Does Proximity Matter in Promoting Interfaith Dialogue?

This paper explores the role of physical proximity of places of worship in facilitating interfaith dialogue. The research focuses on a religious cluster within the Greater Toronto Area, which emerged due to incremental zoning changes over time. Using key informant interviews as the method and Allport’s contact hypothesis as the guiding theoretical framework, it explores the effects of proximity and contact (interaction or encounters) on intergroup relations. The findings suggest that physical proximity is not a strong factor in facilitating interfaith dialogue initiatives. However, proximity does seem to have an effect in creating a space for interactions and encounters to occur, which can lead to attitudinal shifts concerning the religious “other.”     

Friendship and similarities in social-cognitive and communication abilities: Social skill bases of interpersonal attraction in childhood

Although researchers have examined how different forms of similarity (e.g., demographic similarity, attitudinal similarity) affect interpersonal attraction, little work has focused on how similarities in social-cognitive abilities and communication skills affect attraction and relationship development. The present article suggests how the similarity/attraction literature and filter theories of relationship development can be integrated with research on social skills and cognitive development to provide a framework for understanding how similarities in levels of social skills may affect attraction and friendship formation in childhood. A study was carried out assessing how similarities in levels of social-cognitive and communication skills affected interpersonal attraction and friendship choices by children. It was hypothesized that children would be (a) attracted to and (b) more likely to form friendships with peers who had social-cognitive and communication skills similar in level to their own. Participants (92 grade school children) completed a battery of tasks providing assessments of four social-cognitive and five communication skills. Sociometric procedures were used to determine interpersonal attraction and friendship patterns. Results indicated that children were attracted to peers having social skill levels similar to their own. Moreover, pairs of friends had similar levels of skills related to the expression and management of emotional states.     

Aikido: A Model for Brief Strategic Therapy

Building on Watzlawick's observations of certain similarities between judo and brief strategic therapy, this paper develops theoretic and pragmatic parallels between brief strategic therapy and a sophisticated martial art system, Aikido. After presenting the contextual similarities of the two conceptual systems as parallel “challenges” to the therapist and Aikidoist to effect change, the similarities in basic principles of practice are presented. The similarities in the philosophical and attitudinal positions of these conceptual systems are then delineated, followed by a case example that integrates the various concepts in the paper.     

Social comparison,attraction, and choice of a comparison other

The effects of attitudinal similarity and task-relevant affiliative status, together with three situational factors (presence or absence of a monetary reward, choice of information source or work partner, and choice made before or after Ss completed preliminary work on the task), on the choice of comparison others were examined. The most significant determinant of the comparison other chosen was attitude similarity (p < .01). There was also a significant interaction between attitude similarity, task-relevant affifliative status, and time of choice (p < .05). The nature of the interaction suggested that general impressions such as conveyed by general attitudinal information may be more important in the selection of referent others than comparability on situation-specific factors.     

Trauma as an objective or subjective experience: The association between types of traumatic events,personality traits,subjective experience of the event,and posttraumatic symptoms

The study aimed to examine the discrete effect of objective (type of trauma and demographic characteristics) and subjective (proximity to the trauma, subjective experience of the trauma as a threat, the Big Five personality traits, and dissociative symptoms) factors on the risk for PTSD among 1,210 undergraduate students. The findings indicate that survivors of physical/sexual assault scored the highest on proximity to the trauma, subjective experience of the trauma as a threat, neuroticism, dissociation, and PTSD symptoms. In addition, subjective experience of the trauma, proximity to it, type of trauma, dissociation, and neuroticism were associated with the risk for PTSD symptoms. The findings point to the significance of both subjective and objective variables in the risk for PTSD symptoms.     

The Impact of Time Proximity and Level of Generality on Attitude-Behavior Consistency1

This study examines the effects of (1) generality equivalence between attitudinal and behavioral entities and (2) the order and proximity of the attitude and behavior questions on the observed relationship between attitudes and behavior. The behaviors examined are sentence recommendations for six hypothetical defendants. The sample is composed of 185 line probation officers from New York State. The variables chosen conform to Martin Fishbein's model of behavioral intentions. As predicted, the observed relationship is affected by both level of specificity and proximity of the questions. Order of the questions has little effect.     

Effects of Diversity Management on Attachment

The theoretical underpinnings of this paper explain the process of organizational transformation to value differences and the attitudinal transformation of minority and majority individuals to appreciate diversity. As an empirical test of these theories, the research investigated absenteeism and psychological attachment in 2 Fortune 100 conglomerates in different stages of managing their diversity. Cox (1991) suggests that organizations evolve toward multiculturalism, a state in which employee differences are valued and appreciated. Analyses of 284 respondents reveal that majority and minority employees in a more multicultural firm experienced greater attitudinal attachment. Study results suggest that a culture that stresses inclusion of all individuals will have a positive impact on the demographic majority.     

EFFECTS OF AMOUNT, FORMAT, AND LOCATION OF DEMOGRAPHIC INFORMATION ON QUESTIONNAIRE RETURN RATE AND RESPONSE BIAS OF SENSITIVE AND NONSENSITIVE ITEMS

Three characteristics of demographic questionnaire items were manipulated on a job satisfaction survey administered to 888 faculty members in order to assess effects on survey return rate and response bias. Demographic factors analyzed were Amount (number of demographic items), Format (questionnaires with all categorical answers versus those with a combination of categorical and continuous answers), and Location (demographic items placed before versus being placed after attitudinal items). Analysis of the 461 questionnaires which were returned revealed significant results for the Format rnanipulation, in that responses indicating higher satisfaction were obtained when the survey instrument contained questions which required both categorical and continuous answers rather than only questions requiring categorical responses. Also, this format-induced response bias occurred more frequently among sensitive than nonsensitive job satisfaction items. Implications of the results for questionnaire design are discussed.     

Reactions to Affirmative Action: Substance and Semantics

For both theoretical and practical reasons, researchers have sought to map the motivations that underlie people's support for or opposition to affirmative action. In view of the amount of rhetoric surrounding the issues, it is possible that some of the apparent differences in degrees of support come from differences in how the words affirmative action are interpreted. The present investigation shows that the meanings that people ascribe to affirmative action statistically predict their attitudes toward the policy, even after one accounts for demographic and related attitudinal factors. The implications of our findings are important in both applied and conceptual ways.     

Employees' Perceptions of the Distributive Justice of Pay Raise Decisions: A Policy Capturing Approach

An examination was made of the factors that contribute to employee perceptions of the distributive justice of compensation outcomes and how employees differ in their perceptions. A sample of 414 employees of a large public university was used to assess what distributive rules are associated with employees' perceptions of the fairness of pay raise decisions. The results found that employees evaluated the fairness of pay raise decisions differently. A cluster analysis identified three groups of employees who differed in their perceptions, and one-way analysis of variance highlighted a number of demographic and attitudinal factors by which these groups were distinguished.     

The Rôle of Clasping Activity in Adaptive Behavior of the Infant Chimpanzee: II. Visual Discrimination

The existence of no significant attitudinal differences between three generations of selected families was hypothesized. Basic life attitudes of 199 college students were compared with those of their middlescent parents and senescent grandparents. The Adolescent-Middlescent Attitude Scale developed by Armstrong was administered to the adolescents in the college classroom and mailed to parents and grandparents. The least squares analysis of variance was employed to determine the amount and direction of variance in attitudes among the three generations of respondents. The F factors were found to be significant at the .05 level of confidence. This finding suggested the possibility of basic attitudinal differences among the adolescent, middlescent, and senescent groups. Significant variance was found within the middlescent generation, revealing attitude differences between the adolescent's mother and father in relation to basic life concepts. Adjustment similarities and differences among the three generations were predicted from the attitudinal data.     

The Effect of Contact on Attitudes Toward Old Order Amish1

This investigation was guided by social categorization theory and the contact hypothesis. A convenience sample of 89 adults provided survey data to test the hypothesis that non‐Amish individuals who shared more contact with Old Order Amish would report more positive attitudes (less attitudinal bias) toward the Amish than would individuals who shared less contact. Blockwise hierarchical regression analysis showed that after controlling for demographic factors and known correlates of attitudinal bias, deep (but not superficial) contact was significantly related to positive attitudes toward the Amish. Deep contact and need for cognition explained 29.4% of the variance in attitudes that non‐Amish people held toward Old Order Amish. Application of these findings, suggestions for future research, and study limitations are discussed.     

Attitudinal versus ecological approaches to the characterization of institutional treatment environments

The relational and discriminative properties of attitudinal and ecological measures of environments were examined within the context of a state hospital for mentally retarted clients. Three hypotheses were advanced, and the results gave substantial support for one of these and partial support for a second: (a) that the correlations between attitudinal and ecological measures should not differ significantly from zero, and (b) that differences among hospital treatment programs and living units should be reflected in ecological but not in attitudinal measures. However, the results did not provide clear confirmation for a third hypothesis: that differences among staff demographic characteristics and employment history should be reflected in attitudinal but not in ecological measures. It was suggested that these background variables may not be appropriate measures of personality-linked attributes.     

Re-evaluation of a possible proximity effect on muscular strength

Inconsistent findings of a proximity effect of sucrose on muscular strength and a potential interaction of nutritional status prompted the current study. Double-blind, counterbalanced assessments of grip strength were performed with and without 76 subjects holding a container of sucrose. No main effect was found for proximity of glucose, and no interaction was found for prandial status.     

Is There a Stronger Association Between Children and Happiness Among the Religious? Religion as a Moderator in the Relationship Between Happiness and Child Number

The literature on child number and happiness has progressed beyond simple associations and has begun to explore the roles of various attitudinal and environmental factors that moderate the relationship. Here the role of religiosity as a moderator in the relationship between happiness and child number is tested. This effect has not been examined before, which is surprising given the role that religion has been shown to play in child number more generally. I draw on both the psychology and demography literature to make a theoretical case that, as religiosity in the United States tends to be associated with pronatalist norms and culture, and as happiness is positively associated with fulfilling sociocultural imperatives, then, all things being equal, the more religious will have a higher happiness effect (or lower unhappiness effect) from their children than the less religious. Using General Social Survey data, my empirical analysis empirically confirmed this hypothesis, showing a positive and significant interaction term between self-identifying as very religious and child number. This interaction is partially mediated by another interaction term between higher ideal family size (measuring pronatalist tendencies) and number of children.     

Effects of Perceived Attitudinal and Demographic Similarity on Protégés' Support and Satisfaction Gained From Their Mentoring Relationships

The purpose of this study was to examine how perceived attitudinal similarity (measured as similarity in general outlook, values, and problem-solving approach) and demographic similarity operationalized as similarity in race and gender, affected protégés' support and satisfaction from their informal mentoring relationships. Scandura and Katerberg's (1988) 3-factor scale of mentor functions was used to measure vocational, psychosocial, and role-modeling support. Participants were 144 protégés from diverse backgrounds (54% female; 54% non-White). Perceived attitudinal similarity was a better predictor of protégés' satisfaction with and support received from their mentors than was demographic similarity.     

A Comparison of Residents Who Moved Versus Those Who Remained Prior to Restart of Three Mile Island1

This study examines the importance of attitudinal and demographic variables in discriminating those residents who had moved prior to the restart of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor in 1985 from those who remained. Findings indicate that movers and stayers were discriminated by demographic factors, age, and length of residence in the vicinity. Movers and nonmovers also differed in the interrelatedness of their attitudes pertaining to environmental threat and perceived control. Among those who left, perceived threat of radiation was associated with lack of control; among those who stayed, perceived control was related to faith in experts. This difference was related to a possible defensive adaptation to environmental threat through disassociation of sense of control from worry about environmental threat by those who remained in the area.     

Musicians' and nonmusicians' short-term memory for verbal and musical sequences: Comparing phonological similarity and pitch proximity

Language-music comparative studies have highlighted the potential for shared resources or neural overlap in auditory short-term memory. However, there is a lack of behavioral methodologies for comparing verbal and musical serial recall. We developed a visual grid response that allowed both musicians and nonmusicians to perform serial recall of letter and tone sequences. The new method was used to compare the phonological similarity effect with the impact of an operationalized musical equivalent — pitch proximity. Over the course of three experiments, we found that short-term memory for tones had several similarities to verbal memory, including limited capacity and a significant effect of pitch proximity in nonmusicians. Despite being vulnerable to phonological similarity when recalling letters, however, musicians showed no effect of pitch proximity, a result that we suggest might reflect strategy differences. Overall, the findings support a limited degree of correspondence in the way that verbal and musical sounds are processed in auditory short-term memory.     

Effects of Managerial Performance and Attitudinal Similarity on Interpersonal Attraction

Despite the importance of interpersonal attraction for group behaviors, it has been largely unexplored in the context of organizational environments. This study examined two possible determinants of interpersonal attraction in organizational settings: managers' performance and perceived attitudinal similarity. Using a videotape medium, subjects assessed their interpersonal attraction to a manager interacting with a subordinate within a 3 × 3 experimental design. Main effects for managerial competence and perceived attitudinal similarity were observed but with no evidence of an interaction effect.