SELF AND OTHER IN MORAL JUDGMENT.

It has for several decades been a fundamental tenet of sociological role theory that when an individual forms a conception of his own role in an interpersonal situation he does so in relation to the role of relevant others in the situation. There is a reciprocity between the self role and the imputed other role, such that one should be predictable from the other. The expectations which an individual has regarding his own behavior are meaningful against the expectations he has regarding the behavior of others with whom he will interact. In spite of wide acceptance of this point of view, there is very little empirical study directed toward validating and refining and implementing the viewpoint. This article will explore the self-role other-role relationship with the following objectives in mind: to produce preliminary evidence of the relationship between self- and other- role conceptions, to identify some characteristic self-other-role pairs, and to identify some of the ways in which the self- and other-roles are related to one another. Specifically, a class of 120 upper division college students were presented with a mimeographed description of a situation in which two college students steal 500 dollars together. Each respondent was then directed to identify himself as the principal actor in the situation, and to write his general reaction to finding himself in such a position. At a subsequent point he was asked to write specifically what he thought would be the effect of this misdeed upon his relations with family, friends, and organizations, in the event they did not know of the act and also in the event that they did know.