of reviews, summaries and analyses of the work of sociologist George Homans, yet Homans himself would probably agree that the influence of a leader is to be seen in the response of his followers, rather than in the activity originated by the leader. Probably this response is never completely what the leader intended. The scope of this review is limited to all footnoted citations appearing in six journals, "The American Sociological Review," "The American Journal of Sociology," "Sociometry," "Social Forces," "Sociology and Social Research," and "Human Relations," over the period from 1951 through 1962. The approach does not take account of implicit influences and of general references to Homans in text, without footnote. Books and monographs have been excluded from the analysis largely because of the difficulty of defining a universe feasible to study. Certain journals have been omitted either because they have changed significantly in twelve year period or because they are not primarily sociological in orientation or sponsorship. The listed journals are surely representative of at least one level in the continuing discourse of the discipline and it is the fate of Homans' ideas in this universe that the article examines.

This article was based on the fact that rural-urban behavioral differences have not been adequately conceptualized in terms of sociological theory. A relatively new approach is followed which defines roles as parts of social positions, which in turn make up situses, which in turn make up stations (the sum total of an actor's status positions within a community setting). Action systems made of roles dedicated to an institutional function are viewed as the key to behavioral differences. These systems are construed as varying in character depending on the structural qualifies of the roles. Seven of these qualities are identified, each providing a range of structural alternatives which account for patterns of social relations. Societies can thus be classified according to the structural alternatives to behavior which characterize their makeup. The role theory approach outlined may provide a more precise set of conceptual tools for delineating and understanding rural-urban differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general results of research on innovation in farm practices tends to be confusing in certain ways. Although much time and effort have been expended in teaching and helping farmers to introduce new practices, nevertheless, while some do innovate, a very high percentage of others in the same geographic area may not, in spite of proven advantages, such as higher production yields, from the new technique. Newer developments in social psychological and sociological theory can add a degree of clarification by placing the empirical research in a theoretical framework. Although there are many available models from the social sciences, those from social psychology should also be examined. Among the various theories which could be explored, such as balance and imbalance theory and Festinger's theory of Cognative Dissonance. This theory has potential for utility and can lend some order to the data on innovation and help to make some predictions of the course of future innovations in farm practices.

New emphases coming from the medical and health professions as well as from the social sciences point up the need for more scientific study of emotional, social, and cultural factors as explanatory principles of human health and illness. In line with social-psychological theory, health of the human personality may be conceptualized in terms of competency in interpersonal relationships. This approach is in harmony with other major approaches including psychodynamic theory, culture theory, field theory, and constitutional theory. This orientation toward health research presents a set of challenging tasks to social scientists, who need to develop hypotheses and workable designs for research which will add to knowledge in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A before-and-after analysis of farmers' attitudes in a conflict situation involving farmer-hunter relations revealed that most farmers were not greatly influenced by a group organized to influence opinion and action, despite a vigorous campaign by the group and even though the farmers found themselves in an ambiguous, not previously experienced situation. Farm ownership and previous traumatic experience with hunters were the only characteristics of farmers found to be associated with decisions to restrict hunting. The data seem to confirm the hypothesis that actual experience with a situation tends to reduce prejudice against it. The present findings are compared with some findings of Lazarsfeld et al. For the present sample it is concluded that (1) attitudes, if defined as internalized predispositions to act, tend to be stable, although verbalized responses tend to be unstable; (2) changes in attitudes involved, in many cases, the activation of previous experiences; (3) predispositions to act were not necessarily more typical of individuals in whom cross-pressures operate; and (4) opinion-leaders, either self-appointed or otherwise, did not influence the decisions of most farmers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author of this article comments to the points made by Gunnar Myrdal in his analysis of why inventions in the natural sciences are so much more numerous and important than social inventions. Five reasons are given why there are less social inventions. For instance, the problems of society, such as poverty, unemployment, crime, and poor housing, are tend to be seen as resulting from failings in human nature that should be addressed educationally, moralistically, punitively, or tolerantly rather than as ailments in need of more effective treatment processes.

The social sciences are scientific in the sense that we seek true knowledge of man and his society. Why then does progress in the social sciences seem slow in comparison to the natural sciences? To some extent perhaps there is selective recruitment of the most gifted students away from the social sciences, but more crucial is the fact that the problems we deal with are more difficult to master; the social scientist can never get down to constants (laws of nature) and thus to a generally valid knowledge. Another cause of difficulty is the unavoidable intrusion of the scientist's valuations, which are diversified and not self-evident. Consequently relatively little stands as undisputed truth in our findings. It should be the task of the sociology and social psychology of science to examine the problem of bias in social research. Social scientists and social engineers additionally must take responsibility for inducing necessary changes in the political process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kenneth B. Clark, professor at the City of New York University and recipient of the Kurt Lewin Memorial Award from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues in the United States for his work in the development and integration of psychological research and social action, chose for his acceptance speech the topic "Problems of Power and Social Change: Toward a Relevant Social Psychology." For his first paragraphs, he discussed Bertrand Russell's concepts on social science. He discussed various issues such as social psychology, social power, social research, social system and social sciences. Clark stated that the choice for society and for social science is between capricious lawlessness, pre-scientific in its random patterns of change, and rational law, scientific in its plan for controlling the reality, rate and direction of change.

Why isn't more known about Negro American personality? Three answers to this question are: (1) the narrowness and ‘practical’ orientation of many of the studies on the problem; (2) the methodological difficulties inherent in this research and the widespread failure to overcome these problems; and (3) the need for a broad social psychological theory of Negro American personality. The type of theory required must treat not only the unique historical and socio-cultural forces behind the group and the subtle reflections of these forces within the Negro's personality, but it must also specify the mediating mechanisms transmitting the interpenetrating effects of each of these sets of factors upon the other. A better understanding of the Negro American personality, then, will require more broadly-conceived, methodologically-rigorous, and theoretically-guided research. Hopefully, such attention will be attracted to this area, for the study of Negro personality not only offers unique opportunities for attacking basic problems in the general field of personality but also contributes to a specific area of maximum social importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the opinion of the author regarding the persistence and regression of changed attitudes. One's attitude toward something is not only a resultant of one's previous traffic with one's environment but also a determinant of selective response to present and future environments. Viewed in the latter way, existing attitudes may determine one's selection among alternative environmental settings, and these in turn may serve to preserve or undermine the very attitudes that had been initially responsible for one's selection among the alternatives. Insofar as attitudes are self-preserving, such tendencies to select a supportive environment would, if empirically supported, provide an important explanation of their persistence. Among the many possible forms of environmental reinforcements of behavioral expressions of attitudes, the author considers a single class behavior on the part of other people that one perceives as supportive of one's own attitudes.

The article analyzes the cold war mentality. The interesting point is that both the United States and Soviet Union have been making tentative unilateral gestures over the past few years. These gestures have been largely abortive because they were not graduated and continued as part of a consistent, carefully thought-out policy, rather they were used more as ammunition in the cold war; they were not publicly announced in advance of their commission; the possible forms of reciprocation were not spelled out. Graduated reciprocation in tension-reduction seeks its justification in social science considerations. It assumes that if carefully graduated unilateral actions were maintained over a sufficient period, pressures of public opinion both internal and external would force reciprocation.

This article explores some areas related to the family in later maturity. The analysis of around 1500 cases has indicated that there is a higher degree of family solidarity as measured by our indices than has been noted by other writers. We found that older persons accept the importance of achievement norms for their children, although they are aware of ways in which social mobility may adversely affect family relations. Retirees tend to place less emphasis upon status-striving than do persons who are still gainfully employed. The data also suggest that family solidarity is not adversely affected by social mobility. The high degree of family cohesion between older parents and their children is also shown by the fact that there is a high degree of congruity between parental expectations for their children and the children's behavior. In the minds of older parents, affectional ties are more important than financial assistance, although, as one might expect in view of their greater economic deprivation, retirees tend to stress the importance of financial assistance more than older parents who are still working.

This article presents an examination of the way in which pre-retirement anticipation of the retired status contributes to adjustment in retirement, considering the role of anticipatory factors in facilitating adjustment, their relationship to success in creating a retirement role, and in the achievement of general satisfaction with retirement. The findings suggest that in every instance the two most important factors are an accurate pre-conception of retirement and a favorable pre-retirement attitude toward retirement. Planning for retirement, which is often cited as a main objective of pre-retirement counseling programs, is shown to be of relatively less direct importance. Among those who lack an accurate pre-occupation of retirement, planning impedes rather than facilitates adjustment, and it is shown to be related to successful creation of a role to fill the retirement vacuum only among those who hold a favorable pre-retirement attitude.

This article is a systematic examination of the manner in which the adequacy of factors relates to the fact of retirement on the one hand and to adjustment in retirement on the other. It concerns the question of whether, and to what extent, self-evaluation of health and income adequacy are effects of retirement. The relationship between retirement and health remains one of the persistent questions in social gerontology. Popularly it is assumed that retirement leads to a decline in physical well-being, for everyone knows of at least one person whose health deteriorated or who died suspiciously soon after retiring. The hypothesis tested here is that, in general, retirement leads to a decline in health. Comparison of changes in economic deprivation between 1952 and 1954 shows very significant differences between those who had retired during this period and those who continued working. In conclusion, important elements in understanding the problem of adjustment in retirement are pointed up by the independent and cumulative relationship between pre-retirement attitude toward retirement and economic deprivation on the one hand, and dissatisfaction with retirement on the other.

Despite formidable difficulties being encountered in the study of national character, substantial progress was nevertheless being made. This article deals with the current emphasis on ways in which national character is modified. This emphasis permeates the approach of each social science discipline to national character. In each discipline empirical methods have been employed to study the process of change.

The article focuses on the organizational aspects of cross-national social research. International cooperation in the planning, conduct and utilization of research in the social sciences has taken on increasing importance during the years since the end of World War II, but very little has yet been done to analyze the methodological and organizational problems of such research cooperation. More and more social scientists have begun to see their theories, their data and their findings in cross-cultural and cross-national perspectives, but few have given much thought to the problems of effective organization for comparative research across cultural and national boundaries. An attempt will be made to clarify some of the problems as they appear after three years' experience in the administration of a program of cross-national social research in Western Europe. Cross-national research is a relative newcomer in the vocabulary of social science. It is gaining acceptance as a convenient term for comparative inquiries taking nations, national populations, or equivalent sections of national populations as their units of comparison.

The article cites a study from the U.S. which sought to determine the backgrounds, characteristics and circumstances of scientists. The study aims to guide the selection and promote the recruitment of young persons into scientific work. The investigation involved the study of a group of sixty men who had earned doctoral degree in the biological and social sciences. The chief objective of this study was to determine what personal traits and background factors were to be found among biological scientists. The scientists studied gave no evidence of any characteristic personal peculiarities. They reported that they enjoyed social contacts.

The article provides a genetic approach to the problem of inconsistency in social attitudes. Social attitudes, in so far as they tend to produce action, are not the result wholly of logical thought or pure reason. The emotional elements in them furnish the motor drives, as the very word emotion implies. Whenever two or more human beings are in contact in living enterprises emotion comes into play and emotional attitudes develop. This may seem a self evident truism. Yet man, in the possession of the capacity for abstract thought with its great economizing function, often tends to overestimate pure logic and devaluate or deny the emotional elements in his nature and actions. He is not, he says proudly, like the lower animals he is above all a rational human being. This denial, in the interest of solidifying an image of himself as superior, occurs especially in those situations where he is concerned with general principles or ideals of action rather than with specific individual responses. Yet even in the application of principles, rules, or ideals of action, emotional contaminations become increasingly evident, bring illogic and contradictions with them and the idealist, if he is of the logically thoughtful type, is frustrated and sometimes puzzled.

Since Robert Merton reprinted his well known essay on "Social Structure and Anomie in Social Theory and Social Structure" a good deal of work has been done both in elaborating the theory and in trying to test it out. A recent volume not only surveys the existing work very competently, but adds some new evidence and a comment by Merton upon what he emphasizes is the developing theory of anomie. In his article Merton refers to some discrepancies between sociologists in their interpretation of the term anomie, and he is wise to do so as a glance through a number of sociological texts will show. R. M. Williams, for instance, quotes the Mertonian cultural goals-structural limitations analysis as one type only of anomie, and refers to cultural apathy with respect to standards of conduct; which seems to imply withdrawal. He also, however, refers to conflict situations in general. Hermann Cohen, using the analogy of a game the rules of which may not be observed, also seems to equate anomie with complete breakdown.

Despite C. Wright Mills' many sociological contributions, his name is specifically identified with political-social analysis, with intellectual orientations and precise commentaries about political developments and their sociological structure. An evaluation of his legacy would thus be, most properly, an assessment of the many ideas he offered as insights to the contemporary political world and, at various times, as stimulation for appropriate political activity. Although he was one of the most popular writers among social scientists, an engagement with Mills formulations is not a simple task. His style, generally so stirring and frequently so productive of insightful observations, induced many presentations that were unclear or incomplete. He seemed uninterested in details, as for instance, of politics, except as illustrations for some major contentions. General assertions were frequently lacking in sufficient concrete illustrations. Facts contrary to his theses were relegated to the irrelevant and insignificant, or admitted and then ignored.

The article begins with a discussion of the influence of a follower upon a leader. It shows how the leader may become entrammelled in the very source of his legitimacy. It also discusses implications of this approach for an understanding of that most exacting and non-ritualistic form of leadership, sometimes known as democratic leadership. Success in leadership does not merely depend on having certain abilities, nor does it depend only on having any very specific personality characteristics, but also on a third requirement, leaders attitude to his own position. This is not unrelated to personality characteristics but differs in that an individual can perform well in a position that he feels he has a right to, and yet badly in one he feels he has no right to. The difference between these last two is brought out by what may well be considered a cautionary tale. The leader must adjudicate amongst his jealous followers, for it is he who must uphold the authority, which is the basis of his legitimacy.

This article examines some of the functions of social conflict in the process of social change. Conflict not only generates new norms and institutions, it may be said to be stimulating directly in the economic and technological realm. Conflict within and between bureaucratic structures provides means for avoiding the ossification and ritualism which threatens their form of organization. Although conflict is apparently dysfunctional for highly rationalized systems, it may actually have vital latent functional consequences. However, not all social systems contain a degree of conflict and strain. Nevertheless, it is noticeable that the rigidity of the system and the intensity of conflict within it are not independent of each other.

The author attempts to indicate some of the limits of Peter M. Hall's usage of symbolic interactionism, by looking at the issues which he does not address very well in his article, "A Symbolic Interactionist Analysis of Politics." Two traditions in political sociology can be identified: the behavioral and the systemic. The behavioral approach considers the interactions and exchanges among political actors as they struggle for power and influence. The systemic approach, on the other hand, considers the system as a whole, the relation of system parts to one another, and how the overall system maintains itself or disintegrates over time and regulates conflict. The limits of symbolic interaction theory as a paradigm for political analysis can be understood, then, in contrast to a systems perspective. Meaning, that the level of analysis of symbolic interaction theory is micro-sociological because it deals with the behavior and interactions of elements of a system rather than considering the system as a whole.

The theoretical usefulness of a convergence of symbolic interactionism and urban sociology is discussed. A method is proposed for the analysis of large numbers of social identities. Black racial identity, in particular, is considered. Racial identity is found to be far more salient for blacks than for whites, but even for blacks, a number of other identities are seen to be more frequently employed. The notion of a ‘standard package of identities’ is developed, and the utility of such a model for understanding group differentiation and inter-group linkages is explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article will be to outline a symbolic interactionist approach to the study of politics in the United States. In the course of this presentation, the basic assumptions and concepts of the interactionist perspective will be presented, culminating in a model of society as a negotiated order. This model in conjunction with definitions of power and politics will provide the basis for analyzing the processes of power. The article will focus on and emphasize two mechanisms of power, information flow control and symbolic mobilization of support, which have previously been unrecognized and unanalyzed. In the conclusion, the strengths and weaknesses of the approach will be discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

George Homans' numerous claims that sociological propositions could be reduced to psychological propositions are examined in terms of the various ways Homans has used the word ‘reduction’ and in terms of the development of Homan' reductionist position over the course of his career. Attempts to answer Homans' reductionism are reviewed and Homan' challenge to his critics is presented. A general sociological proposition is then presented as an answer to Homans' reductionism and to his challenge. It is then shown that the sociological proposition is not less general than psychological proposition cannot be deduced from psychological propositions, and cannot be analyzed without residue into the behavior of individual men. It is shown that psychological variables may be used as independent or intervening variables in such a proposition but that such an inclusion of psychological variables would not constitute psychological reduction. Some implications of a distinctive sociology are then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degree to which one individual considers another responsible for favorable and unfavorable events is an important determinant of their subsequent interaction. Attribution of responsibility (AR) generally depends upon two complex interacting factors, personality characteristics of the attributor and perceived characteristics of the stimulus situation. In order to study the effects of personality variables upon AR it is necessary to have control over the relevant features of the stimulus situations so that these effects may be revealed in reasonably unconfounded form. In several studies researchers have utilized an instrument, which appears to be highly satisfactory in this regard. Much of their research on patterns of responsibility attribution has been concerned with the effects of various stimulus factors, such as causal structure and outcome characteristics. Nevertheless, their data reveal sufficiently large individual differences in response to these factors to suggest that the instrument may be useful in differentiating attribution patterns associated with personality variables. In the present study this instrument was utilized to investigate hypothesized differences in AR associated with two theoretically opposing personality characteristics, empathy and punitiveness.

This article presents an investigation of the implications of a structural balance model of communication effects. The model suggested in this study uses the mathematical theory of linear graphs to represent the basic communication situation in which a source is presenting a communication about an issue to a receiver. This model has now been investigated in a number of studies where the interest has mainly focused upon whether sources, given information about certain relations in the model would predict the sign of other relations in accordance with the principle of balance. The article also explores other ways in which the receiver might react to the source apart from those implied by the structural balance model. To measure evaluation of source, five seven-step bipolar adjective scales were employed with the descriptive labels including, attractive-repulsive, good-bad, pleasant-unpleasant, awful-nice and friendly-unfriendly. To measure potency of source, four seven-step bipolar adjective scales were employed with the descriptive labels including tough-tender, influential-ineffectual, weak-strong and permissive-authoritarian. To measure activity of source, two seven-step bipolar adjective scales were employed with the descriptive labels including passive-active, slow-fast.

This article focuses on the legitimization of social power. The fact that social power is generally evaluated negatively in the society emphasizes the importance of the legitimation function for any group occupying a position of influence in a community. In a study by the author it was found that the real estate board was in a key position of social power in a midwestern community of about 200,000 population which will be called Grand Valley. Over the years the board had successfully influenced a large array of community-wide decisions, whether made in the arena of authority by officeholders or in the arena of public elections by voters. Legitimization denotes the formulation and presentation of socially acceptable reasons which offer whatever formulae are deemed appropriate for justifying and explaining decisions and convincing those involved that the decisions are valid. These are framed according to the sentiments and symbols in use in the social system. When adequate approval is secured the decision appears to be right and becomes legitimate to those concerned.

This article examines the relation of kinship, exchanging work, and visiting to the adoption of recommended farm practices. It has been hypothesized that the adoption of agricultural practices is in part a function of the farm operator's primary group memberships. The extent of this influence presumably depends on the closeness of the operator's ties to these groups and on the extent to which farm practices are group-sanctioned. Information pertinent to this problem was obtained in a study wherein all farm operators in neighborhoods in the Kentucky county were interviewed.

This article outlines the focus of the Cornell Study of Occupational Retirement based on the preliminary findings of the project. The composition of the sample used in the research is of prime importance of evaluating the report findings published in the May 1958 issue of "The Journal of Social Issues." The self-employed, with the exception of some professionals, are not included; the industrial workers in the sample are drawn only from large organizations; there is some self-selection of respondents; and in the course of the study, there has been a tendency for those in the lowest education and income levels to drop from the panel. The investigators make no generalizations outside their sample but focus instead on the comparisons of those men in their panel who are still working and those who have retired. The consistent patterning of the findings as different factors are held constant suggests that certain of the conclusions of this study may prove to be valid for other groups within the older populations of the U.S., despite any sample bias.