Reciprocal cooperation in dyads

This study investigated the conditions that promote long-term social exchange when the immediate payoff for social participation is equal to or less than for individual responding. The 10 subjects, from a special education unit and ranging between 10 and 16 years of age, comprised five dyads to participate in daily 20-min sessions. During the first experiment, the subjects sat beside each other and in front of an automated apparatus which automatically distributed points (representing money) to self, to partner, or to the group. During baseline conditions, the subjects could earn reinforcers from all three modes. During the dependency conditions, which alternated between subjects at 3-day intervals, one subject could earn reinforcers from all three modes while a partner could earn reinforcers only from the mode requiring subject's assistance. Four of the five dyads increased their levels of cooperative responding during the several reversals in which first one and then the other subject was dependent upon the partner for reinforcement. This pattern maintained when the method of distributing reinforcers was changed to a manual procedure requiring the experimenter to record point distributions by transferring beads on an abacus. This suggested that the distribution modes rather than the experimental apparatus were important in promoting the cooperative pattern. In the second experiment all subjects continued to cooperate with partner, even when they could have earned more by working alone. Eventually a value for the self mode was reached where the subjects discontinued their cooperation to work for self.     

Structural equation modeling with interchangeable dyads

Structural equation modeling (SEM) can be adapted in a relatively straightforward fashion to analyze data from interchangeable dyads (i.e., dyads in which the 2 members cannot be differentiated). The authors describe a general strategy for SEM model estimation, comparison, and fit assessment that can be used with either dyad-level or pairwise (double-entered) dyadic data. They present applications illustrating this approach with the actor-partner interdependence model, confirmatory factor analysis, and latent growth curve analysis.     

Sex-role orientation and relationship development in same-sex dyads

The purpose of the present study was to assess the relationship between sex-role identity, behavioral interaction, and interpersonal attraction in an initial extended encounter. Eighty-two female subjects identified as either feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated participated in the study in same-sex dyads. The design contrasted three different dyad types: (a) feminine-feminine; (b) androgynous-androgynous; and (c) undifferentiated-undifferentiated. Each dyad completed an initial 5-min unstructured interaction, a 10-min getting-acquainted exercise, and a final 5-min unstructured interaction. Results of the combined initial and final unstructured interactions indicated greater interpersonal attraction between androgynous as compared with undifferentiated and feminine dyad types. During the interactions, androgynous individuals talked, looked at, and gestured to one another longer than did nonandrogynous individuals. There were, however, no significant differences between the feminine and undifferentiated dyads in interpersonal attraction or behavioral interaction. Discussion of the results emphasized the need to examine further the relationship between sex-role identity, behavioral interaction, and attraction in interpersonal encounters.     

Gender differences in interpersonal complementarity within roommate dyads

Complementarity theory proposes specific hypotheses regarding interpersonal styles that will result in successful relationships. The present study sought to extend previous research on gender differences in complementarity through the examination of same-sex peer dyads and the use of informant reports of interpersonal style. One hundred twenty participants (30 male and 30 female roommate dyads) completed interpersonal circumplex ratings of their roommates and a relationship cohesion measure. Examinations of complementarity indicate that women reported significantly more complementarity than men within their roommate dyads. However, for men and women, the closer the dyad was to perfect complementarity in terms of dominance, the more cohesive the relationship. Results are discussed in relation to gender differences in social development.     

Performance-self-esteem and dominance behavior in mixed-sex dyads1

Past studies suggest that males tend to be more dominant than females in task-oriented, mixed-sex groups. It was hypothesized that one factor accounting for this sex difference is performance-self-esteem. Subjects were 44 male-female pairs (college undergraduates) who participated in a decision-making task. As predicted, female performance-self-esteem level was related to the dominance cluster of opinions, disagreements, and decision outcome scores (p < .035). Females were more dominant and males less dominant in dyads containing high performance-self-esteem females; the reverse was true in dyads containing low performance-self-esteem females. No relationship was found between male performance-self-esteem level and dominance. Also, with performance-self-esteem level controlled, no overall sex difference in dominance occurred. However, some sex differences were found in the relationships between outcome satisfaction and dominance for high and low performance-self-esteem subjects.     

Cognitive style and relationship quality in married dyads

Recently, cognitive personality researchers have begun to explore the social and interpersonal relevance of cognitive individual difference variables. Embedded in these examinations, however, is a methodological issue that bears importantly on our understanding of the role of these cognitive orientations in social relations. Specifically, personality studies have typically employed experimentally created dyads which, by limiting the representativeness of the sample, potentially limits the generalizability of the findings to more enduring “real-life” dyads. In the present study, field dependence/field independence was examined as a potential mediator of relationship quality in married dyads. Consistent with Witkin's theory of psychological differentiation, it was predicted that spouses with relatively field-dependent partners and individuals from dyads with similar levels of differentiation would have fewer complaints. Results showed, contrary to the predictions, that husbands married to field-dependent wives and wives from matched dyads had more complaints about their marital relationships. These findings suggest the need for a careful evaluation of the role of cognitive style in the domain of intimate interpersonal relationships. Apparently, it may not be sufficient to generalize about the role of personality in social relationships from the results of studies employing experimentally created dyads or groups to other, more enduring and real-life types of social relationships.     

Effect of behavioral inhibition on interactions in mixed-sex dyads

The present studies assessed the effect of behavioral inhibition on interactions of college students in mixed-sex groups. In Study 1, 20 participants were arranged into two dyadic groups based on self-rated measures of approach/withdrawal behavior. These dyads (inhibited men/uninhibited women; inhibited women/uninhibited men) were videotaped during an unstructured 5-min. interaction in a laboratory. Time series analysis indicated greater behavioral covariation in the inhibited men/uninhibited women dyads and less behavioral covariation in the inhibited women/uninhibited men dyads. Additional analyses indicated a relationship between inhibition and comfort experienced during the interaction. Inhibited participants, particularly women, reported feeling uncomfortable while interacting with an uninhibited male partner. A second study corroborated the findings reported in Study 1 and also noted elevated heart rate in the inhibited women. This increased discomfort in women appeared to be related to heightened self-consciousness during the interaction.     

Siblings in dyads: relationships among perceptions and behavior

The ways in which middle-childhood siblings perceive themselves as similar or different was assessed with a sample of 40 pairs of 9- to 11-year-old (younger) and 12- to 14-year-old (older) siblings. Each child was interviewed and completed a card sort procedure and a measure of self-competence. Sibling pairs participated in three behavioral tasks coded for cooperation and conflict. Self-ratings, self-perceptions, and sibling behavior were analyzed for their association with the perceived similarity construct. Siblings perceived themselves as being more like one another than did their mothers. Forty-one percent of the variance in their perceived similarity was accounted for by paired self-cooperation ratings, social competence, and behavioral task scores.     

Friendship: Communication and interactional patterns in same-sex dyads

Based on the classic work of Georg Simmel on dyadic intimacy and dependency and more recent work on self-disclosure, this study uses subjective accounts to compare same-sex dyadic friendships. Past research has neglected the important dimension of content. Thus, a major purpose was to specify three content levels of communication — topical, relational, and personal — and to determine sex differences in the range and primacy of these levels. In addition, seven interactional factors were identified: spontaneous communication, trust, nonverbal communication, dependency, shared value systems, conflict, and competition for power. The data reveal that women relate on all three levels, while men relate primarily on the topical level. Overall findings on the seven interactional factors reveal high congruence with traditional gender stereotypes. A serendipitous finding for both male and female dyads is that a particular individual is of less importance than a particular type of friendship. This suggests that friendship in modern society may be more tenuous than Simmel contended.This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the 74th annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 1979.Kidder, Peabody, & Co.     

Characteristics of children who interact in groups or in dyads

Little research within the field of developmental or educational psychology has addressed teachers' perceptions of the characteristics of children who interact in different types of peer organizations. This study was designed to examine teachers' perceptions of the characteristics of boys and girls who interact in groups or in dyads. Participants (teachers and children) were recruited from 10 classes from all grade levels of 2 elementary schools. The children were asked to name those in their classes who played together frequently. On the basis of participants' responses, 2 categories of target children were identified: those who played with at least 3 other children (group) and those children who played with 1 other child (dyad). Two teachers then rated each target child on 6 characteristics. The results indicated that, compared with children who played in dyads, target children who played in groups were rated by teachers as being more competitive, receiving more attention from peers, valuing their friends more, and being more emotionally expressive. No differences were found between target children who played in groups or dyads in empathy or self-confidence. In addition, no interaction between sex and type of social organization was found for any of the measures. Results are discussed in terms of the relation between social organization and functions of peer relations.     

Counseling for Decisions

This article presents a model for training counselors to help counselees in the process of making decisions. Three ineffective decision strategies (avoidance, excessive caution, and impulse) are explained and illustrated. An effective decision-helping approach that includes processing decisions, relating values to process, and relating actions to beliefs is presented. The authors contend that in order to produce satisfactory and adequate decisions, deeply rooted affective influences as well as logic and information must be dealt with.     

Reasons and Decisions

The central notion of Gibbard's splendid book, Thinking How to Live , is the idea of something's being "the thing to do." In ordinary English, the phrase, "X is the thing to do" can express either a judgment:     

Peer telephone dyads: Putting conclusions on hold

Conclusion Through systematic study of intervention trials, which are as carefully crafted and as critically examined as the one reported here, we can gain new insights into ways of intentionally creating the interpersonal and environmental conditions conducive to the expression and acceptance of support. To plan appropriate and acceptable changes in the social ecology, we must develop a theory of the intervention, drawing on both the voluminous generative base of research on social support and on knowledge gained from examination of the particular forces that potentiate and limit exchanges of support in the networks of the intended beneficiaries. In conducting the intervention, careful recordings of the interpersonal transactions that take place and their bearing on the parties' perceptions of the evolving character of the relationship can bring the needed process dimension to emergent theory on social support. And by evaluating the impact of the intervention on a range of proximal and distal outcomes, we can discern more clearly how social support's mechanisms of action confer measurable benefits, particularly those prized by the participants themselves.