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Although self-control theory has been thought to be entirely consistent with the gang selection model, key theoretical predictions of the general theory imply gang selection effects for those with lower self-control and gang facilitation effects for those with higher self-control. This new hypothesis is tested among a large sample of jail inmates. Results indicate that self-control did not render the gang–violence relationship spurious for the sample as a whole. Gang membership had a significantly greater impact on violent crime among those with very high self-control, but there were still statistically significant gang facilitation effects for the other three self-control groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Low doses of MK-801, PEAQX, and ifenprodil increased overall social interactions. [•] Only the NR2B antagonist, ifenprodil, increased play and social contact. [•] These effects on social interactions were not due to alterations in locomotion. [•] Increases in ethanol-induced social behavior may be driven partly by NMDA blockade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale: Social environment influences alcohol consumption in humans; however, animal models have only begun to address biological underpinnings of these effects. Objectives: We investigated whether social influences on alcohol drinking in the prairie vole are specific to the sex of the social partner. Methods: In Experiment 1, control, sham, and gonadectomized voles were placed either in mesh-divided housing with a same-sex sibling or isolation with access to ethanol. In Experiment 2, animals were given an elevated plus maze test (EPM) and then females were paired with a castrated male followed by isolation or mesh-divided housing with access to ethanol. In Experiment 3, subjects categorized as low or high drinkers based on initial ethanol intake were placed in mesh-divided housing with an opposite-sex partner of the same or opposite drinking group and ethanol access. Subjects were then moved back to isolation for a final ethanol access period. Results: Same-sex pairs showed social facilitation of drinking similar to previous reports. Gonadectomy did not affect alcohol drinking. Opposite-sex paired animals in Experiment 2 did not differ in alcohol drinking based on social housing. EPM measures suggested a relationship between anxiety-like behaviors and drinking that depended on social environment. Experiment 3 identified moderate changes in alcohol preference based on social housing, but these effects were influenced by the animal's own drinking behavior and were independent of their partner's drinking. Conclusions: Social influences on alcohol self-administration in prairie voles differ based on the sex of a social partner, consistent with human drinking behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social relationships have important effects on alcohol drinking. There are conflicting reports, however, about whether earlylife family structure plays an important role in moderating alcohol use in humans. We have previously modeled social facilitation of alcohol drinking in peers in socially monogamous prairie voles. We have also modeled the effects of family structure on the development of adult social and emotional behaviors. Here we assessed whether alcohol intake would differ in prairie voles reared by both parents compared to those reared by a single mother. We also assessed whether meadow voles, a closely related species that do not form lasting reproductive partnerships, would differ in alcohol drinking or in the effect of social influence on drinking. Prairie voles were reared either bi-parentally (BP) or by a single mother (SM). BP- and SM-reared adult prairie voles and BP-reared adult meadow voles were given limited access to a choice between alcohol (10%) and water over four days and assessed for drinking behavior in social and non-social drinking environments. While alcohol preference was not different between species, meadow voles drank significantly lower doses than prairie voles. Meadow voles also had significantly higher blood ethanol concentrations than prairie voles after receiving the same dose, suggesting differences in ethanol metabolism. Both species, regardless of rearing condition, consumed more alcohol in the social drinking condition than the non-social condition. Early life family structure did not significantly affect any measure. Greater drinking in the social condition indicates that alcohol intake is influenced similarly in both species by the presence of a peer. While the ability of prairie voles to model humans may be limited, the lack of differences in alcohol drinking in BP- and SM-reared prairie voles lends biological support to human studies demonstrating no effect of singleparenting on alcohol abuse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examined social facilitation and emotional convergence in amusement, sadness, and fear in dynamic interactions. Dyads of friends or strangers jointly watched emotion-eliciting films while they either could or could not communicate nonverbally. We assessed three components of each emotion (expressions, appraisals, and feelings), as well as attention to and social motives toward the co-participant. In Study 1, participants interacted through a mute videoconference. In Study 2, they sat next to each other and either were or were not separated by a partition. Results revealed that facilitation and convergence are not uniform across different emotions and emotion components. Particularly strong supporting patterns emerged for the facilitation of and convergence in smiling. When direct interaction was possible (Study 2), friends showed a general tendency for strong convergence, with the exception of fear-related appraisals. This suggests that underlying processes of emotional contagion and social appraisal are differentially relevant for different emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Social loafing and social facilitation are stable behavioral effects that describe increased or decreased motivation, as well as effort and cooperation in teamwork as opposed to individual working situations. Recent twin studies demonstrate the heritability of cooperative behavior. Brain imaging studies have shown that reciprocity, cooperativeness, and social rewards activate reward processing areas with strong dopaminergic input, such as the ventral striatum. Thus, candidate genes for social behavior are hypothesized to affect dopaminergic neurotransmission. In the present study, we investigated the dopaminergic genetic contribution to social cooperation, especially to social loafing and social facilitation. N = 106 healthy, Caucasian subjects participated in the study and were genotyped for three polymorphisms relevant to the dopaminergic system (COMTval158met, DRD2 c957t, DRD2 rs#2283265). In addition to a main effect indicating an increased performance in teamwork situations, we found a significant interaction between a haplotype block covering both DRD2 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs#6277 and rs#2283265), henceforth referred to as the DRD2-haplotype block, and the COMT val158met polymorphism (rs#4680) with social facilitation. Carriers of the DRD2 CT-haplotype block and at least one Val-allele showed a greater increase in performance in teamwork settings when compared with carriers of the CT-haplotype block and the Met/Met-genotype. Our results suggest that epistasis between COMTval158met and the two DRD2 SNPs contributes to individual differences in cooperativeness in teamwork settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study in La Carpio, San Jose, Costa Rica which examines how Dramatic Problem Solving (DPS), an interactive theatre based facilitation, was implemented structural conflict transformation at a community in interpersonal and intrapersonal level. It notes that the study incorporated an action research on a theatre based facilitation model and merged the fields of conflict resolution with performance studies. It reveals that a facilitated problem solving model is the way performance can make physical and real what is often unspoken or hidden.

Moreland eloquently argues for excluding dyads from group process research and theory. Although dyads can have properties that do not lend themselves to certain group process research (e.g., coalition formation) and have properties that can go beyond typical group processes (e.g., intimate relations and love), in most instances dyads are groups of two and operate under the same principles and theories that explain group processes for groups of three and larger. In this article, the author presents research and theory that support the inclusion of dyads as groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the interplay between trust and conflict as antecedents of team effectiveness. In the first cross-sectional study, two alternative path models are tested in a sample of 174 teams (897 participants) with the emergent states of task conflict, relationship conflict, and trust acting as mediators between team demographic diversity (gender and nationality) on the one hand and perceived team effectiveness on the other. In one model trust is considered as an antecedent for the two types of conflict, while in the other the two types of conflict precede the emergence of trust. Although the fit indices for the model in which trust is considered the antecedent of conflict were slightly better, both models fitted the data well. The interdependence of trust and conflict was further explored in a second longitudinal study (49 teams), and the results showed that trust emerging in the initial team interaction phases is a good predictor for the emergence of both task and relationship conflict in further stages of team development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the learning and action manual, which is based on the experiences of the Enhancing Pathways Into Care (EPIC) project, to improve the mental health services for black and minority ethnic (BME) groups. The manual discusses topics such as interpersonal transactions and the significance of external facilitation and leadership in mental health services. An overview of the EPIC project is given.

The current study examines the possibility that agency workers can experience perceived insider status despite their assumed “outsider” category. One hundred ninety-one agency workers from Canadian financial firms completed surveys assessing agency worker perceptions regarding the level of support from both their supervisors and the client firms' permanent workers, as well as the agency workers' level of perceived insider status and affective commitment toward the client firm. Agency worker supervisors (within the client firm) assessed the agency workers' level of interpersonal facilitation. Results indicate that: (1) Agency workers can experience perceived insider status, regardless of their objective classification as outsiders; (2) perceived support from supervisors and the client firms' permanent workers contribute to agency worker perceptions of insider status; and (3) perceptions of insider status are associated with higher levels of both affective commitment and interpersonal facilitation, even in workers that are considered marginally tied to the organization. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Corporate social capital involves the likelihood of ego actors accessing and using the resources held by their network alters to facilitate work-related goals. Corporate social capital networks span multiple levels of analysis from individuals, to workteams, organizations, and organizational field-nets. Repeated interactions strengthen social capital ties by building trust and confidence among actors, reducing the temptation to behave opportunistically towards partners, and facilitating numerous favorable outcomes. However, these relations can become liabilities when agents use their individual social capital to benefit their organizations. Social capital concepts may help to explain the evolution of the strategic alliance network in the Global Information Sector, a multi-industry system whose collaborative agreements grew exponentially from 1989 to 2000, creating a complex network of overlapping partnerships. The evolving alliance network comprises a collective structure of corporate social capital, an organizational field-net that simultaneously facilitates and constrains its member firms' opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the effects of some work demands-resources on two dimensions of work-to-family interface among Iranian employees. The results of canonical correlation and multiple-regression showed that among work resources (i.e., social support and autonomy), social support was associated negatively with work-to-family conflict and autonomy was associated positively with work-to-family facilitation. Also, among work demands (i.e., job demands and working hours), job demands were associated with both work-to-family conflict and work-to-family facilitation. Unlike previous studies, working hours shows a positive association with work-to-family facilitation, which may be explained by the specific cultural context in Iran. The findings of the study will be of importance to employees and organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how the Emotion-in-Relationships Model (ERM), a theory designed to predict people's experience of emotion, might explain persuasive messages. A study was conducted in which 248 individuals simulated leaving a date request voicemail message. Consistent with ERM, people's perceptions of interference from partners were positively associated with appraisals of self threat and relationship threat and negatively associated with the fluency of messages. People's perceptions of facilitation from partners were positively associated with identity management strategies, positive politeness, and the affection of messages. These results persisted after covarying relationship satisfaction. Taken together, the findings shed light on the strengths and weaknesses of ERM as a theory of interpersonal communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Borrowing from the media, communication, and psychological literatures on parasocial, or one—sided, relationships to media figures, the current investigation examined the processes underlying the anthropomorphism of favorite television characters.Two studies tested the hypothesis that individuals' affection for television characters predicts their perceptions of realness. In Study One, participants reported their perceptions of and feelings toward either their favorite television character or an equally familiar, nonfavorite character, and results provided initial support for our hypothesis. In Study Two, participants were passively exposed to an image of either their favorite television characters or a control, nonfavorite character while completing well-learned and novel motor tasks. In line with classic social facilitation findings, participants in the "presence of" their favorite character (versus the nonfavorite character) demonstrated facilitation on the well-learned task and inhibition on the novel task. These studies suggest that feelings for the character may play an important role in encouraging the anthropomorphism of television characters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT. According to R. B. Zajonc's (1965) drive theory of social facilitation, the mere presence of others increases arousal and, thereby, the frequency of dominant responses (i.e., responses with the greatest habit strength). In the present experiment, U.S. undergraduates performed a stimulus discrimination task under 1 of 2 conditions: in the presence of another individual (audience) or alone. The mere presence condition was designed to make it difficult for the participants to attend directly to the audience. The task was designed to minimize the likelihood that the specific response (numerical preference) would be attributable to a desire to respond appropriately to the audience. There was a significant difference in the mean number of dominant responses between the participants in the audience condition and those in the alone condition. The results provide support for Zajonc's mere presence drive theory of social facilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the author presents research on what's happening between some parties in facilitations in Norway. The author tries to convey some impressions from these facilitations and draws some pictures from the Norwegian scheme. The reasons behind the establishment of facilitation as an independent and alternative reaction are of a pragmatic as well as of an ideological nature. In the seventies, the authorities in Norway discussed whether the age of criminal responsibility should be raised to 15. The ideological foundation stemmed from a lack of effective solutions in interpersonal conflicts within the regular judicial system. The goal of the Norwegian facilitation model is to put the parties under the spotlight, making an arena for responsibility, dialogue and reparation.

A synthesis is proposed such that social loafing, social facilitation, and deindividuation are viewed as different ways of arranging social consequences. The effects of such arrangements have been measured in past research through productive output (social loafing and social facilitation) or through anti normative behaviors (deindividuation). All three effects are manipulable by changing individual identifiability, evaluation, social identity, task difficulty, and presence in a group. In general, when people are in groups then there is less individual visibility and therefore fewer negative social consequences individually for reducing output or for increasing socially unacceptable behaviors, even if outputs are not explicitly pooled (traditional social loafing). Whereas social loafing and social facilitation have been empirically linked in past experiments, social loafing and deindividuation have not. An experiment was therefore conducted in which participants worked on a brainstorming task alone or in a group, and with or without individual identifiability. Effects of both a modified social loafing paradigm (reduced output in groups) and a deindividuation paradigm (more socially unacceptable responses in groups) were found simultaneously for the first time. Combined with other good evidence linking social loafing and social facilitation, this supports the idea that the three topics are not separate phenomena but different arrangements of social consequence variables. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of the proxemic literature suggests that violations of interpersonal distancing norms may increase arousal. The present study attempted to integrate this finding into a social facilitation framework. It was proposed that if distancing violations are associated with greater arousal, then close interpersonal distances may increase the arousal produced by the presence of a coactor and intensify the behavioral and physiological effects expected within the social facilitation paradigm. Three interpersonal distances between a coacting female confederate (C) and the Ss (36 male and 36 female undergraduates) were manipulated within a 3 (close, moderate, and far interpersonal distances) by 2 (sex of S) design; a single control group without the presence of the C was also included. Behavioral performance on a hidden-word task, a physiological measure of arousal, and several self-report measures were the main dependent variables. Results indicated a consistent pattern of sex by distance interactions across behavioral and self-report measures. Males were consistently more positive in their ratings under moderate interpersonal distances, whereas females were more positive under close and/or far distances. This interaction was interpreted in terms of the goal orientation in the task situation of males and females and the relevant information provided by violation of interpersonal distancing expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research on the implementation of an eclectic approach to a small therapy group. The researchers note that varying styles and adaptation is ideal in a developmental continuum and can be applied to several small group types like therapy groups, personal growth groups, and encounters. Group facilitation styles include the interpretive mode, the interactive mode, and the inclusive mode. The authors suggest an eclectic approach to completely diagnose a group and its members.

In this experiment 60 schizophrenics were given the task of stamping a number of greetings to accompany gifts. Instructions to hurry or to be cautious induced reliably differing rates of responding. In order to test the hypotheses concerning the social behavior of the schizophrenic, pairs of Ss were brought together to work in the same room--1 responding slowly and the other rapidly. As a consequence of being in the presence of another patient working at the same task both partners increased their rate of responding, indicating the effect of social facilitation. When the patients were given role instructions with relation to one another their rates of responding converged. Although these changes in behavior took place none of the 22 pairs of Ss (11 in co-working, 11 in role related conditions) discussed the discrepancy or change in behavior. These results confirmed the hypothesis that schizophrenics will exhibit appropriate social motivation and responsiveness when behaving in a meaningful situation which does not depend on the use of language or complex cognitive skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the relation between post-modern savviness and an appeal to what might be described as ‘visceral literacy’: the attempt to bypass the slippery medium of language through a direct appeal to ostensibly nondiscursive, bodily evidence, albeit mediated through visual imagery. As an example, the article considers President Bush's appeal both to his own extra-discursive, soul-reading talents and to the ability of his supporters to bypass his own verbal clumsiness to discern the character of the man behind the words. Finally, the article considers the impact of the combination of visceral literacy and skepticism for political deliberation. The paradoxical result of generalized skepticism is not a free-floating relativism but the pairing of relativism with a dogmatic point of fixation, one upon which discourse no longer has any purchase. The potential result might be described, to borrow from the formulation of one political columnist, as the death of deliberative persuasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author presents requirements techniques to design successful interventions such as services, products or communications. Uscreates reportedly uses collaborative and creative approaches to support and improve public-sector behavior change programs in Great Britain. Capturing requirements involve people to participate in conversation which is a creative process that is low in technology but high in facilitation. Also mentioned is the creation of The Touring Café Caravan, a creative mobile space by UScreates.