Feminism,Adaptive Preferences,and Social Contract Theory

Feminists have long been aware of the pathology and the dangers of what are now termed “adaptive preferences.” Adaptive preferences are preferences formed in unconscious response to oppression. Thinkers from each wave of feminism continue to confront the problem of women's internalization of their own oppression, that is, the problem of women forming their preferences within the confining and deforming space that patriarchy provides. All preferences are, in fact, formed in response to a (more or less) limited set of options, but not all preferences are unconscious, pathological responses to oppression. Feminist theory therefore requires a method for distinguishing all preferences from adaptive or deformed preferences. Social contract theory provides such a tool. Social contract theory models autonomous preference‐acquisition and retention at both the external level of causation and the internal level of justification. In doing so, social contract theory exposes preferences that do not meet those standards, acting as both a conceptual test that identifies adaptive preferences and as a practical tool for personal and social clarification. A social contract approach helps persons and societies to identify and to confront preferences rooted in unconscious response to oppression.     

Marital Relationships: A Social Exchange Theory Perspective

The central thesis of this article is the treatment of the marital relationship within the context of social exchange theory. This article opens with a discussion of marital solidarity and marital power from a social exchange perspective. Next, the article addresses the differences between social exchange and economic exchange in order to provide insight in delineating marital relationships in a social exchange context. The conceptualization of couple therapy in terms of social exchange theory is next discussed. Finally, the article closes with a discussion of the deficiencies of social exchange theory as an attempt to delimit the scope of treating marital relationships as a social exchange system.     

Infants Anticipate Others' Social Preferences

In the current eye‐tracking study, we explored whether 12‐month‐old infants can predict others' social preferences. We showed infants scenes in which two characters alternately helped or hindered an agent in his goal of climbing a hill. In a control condition, the two characters moved up and down the hill in identical ways to the helper and hinderer but did not make contact with the agent; thus, they did not cause him to reach or not reach his goal. Following six alternating familiarization trials of helping and hindering interactions (help–hinder condition) or up and down interactions (up–down condition), infants were shown one test trial in which they could visually anticipate the agent approaching one of the two characters. As predicted, infants in the help–hinder condition made significantly more visual anticipations toward the helping than hindering character, suggesting that they predicted the agent to approach the helping character. In contrast, infants revealed no difference in visual anticipations between the up and down characters. The up–down condition served to control for low‐level perceptual explanations of the results for the help–hinder condition. Thus, together the results reveal that 12‐month‐old infants make predictions about others' behaviour and social preferences from a third‐party perspective. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Social Dilemma Analysis of Commuting Preferences: The Roles of Social Value Orientation and Trust1

The current research advances a social dilemma analysis of commuting, examining the roles of preexisting personality differences in social value orientation (i.e., prosocial vs. proself orientation) and trust (i.e., a general belief in the honesty and cooperative intentions of others) in determining preferences for collectively desirable commuting options: preferences for commuting by public transportation (Study 1) and carpooling (Study 2). Consistent with predictions, both studies revealed that, relative to p of prosocials, preferences of proselfs were more strongly associated with beliefs about the relative efficiency of cars (i.e., an outcome affecting personal well-being). Also, greater preferences for collectively desirable actions were observed among prosocials with high trust—relative to prosocials with low trust and proselfs with high or low trust—providing support for the claim that 2 conditions (i.e., prosocial goals and trust in others) must be met to obtain collectively desirable commuting preferences.     

医患关系内涵及模式:基于社会交换理论的研究

梳理了国外医患关系的相关文献,基于社会交换理论视角探析医患关系的内涵,深入剖析了医疗质量和患者信任是构成医患关系的两个重要因子,并进一步构建了简约化的四类医患关系模式,即和谐医患关系模式、改善医患关系模式、不善医患关系模式和紧张医患关系模式。认为医患关系的建立是一个动态的过程,在诊疗过程中医患关系模式之间是可以相互转换的,患者信任是构建和谐医患关系的基础,为我国和谐医患关系的建立进行了理论上的探索。     

Eye‐tracking Social Preferences

We hypothesize that if people are motivated by a particular social preference, then choosing in accordance with this preference will lead to an identifiable pattern of eye movements. We track eye movements while subjects make choices in simple three‐person distribution experiments. We characterize each choice in terms of three different types of social preferences: efficiency, maxi‐min, and envy. For the characterization, we use either the choice data or the eye movement data. The evidence indicates that distributional choices are broadly consistent with the choice rule implied by eye movements. In other words, what subjects appear to be interested in when you look at their choices corresponds to what they appear to be interested in when you look at their eye movements. This correspondence lends credibility to the behavioral relevance of social preferences models. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Level of Health Threat as a Moderator of Social Comparison Preferences1

The effects of level of health threat and level of perceived control on social comparison preferences were examined. Participants were led to believe that they had a cholesterol level that was either in the borderline high-risk range or in the high-risk range. Half the participants were told cholesterol was controllable, whereas the others were told it was not. Participants then rated their interest in 4 types of social comparison information. The results indicated an overall preference for upward comparison to gather useful information. Level of threat interacted significantly with direction of comparison. Comparison preferences were not affected by the control manipulation. The implications of the findings for theories of social comparison as a coping strategy are discussed.     

行为博弈与社会交换

行为博弈与社会交换看似两个毫无关联的现象和研究领域,却有着内在的、实质性的联系。行为博弈也是一种社会交换或以社会交换为机制,社会交换则表现为一种行为博弈或有着内在的博弈性质。行为博弈与社会交换互为表里、互为机制、水乳交融,行为博弈是社会交换的行为博弈,社会交换是行为博弈的社会交换。以行为博弈的眼光来看待社会交换或以社会交换的意识来研究行为博弈,跨领域的研究洞视,各自互为对方启动了一方别开生面的研究天地,为枯燥乏味的传统博弈研究和死水微澜的社会交换领域凭添了一丝新鲜气息。     

Developmental Changes in Children''s Ethnic Preferences and Social Cognitions

An experiment was carried out to examine developmental changes in children's ethnic preferences and social cognitions to assess predictions drawn from sociocognitive theory and social identity theory. Two hundred and seventy Anglo-Australian children participated, with equal numbers of 8-, 10-, and 12-year-old children being drawn from one of three types of school that differed in its level of ethnic mix. The children listened to a story about an in-group Anglo-Australian boy and an out-group Vietnamese boy, each of whom displayed equal numbers of ethnic stereotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent traits. Each story character also displayed a positive and a negative behaviour. The results revealed that, as they increased in age, the children remembered more of the in-group versus out-group story character's stereotype-inconsistent versus stereotype-consistent traits and that they increasingly disliked the in-group story character, whereas they liked the out-group story character. In addition, the in-group and out-group story characters' negative behaviours were attributed to internal and external causes, respectively, whereas their positive behaviours were attributed to external and internal causes, respectively. The greater support for social identity versus sociocognitive theory revealed by these findings is discussed.     

Students' Preferences for Information About Their Test Performance: A Social Comparison Study1

College students received their test scores and letter grades for an actual examination and were asked to indicate their degree of interest in obtaining information (average score, highest score, etc.) in order to evaluate their performance. Overall, the students were most interested in knowing the average test score and least interested in knowing the lowest test score and the number of others who received worse test scores. There was some evidence supporting Festinger's unidirectional drive hypothesis in that most of the students were moderately interested in knowing how many others obtained better scores. Surprisingly, students who failed the examination displayed the greatest interest in the available information. There was little evidence suggesting defensive comparison on the part of low scorers. The results have implications for the self evaluation of ability, for social comparison research, and for educational practice.     

Social Exchange Theory: Dynamics of a System Governing the Dysfunctional Family and Guide to Assessment

Examined is a social psychological model of family discordance. Theories derive in part from exchange theory and from operant principles of behavior. First reviewed are tenets of social exchange theory based in traditional systems analysis (ecosystems). Conceptually presented is how human relations are interdependent on resources of supply and demand. Family patterns are shared by unspoken rules governing givers and takers of resources, forming an imperfect market economy that balances or imbalances family life. Properties of family ecology clearly specify intervening variables contributing to family breakdown. Second, an application of social exchange theory integrates operant principles of reinforcement and punishment as predictors of family disintegration. Punishing and rewarding exchanges are explored in alcoholic families. Operant contingencies significantly magnify the inequity and nonreciprocity of love, affection, and general nurturing between parent and child. Implications are offered for clinical assessment.     

Social Exchange at Work and Emotional Exhaustion: The Role of Personality1

Unbalanced social‐exchange processes at work have been linked to emotional exhaustion. In addition to organizational factors, individual differences are important determinants of reciprocity perceptions. This study explored whether broad and narrow personality traits were associated with perceived lack of reciprocity (organizational and interpersonal levels), and whether personality moderated the relationship between reciprocity and emotional exhaustion, in a sample of 322 civil servants. Extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability, internal locus of control, and Type A behavior predicted reciprocity. The relationship between perceived lack of reciprocity with the organization and emotional exhaustion was stronger for individuals reporting lower negative affect or higher extraversion. These findings highlight the importance of personality for understanding perceived reciprocity at work and its impact on emotional exhaustion.     

Social game theory: Preferences,perceptions, and choices

ABSTRACT

Building on classic game theory, psychologists have explored the effects of social preferences and expectations on strategic behaviour. Ordinary social perceivers are sensitive to additional contextual factors not addressed by game theory and its recent psychological extensions. We review the results of a research programme exploring how observers judge “players” (i.e., individuals making strategic decisions in social dilemmas) on the dimensions of competence and morality. We explore social perception in several well-known dilemmas, including the prisoner’s dilemma, the volunteer’s dilemma, and the trust dilemma. We also introduce a novel self-presentational dilemma. In research conducted over a decade and a half, we have found that judgements of competence are sensitive to both players’ choices and the dilemma’s (expected and actual) outcomes. In contrast, judgements of morality respond strongly to players’ behaviour and little else. We discuss how these social-perceptual patterns might affect expectations, preferences, and strategic choices.     

Social Exchange and Emotional Investment in Work Groups

This study applied a social exchange perspective to examine three related aspects of work group behavior: individuals' assessment of the personal costs and rewards of group membership, the overall level of emotional investment in a group, and the external evaluation of group performance. Regression analyses of survey data from 28 ongoing student work groups (134 individuals) indicated that perceptions of personal rewards resulting from interaction over a ten-week period are an important precursor of emotional investment, defined as a relational orientation that encourages mutual caring, group loyalty, and commitment to the group as a whole. Consistent with our expectations, personal costs influenced neither emotional investment nor group performance after considering the effects of personal rewards. Emotional investment mediated the effects of personal rewards on externally rated group performance. Thus, emotional investment was a pivotal dimension of group effectiveness. Results extend our understanding of group behavior by acknowledging the relationship between personal and group development while confirming the compelling role of emotions in social exchange.     

Social and Economic Exchange: Construct Development and Validation

This study examined the economic and social exchanges between employee and employer within a model in which perceived organizational support and affective and continuance commitment served as predictors and performance, altruism citizenship behavior, absence, and lateness served as outcomes. Two samples were used. 384 master of business administration students participated in Study 1, and Study 2 consisted of 181 aerospace employees and their managers, working for a single organization. Both studies supported the distinctiveness between economic and social exchanges. Study 2 showed the overall fit of the proposed model was adequate, though only social exchange, and not economic exchange, directly predicted the performance outcomes. These results suggest the importance of perceived exchanges between employee and employer.     

Kierkegaard's Social Theory

Despite recent attention on the social implications of his work, little has been done to articulate a substantive Kierkegaardian social theory. In this paper, I argue that Kierkegaard's A Literary Review describes four principles of social analysis. Together they reveal the social character of Kierkegaard's thought while presenting significant challenges for more traditional ‘social readings’ of his work.     

The Intermingling of Social and Evolutionary Psychology Influences on Hair Color Preferences

Hypotheses were tested as explanations for why men and women have specific hair color preferences for mates. Traditional evolutionary psychology approaches suggest that men should prefer light hair on women because it signals youth and health, while women should desire dark hair on men because it signals maturity and stability. Repeated exposure predicts people prefer the hair color on mates they are exposed to most frequently. Uniqueness implies that men and women should desire the least prevalent hair colors on potential mates because of its scarcity and rarity. Findings primarily support traditional evolutionary psychology predictions and occasionally the repeated exposure hypothesis, but not uniqueness predictions. Sex and regional differences indicate that social and evolutionary processes combine to influence hair color preferences.     

Social Judgement Theory

This paper first explores a number of themes in the psychological system developed by the Austrian-American psychologist, Egon Brunswik, focusing on those that had a formative influence on Social Judgement Theory. We show that while perception was a recurring ground for Brunswik's empirical and theoretical work, his psychology was a psychology of cognition in the broadest sense. Next, two major themes in Social Judgement Theory— functionalism and probabilism— are described, and the elegant formulation known as Brunswik's Lens Model is introduced. Some methodological and theoretical implications of these themes are presented. The paper concludes with Hammond's Cognitive Continuum Theory (CCT), which is a theory describing modes of cognition and how those modes are influenced by task characteristics.