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Explored perceptions of 31 old-old adults regarding exchanges in their social relationships. Qualitative methodology identified six cognitive mechanisms used to assess equity in social exchanges. Their use appeared associated with both beneficial and detrimental subjective reactions. Findings suggest that cognitive mechanisms are important focus of inquiry because they mediate relationship between social exchanges and well-being. (Author/NB)

A conceptualization of social skills as resources in social exchange is offered, and a social exchange theoretical framework is applied to educational research. In a social exchange framework, the contribution of the peer group to the social exclusion of an individual would not be ignored. (SLD)

An exploration of the rhetorical contract--i.e., the expectations for appropriate interaction--as it develops in human-computer interaction revealed that direct manipulation interfaces were more likely to establish social expectations. Study results suggest that the social nature of human-computer interactions can be examined with reference to the constructs applicable to other more standard forms of communication. (35 references) (Author/DB)

Uses social exchange theory as a conceptual framework for developing the sociological imagination. Explains this counters a trend toward an emphasis on social forces as behavioral determinants and the omission of values in the classroom. States exchange theory emphasizes how individual action collectively changes the social structure. Applies theory to personal relationships, power, institutions, and social dilemmas. (Author/NL)

Three theories of commitment were tested by surveying 92 nursing students 3 times during their first year. The social exchange approach and unmet expectations about nursing careers influenced commitment during the latter eight months. The circumstances surrounding the decision to enter nurse training (behavioral approach) predicted commitment only at the beginning. (SK)

Analyzed relationships in traditional and caregiving homesharing arrangements. Respondents in both arrangements expressed satisfaction with basic money and service exchanges. For traditional arrangements, client satisfaction was related to lifestyle fit, social interaction desired and received, and lodger access in provider's home. In caregiving arrangements, satisfaction was related to intensive interpersonal relationship. Stress was particular problem for caregivers. (Author/NB)

Hypotheses derived from social learning and exchange concepts regarding determinants of parenting practices were tested on 61 families, each with a seventh grader, using self-report measures and coders' ratings of videotaped family interaction. Findings indicated determinants of parenting differed somewhat by sex and different factors predicted constructive versus destructive parenting practices. (Author/TE)

Argues that conceptualizations of and empirical studies on compliance and compliance-gaining often reflect a social exchange or a power perspective, which typically push communication into the background of the compliance-gaining process. Provides examples of studies adopting a power perspective without undercutting the role of communication in the gaining of compliance. (SR)

From the moment of birth, children form and develop relationships with others in their world based on exchange. Children recognize that engaging in such encounters offers them the opportunity to enter into a relationship with another individual and to nurture that relationship through the exchange of messages and gifts, items and ideas. At Boulder Journey School, the authors have observed and documented the process of exchange from the children's perspective.

In this article, the author describes how the quest for external funding has dominated academic science and argues that today's scientists should think about pledging allegiance to traditional academic values. Enthusiasm for the pre-Cold War model of the university can probably not be justified in utilitarian terms or explained as a consequence of economic forces; it may rest on nonfalsifiable hypotheses or even simple aesthetic preferences. But two ideas behind the enthusiasm can be stated in an uncomplicated way: (1) the primary obligation of a university is to acquire, develop, transmit, and protect knowledge in a sensitive and inclusive way; and (2) no one, not even those actually doing the intellectual work, can know in advance to what future humane or inhumane use that knowledge may be put, if any. The responsibility for applying the knowledge lies elsewhere, and it is the academic's job to follow his or her own instincts about what to look at next. Two corollaries are: (1) those directly engaged with acquiring and transmitting knowledge are the sole best judges of where and how to invest their own efforts; but (2) they are obligated to separate rigorously their role as researcher or scholar from their equally legitimate roles as citizen, advocate, or consumer. Using the privilege of determining where best to invest one's effort to accumulate wealth, either for oneself or for a corporate sponsor or partner, has no legitimacy under this model. The academic's role in the historically privileged community of higher education is inherently unprivatizable, whether a person gets a paycheck from the public or the private sector: to privatize the role is to destroy it, by robbing the academic of the authority needed to be taken seriously.

Economists may be biased in ways that are not apparent to many. A widely espoused theory in economics is that regulators' decisions often become biased in favor of the industries they regulate; to use economic jargon, they become "captured." Economic incentives encourage even the best-intentioned regulators to cater to the interests of the businesses they regulate. To begin with, regulators depend upon the regulated for much of the information they need to do their jobs properly. Also, regulators' jobs are industry-specific, and their best future prospects are likely to be with the regulated. Finally, the regulated are their only real audience, since taxpayers seldom care about regulatory findings. In this article, the author argues that unexamined biases may keep economists from warning the public about financial risks.

A study examined costs and benefits perceived by 26 self-help group leaders who helped rural Kansas communities in extending the use, awareness, and effectiveness of self-help groups. Findings that satisfaction in helping was the major benefit and time constraints the major cost were used to tailor leadership roles. Self-help group activity increased with network assistance. (Contains 21 references.) (TD)

Interviewed currently married or widowed women aged 60-75 (N=719), either childless or with one or more children, about advantages and disadvantages of childlessness and about other family-related and social areas. Results indicated that childless older women did not conform to a stereotype of unhappiness and dissatisfaction. (BH)

Presents a content analysis on profiles from a singles magazine to identify categories of exchange. Findings supported the traditional social exchange notion of dating for men but not for women. Men's profiles emphasized attractiveness of potential respondents, but women emphasized their careers, intelligence, and education. (JAC)

Studied the aging process and the mechanisms used by the elderly to cope with age in rural Ireland. Reciprocity is identified as one of the major strategies that reinforce independence, manifested in the stem family, sibling relations, pets, neighbors, parental caretakers, financial resources, and family configurations. (JAC)

Investigates the person/environment transactional processes of 75 elderly Cuban-Americans, using participant observation to learn about their adjustment to aging. Findings suggest the productiveness of the short-term exchange approach in understanding the older person's creative use of resources. (JAC)

Compared the perceptions of 281 Papua New Guinean students and 329 Australian students of the economic and psychological costs of having children. Australians gave high ratings to the importance of financial and emotional costs, while New Guinea students were more aware of overpopulation and restrictions on parents. (JAC)

Examined the potential effects of correlated measurement errors among responses of wives and their husbands (N=349) on the utility of and expectations for another child. There was no change in the previous finding that wife's and husband's child utility had equal effects on expectations for another child. (JAC)

Describes the development of the Marital Comparison Level Index, based upon the interpersonal processes highlighted by social exchange perspectives on the evaluations of relationships. Data on 301 married individuals suggested that the relational dimensions are perceived as important, and the scale is both unidimensional and highly reliable. (JAC)

Surveys definitions of sexual harassment and reviews previous research on sexual harassment in organizations, including academic institutions. Reports on a social exchange experiment in which the communication behavior of a superior and subordinate is used to examine the formation of judgments about sexual harassment. (PD)

Explores marriages in which marriage and family life are organized around the wife's job or career rather than the husband's (N=46). Found three predictive social conditions: wives having traditionally male jobs, flexibility of husbands' jobs, and absence of children. Describes techniques of deviance neutralization used to minimize costs. (JAC)

Identification of the boundaries between lay and professional advocacy in working with families with handicapped children is aided by an understanding of the key variables that characterize these families. Professional clarity about differing advocacy roles and the potential of social exchange leads to a new model of advocacy in working with educational systems. (Author)

Investigated the relationship between marital satisfaction and perceptions of the distribution of housework and child care from two theoretical perspectives--social exchange and equity--in four population groups. Results show that there are significant relationships between marital satisfaction and perceptions of the distribution of housework and child care among all groups studied. (Author/BL)

Proposes a model for mate selection which outlines three modes of interpersonal relating--fantasy, testing, and assessment (FTA). The model is viewed as a more accurate representation of mate selection processes than suggested by earlier theories, and can be used to clarify couples' understandings of their own relationships. (JAC)

Used Murstein's SVR (stimulus-value-role) theory to test the sequence of the value and role stages, and examined personal and couple readiness for marriage. Couples (N=88) who completed a premarital instrument were contacted by telephone one year later. Results provided little support for a sequence of value and role stages. (JAC)

The family ideology of black Americans is compared with actual family arrangements and lifestyles. Exchange theory is used to explain the conflict between family ideology and structural conditions: in general, black women fail to marry or remain married when the costs outweight the benefits of such an arrangement. (Author/BL)

Examined from a social exchange perspective, the interaction between several indicators of relational interdependence and relational commitment in married individuals. Results indicated that a high level of interdependence positively covaried with commitment. Perceived equity in the distribution of outcomes accounted for the largest percentage of variance in levels of commitment reported for both husbands and wives. (Author/BL)

Tested two theoretical explanations for attraction-enhancing effects of counselor self-disclosure by constructing counseling analogue which varied the valence (positive or negative) of a counselor's disclosure and its relevance to client's presenting problem. Clients were 70 male college students. Results were mixed, supporting social exchange explanation for empathy and similarity explanation for level of regard. (Author/NB)

Explored applications of the social exchange perspective of relationship satisfaction to educational and therapeutic interventions with those involved in close personal relationships, focusing on the role relationship expectations play in evaluations people make of their relationships. Explored educational implications of data contrasting relationship expectations of exclusively dating and married couples, and of males and females within each group. (Author/KS)