Enhancing the social skills of an unpopular girl: A social learning intervention

The use of a social learning approach to reduce the unpopularity of an 11-year-old girl, Rene, at a summer camp was studied. Two social skill deficiencies were suggested to be the cause of Rene's unpopularity by her bunk house counselors: her lack of contact with bunkhouse members during free choice times, and her negative, interfering conversational style. A multiple baseline design was used by the counselors to successively implement reinforcement contingencies on each class of social skill. Substantial improvements in performance were noted concurrent with the application of each contingency. These outcomes were maintained after reinforcement contingencies were withdrawn. Sociometric ratings of Rene's popularity by her bunkhouse mates improved after intervention. These outcomes are discussed from a social learning perspective.     

Assessment of children's social skills: A review of methods

Social skills of children is a topic receiving increasing attention, particularly from clinical researchers. The present paper reviews methods that have been used to assess children's social skills. Four methods are identified and described: sociometric instruments, behavioral observations, teacher reports, and child self-reports. Their relationships to one another are examined in terms of predictive, concurrent, and construct validity. It appears that the social skills construct is in need of basic development if it is to have any clinical utility. It is suggested that future research utilize knowledge from fields closely related to clinical psychology (e.g., developmental and social psychology) and methods of assessment from traditional test theory.     

Communicating the reasons for social rejection

Two studies examined the pattern of reasons given for rejecting dates and how they reflect concerns of the rejector. Study One examined retrospective accounts of rejection. Rejectors often reported withholding the reason for rejection from the rejected person. A content analysis of the reasons communicated to rejected persons was performed using Weiner's (Journal of Educational Psychology, 1979, 71, 3–25) attributional dimensions of locus, controllability, and stability. The stated reasons were found to be primarily impersonal, uncontrollable, and unstable. Study Two examined rejectors' willingness to communicate certain types of reasons. The true, privately held reasons for turning down dates were systematically varied as to locus, controllability, and stability. The types of reasons subjects offered to rejected persons were consistent with Study One. Reasons for refusal were less likely to be revealed when they related to the appearance or personality of the rejected person, particularly when the personal reasons were uncontrollable and stable. Rejectors were not as forthright when they controlled the reason for rejection as when they lacked control. The rejectors' actions were interpreted as being self-presentational, reflecting concerns about rejected persons' emotional reactions, expectancies for the future of the relationship, and blame for rejection.     

Mentalizing skills of non-native,early signers: A longitudinal perspective

Using a population-based sample consisting of 401 6- to 12-year-olds, this study examined normative age and sex distributions on motor activity as measured in an actigraphic-based motion tracking system (MTS) and on attention-related functions derived from a Continuous Performance Test (CPT). Specific objectives were to present new knowledge on age-related change in motor activity and to study age effects on changes in motor activity and CPT performance as a function of time on task. Further, continuous relations between the two ADHD symptom domains and CPT performance and motor activity, and importantly, age effects in these relations were examined. CPT performance improved, and level of motor activity decreased with age. Linear associations between the two ADHD symptom domains and several of the CPT and MTS parameters support available research describing the nature of ADHD as a continuous dimension with variable expression throughout the general population. Further, our study is one of the first to provide developmental data using a time on task design, particularly with regard to motor activity. Imperative for ADHD future research are our results showing that age matters in the relation between ADHD behaviours and neuropsychological function.     

Ostracism and prosocial behavior: A social dilemma perspective

Prior research has yielded mixed findings regarding the relation of ostracism to prosocial behavior, with studies indicating ostracism leads people to become less prosocial, more prosocial, or that prosocial behavior is unaffected by workplace ostracism. By conceptualizing prosocial behavior at work as a social dilemma, we hypothesized that whether or not individuals reduce prosocial behaviors following ostracism can be understood by how individuals manage the conflict between the immediate temptation to treat others poorly and the long-term benefits of not giving into such temptations. Across three studies – a scenario (Study 1), experimental (Study 2), and field study on employed adults (Study 3) – we find support for the hypothesis that individuals who are less (versus more) oriented towards future outcomes engage in less prosocial behaviors with others who have ostracized them during prior interactions. We discuss both the practical and theoretical implications of these findings.     

Culture and career psychology: A social constructionist perspective

This paper reflects on the need to re-examine cultural and cross-cultural psychology with a view to re-invigorating them and placing them at the center of discourse in career psychology. One perspective that can be employed to achieve these goals is social constructionism in that it questions the centrality of post-positivism in cultural and cross-cultural career psychology and shifts the focus to people in relationships. Emphasis is placed on understanding relationships in culture and recognizing that cultures are neither static nor independent variables but central to and embedded in career psychology. Social constructionist perspectives on cross-cultural counseling in career psychology and the development of indigenous career psychologies are discussed.     

Physical health and social network characteristics as determinants of mental health across cultures

This study examines cross-cultural differences in the etiology of depression and anxiety, two common indicators of mental health problems. Using an ethnically diverse sample of 162 college students, we found that chronic physical symptoms and social network characteristics, particularly network quality, were predictive of both depression and anxiety, yet their effects were mediated by ethnicity. Multiple regression analyses showed that social network quality, compared to physical health, was a much stronger predictor of mental health in Caucasian students, whereas among students of Asian/Pacific descent, physical health was a much stronger predictor of mental health than the social network characteristics. The observed differences were particularly strong for anxiety, which was not significantly associated with physical health in Caucasian students or social network size and quality in the Asian/Pacific group. Theoretical and clinical implications of the results are discussed.     

Physical health and social network characteristics as determinants of mental health across cultures

This study examines cross-cultural differences in the etiology of depression and anxiety, two common indicators of mental health problems. Using an ethnically diverse sample of 162 college students, we found that chronic physical symptoms and social network characteristics, particularly network quality, were predictive of both depression and anxiety, yet their effects were mediated by ethnicity. Multiple regression analyses showed that social network quality, compared to physical health, was a much stronger predictor of mental health in Caucasian students, whereas among students of Asian/Pacific descent, physical health was a much stronger predictor of mental health than the social network characteristics. The observed differences were particularly strong for anxiety, which was not significantly associated with physical health in Caucasian students or social network size and quality in the Asian/Pacific group. Theoretical and clinical implications of the results are discussed.     

Effectiveness of social skills training with children: A meta-analytic study

This meta-analytic study examined the relative effectiveness of three methods of social skills training with socially isolated children: coaching, interpersonal cognitive problem solving, and modelling. An exhaustive search of the published literature in the area produced a total of 43 studies that met stringent criteria for inclusion in the subsequent analysis. Social skills training produced significant improvements in children's levels of social interaction, sociometric status and cognitive problem solving abilities. No training technique produced a significantly greater improvement than either of the others. Isolated children showed larger increases in their levels of social interaction and sociometric status than non-isolate children. Multi-modal training programmes were recommended to capitalize on the independent therapeutic effects which derive from a number of different social skills training techniques.     

Personality dimensions across cultures

In order to generalize the dimensional structure of personality-relatively independent groups of covarying traits-across languages and cultures, a large number of cultures must be studied. Until recently only a few worldwide personality datasets have been available. The first large-scale studies indicate that the pattern of covariation between personality traits is universal and is relatively easily generalizable across languages and cultures. In contrast to the structure of personality, the comparison of the mean trait scores across cultures is much more problematic because cross-cultural differences turned out to be very small in their magnitude, about one-third of the magnitude of individual differences within culture. More integral (e.g., the similarity between personality profiles) or subtle (e.g., the disparity between positively and negatively worded items) measures can reveal more systematic relationships with relevant socioeconomic and geographic variables than the mean scores themselves. Relatively modest sizes of cross-cultural differences in the mean values may imply that a reasonable scalar equivalence can be achieved, and all individuals, irrespective of their language and culture, can be represented in a common metric.     

Consistency-based compliance across cultures

A field study investigated cross-cultural differences in choice-congruent behavior and its impact on compliance. U.S. and Asian participants received a request to complete an online survey and a month later they were approached with a larger, related request. Compliance with the initial request had a stronger impact on subsequent compliance among the U.S. participants than among the Asian participants. Despite their lower rate of compliance with the initial request, the U.S. participants who chose to comply were more likely than their Asian counterparts to agree to the subsequent request. Further analyses revealed that this effect was driven by differences in the individualistic/collectivistic orientation of the participants from the two cultures. Within both cultures, the more individualistic participants showed stronger consistency with their earlier compliance than the more collectivistically oriented participants.     

A theological perspective on social exchange theory

This article provides a brief review of the basic principles of social exchange theory with an emphasis on a social exchange model of conflict. The key concepts of justice, reciprocity, and equity comprised in social exchange theory are addressed from a social and theological perspective.     

道家社会观新论——兼评马克斯·韦伯对道家伦理的曲解

本文借鉴了英国学考哈耶克的思路,对道家的社会观作了新的论述。详前人所略而略前人所详,重在体现“道”此一点之两面,即以善治国与以正治国。同时,对德国社会学家韦伯否认道家思想合乎理性的论断作了分析,以便为道家文化的现代转换廓清道路。最后,广泛吸取国内外研究道家与黄老之学的研究成果,强调重估道家思想对建设社会主义市场经济不无启示。     

A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking

This article proposes a framework for theory and research on risk-taking that is informed by developmental neuroscience. Two fundamental questions motivate this review. First, why does risk-taking increase between childhood and adolescence? Second, why does risk-taking decline between adolescence and adulthood? Risk-taking increases between childhood and adolescence as a result of changes around the time of puberty in the brain’s socio-emotional system leading to increased reward-seeking, especially in the presence of peers, fueled mainly by a dramatic remodeling of the brain’s dopaminergic system. Risk-taking declines between adolescence and adulthood because of changes in the brain’s cognitive control system—changes which improve individuals’ capacity for self-regulation. These changes occur across adolescence and young adulthood and are seen in structural and functional changes within the prefrontal cortex and its connections to other brain regions. The differing timetables of these changes make mid-adolescence a time of heightened vulnerability to risky and reckless behavior.     

Examining career-related mentoring and managerial performance across cultures: A multilevel analysis

The benefits of the mentoring relationship for protégés have been a primary focus in the mentoring literature. Researchers have recently begun to examine how mentoring can benefit the mentor. The purpose of the present study is to examine whether direct report-ratings of a manager’s career-related mentoring behaviors are related to boss-ratings of that manager’s performance. In addition, this study assesses whether the cultural background of the manager moderates the career-related mentoring-performance relationship via multilevel methodology. Results reveal that managers who are rated by their direct reports as engaging in career-related mentoring behaviors are perceived as better performers by their bosses. Moreover, the GLOBE societal culture dimension of Performance Orientation was a significant cross-level moderator of the career-related mentoring-performance relationship. Implications for the practice of mentoring in cross-cultural contexts across multiple disciplines are discussed.     

Survival skills and ethics training for graduate students: A graduate student perspective

Graduate students in the sciences must develop practical skills geared toward scientific survival and success. This is particularly true now, given the paucity of research funds and jobs. Along with more elementary skills, research ethics should be an integral part of students’ scientific training. Survival skills include research skills, communication skills, general efficiency, and preparation for post-graduate work. Ethics training covers guidelines for use of animal and human subjects, data treatment, disclosure, credit issues, conflicts of interest, and response to misconduct. The objective of this paper is to describe, from a graduate student’s perspective, the need for survival and ethics training in graduate programs and to raise both faculty and student awareness of the possibilities for explicit instruction of these skills. Many survival skills and ethical practices will be learned without explicit direction and some are already part of standard training; but, this is not the case for all students or for all skills, so specific instruction is a necessity. Research faculty can use their own experience to help students to develop the proficiencies they will need to succeed.     

Nature and nurture: Williams syndrome across cultures

This study is concerned with ways in which children with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder arising from a hemizygous deletion in chromosome band 7q11.23 including the gene for elastin (ELN) and approximately 20 surrounding genes, are affected by social mores of vastly differing cultures: the United States and Japan. WS presents a compelling model for the investigation because its genetic phenotype is well defined and results in an uneven cognitive profile as well as a social phenotype typical of the syndrome including overt over-friendliness toward strangers. While a number of research groups have been studying the cognitive strengths and weaknesses of individuals with WS in various countries, there have not been studies to date that explore the social phenotype in WS across different cultures. This study examines the ways in which social behavior in WS, stemming from specific genetic underpinnings, might be mediated by cultural expectations. We conducted a cross-cultural study using an instrument that measures aspects of sociability commonly found among people with WS. Quantitative analyses revealed a significant effect of diagnostic category in that in both countries, children with WS were rated as significantly higher in global sociability and more likely to approach strangers than were their normal counterparts. There was also an effect of culture, in that regardless of category, WS and normal children in Japan were rated lower than their counterparts in the US. We suggest that the excessively social phenotype of children with Williams syndrome, although markedly present across cultures, appears to vary in its intensity by culture. This is an intriguing illustration of interactions between nature and nurture.     

Reading skills in hyperlexia: a developmental perspective.

Hyperlexia is characterized by advanced word-recognition skills in individuals who otherwise have pronounced cognitive, social, and linguistic handicaps. Language, word recognition, and reading-comprehension skills are reviewed to clarify the nature and core deficits associated with the disorder. It is concluded that hyperlexia should be viewed as part of the normal variation in reading skills, which are themselves associated with individual differences in phonological, orthographic, and semantic processing, short-term memory, and print exposure. A compulsive preoccupation with reading may also be crucial to the development of a hyperlexic reading profile. A theoretical framework, based on recent connectionist models of reading development, is described. This perspective provides a satisfactory account for how individual differences in a number of different skills can lead to a variety of manifestations of reading behavior, including hyperlexia.