Validity of the SDS-17 measure of social desirability in the American context

In Germany, Stober et al. (1999, 2001) presented evidence for the validity of the SDS-17, a new measure of social desirability bias. In the current investigation, three experiments (n = 800) assessed the SDS-17’s validity in the US environment. In all conditions SDS-17 scores correlated highly with Marlowe–Crowne scores. In Study 1, a group administration of a paper and pencil booklet, SDS-17 scores of 327 college students were higher under Fake Good than Standard conditions, and both were higher than scores in the Honest condition. Study 2, an online survey of a demographically diverse adult sample (n = 257), showed that the increase in SDS-17 scores under Fake Good conditions occurs also in a Web survey and that SDS-17 scores were unrelated to one’s demographic profile. Study 3, a group administration to 216 college students, revealed again that scores under Fake Good were higher than those under Standard administration and that SDS-17 scores correlated more highly with the Impression Management than with the Self-Deception subscales of the BIDR. The SDS-17 appeared valid for the US environment as a measure of socially desirable responding. The evidence, however, encourages its further assessment as an index of social desirability bias per se.     

The significance of social context: the case of adolescent childbearing in the African American community

The persistence of racial differences in US adolescent pregnancy and contraceptive use rates even after traditional indicators of social class (e.g., parental education, income, or occupation) are controlled suggests a need to focus on broader social contextual issues. Important dimensions of the social context neglected in traditional approaches to socioeconomic status include the level of racial discrimination in the community, the percentage of same-race high status workers, the differential incentives of Blacks and Whites to avoid adolescent childbearing, the quality of schools attended, and the ability of families to provide child supervision. In addition, studies comparing the long-term effects of adolescent childbearing have found less severe costs for Blacks than Whites. This finding suggests the salience of psychosocial factors such as individual resiliency and survival. Although amelioration of poverty must be a major emphasis of social policy aimed at preventing adolescent pregnancy, employment programs that prepare teens for low-paying or nonexistent jobs and other interventions that fail to address the broader social context of discrimination are insufficient.     

老子的生平、思想和影响简述

据西汉司马迁的《史记》记载,老子姓李,名耳,字聃,楚国苦县历乡曲仁里人。署名西汉刘向著的《列仙传》则说老子字伯阳,陈国人。道教认为,“聃”和“伯阳”都是老子的字。至于其籍贯,或属之陈国,或属之楚国,这两种说法并不冲突,苦县本属陈国,后来陈国为楚国所灭,故苦县又属楚国。关于老子的出生年代,《史记》未载。《列仙传》载老子生于殷时。道教典籍,如唐末杜光庭的《道德真经广圣义》、北宋贾善翔的《犹龙传》、南宋谢守灏的《混元圣纪》都说老子生于殷朝第二十二王武丁九年,岁在庚辰二月十五日卯时。唐朝尊老子为圣祖玄元皇帝,唐玄宗开元…     

Commentary on social class differences in sociodramatic play in historical context: A reply to McLoyd

Historical origins of the research on the cultural correlates of imaginative behavior by the Israeli psychologists Feitelson, Smilansky, and Eifermann are presented. It is argued that despite McLoyd's searching analysis of the deficiencies in studies which attempt to relate level of imaginative play to social class, those earlier cross-cultural studies, together with some 50 years of prior research on social class and play in general, provide a context which gives support to those studies despite their particular methodological deficiencies.     

Race,socioeconomic status,and age: The social context of American masculinity

This article seeks to delineate the social context of American masculine attainment and identity. The effects of race, socioeconomic status, and age on masculine role perceptions are analyzed for a sample of Black middle-class men. Comparative data from previous research on a sample of Black working-class men are discussed. Comparisons are also made to the findings of a Psychology Today survey sample consisting primarily of middle-class White men. Data are analyzed to exemplify the importance of studying masculine roles within a framework that takes into account the relative social location of American men. Future research needs for the study of masculine role identity from a social structural perspective are discussed.This article was presented as a paper at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development conference on gender role research, Bethesda, Maryland, September 30–October 2, 1981. The author is grateful to Gloria Wolford for her assistance in preparing the mailing of the questionnaires and for coding the returned instruments for computer analysis. The author is also grateful to Roger Libby of the University of Massachusetts for his comments on an earlier draft of this article.     

Individualism and the social in early American social psychology

In this paper an attempt is made to specify the original conception of the social dimensions of cognition, emotion and behavior-and of a distinctively social psychology-that was held by early American social psychologists, but abandoned by later generations of social psychologists committed to Floyd Allport's individualistic experimental program. Two influential forms of "individualism" in the work of Floyd Allport are distinguished and detailed.     

Understanding in the social sciences and history

Understanding in its widest sense is the aim of all rational knowledge. A distinction can be made between interpretation (leading to the understanding of meanings) and explanation (leading to the understanding of facts). The view that in the social sciences facts and meanings are the same is criticized. In respect of the specific understanding of human and social facts empathetic and rational understanding are distinguished and some of the difficulties pointed out inherent in both, in particular with regard to testability. On the other hand, it is found that a purely behaviouristic approach, although possible, would not be completely satisfactory, so that in spite of all difficulties the social sciences (history included) cannot do without specific understanding, as a heuristic device as well as an aim.     

Pastoral counseling in the context of social action

Pastoral Psychology -     

Self-stereotyping in the context of multiple social identities

This research examines self-stereotyping in the context of multiple social identities and shows that self-stereotyping is a function of stereotyped expectancies held in particular relationships. Participants reported how others evaluated their math and verbal ability and how they viewed their own ability when their gender or ethnicity was salient. Asian American women (Experiment 1) and European Americans (Experiment 2) exhibited knowledge of stereotyped social expectancies and corresponding self-stereotyping associated with their more salient identity. African Americans (Experiment 3) exhibited some knowledge of stereotyped social expectancies but no corresponding self-stereotyping. Correlational evidence and a 4th experiment suggest that self-stereotyping is mediated by the degree to which close others are perceived to endorse stereotypes as applicable to the self.     

The influence of ethnicity,social class,and context on judgments about U.S. women

In 2 studies, the authors investigated impression formation as influenced by category-based stereotypes associated with ethnicity and social class. The participants in Study I made judgments about 1 target woman, described as interested in running for office in the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) of her children's school. The hypothetical woman was presented to the respondents along with her photograph and information about her ethnic background (Anglo-Saxon, Latina, or Jewish) and occupation (middle class or working class). In Study 2, the authors changed the context and presented a younger target woman (also varied by ethnicity and social class) to the respondents as the new girlfriend of their older brother or cousin. In both studies, judgments were assessed by the participants' responses to 45 bipolar adjectives that, in each case, yielded 8 component factors. In both hypothetical contexts, social class was a powerful trigger for a variety of negative expectations: With respect to ethnicity, the Latina women were judged to be more unsuitable for the job of PTO vice president than were the Anglo-Saxon or Jewish women. The authors discussed potential psychological and social consequences of such category-based judgments.     

Power and social context in superior-subordinate interaction

Power differences are thought to interfere with superiors' interaction with subordinates. However, it is also argued that superiors with considerable power are most supportive of their subordinates. To explore these opposing positions, 90 undergraduates became managers with either high or low power who believed their goals were cooperatively, individualistically, or competitively related to their subordinate. Results support the hypothesis that social context affects how superiors use their power to interact with subordinates. High- and low-power superiors in cooperation had positive expectations, interacted constructively, restated the task, responded to requests for assistance, and developed a positive relationship compared to high- and low-power superiors in individualistic and competitive situations. In addition, only the high-power superiors in cooperation used their expertise to give direct aid to the subordinate. Results indicate that in cooperation superiors are likely to use their power constructively; however, in competitive and individualistic contexts, superiors are apt to fail to use their resources to facilitate subordinate performance. Results were also interpreted as suggesting that it is not so much the extent of superiors' power but the social context that affects their use of power and interaction with subordinates.     

Attitudes in the social context: the impact of social network composition on individual-level attitude strength

Four studies, using both experimental and correlational designs, explored the implications of being embedded within attitudinally congruent versus attitudinally heterogeneous social networks for individual-level attitude strength. Individuals embedded within congruent social networks (i.e., made up of others with similar views) were more resistant to attitude change than were individuals embedded within heterogeneous social networks (i.e., made up of others with a range of views). Mediational evidence suggests that attitudinally congruous social networks may increase attitude strength by decreasing attitudinal ambivalence and perhaps by increasing the certainty with which people hold their attitudes. These results suggest that features of the social context in which an attitude is held have important implications for individual-level attitude strength.     

Emoticons in computer-mediated communication: social motives and social context.

This study investigated the role of emoticons in computer-mediated communication (CMC). The study consisted of an online questionnaire about the social motives for emoticon use and an experimental part in which participants (N = 1,251) had to respond to short Internet chats. In these chats, the interaction partner (friend vs. stranger) and the valence of the context (positive vs. negative) were manipulated. Results showed that emoticons are mostly used to express emotion, to strengthen a message, and to express humor. Furthermore, more emoticons were used in communication with friends than in communication with strangers, and more emoticons were used in a positive context than in a negative context. Participants seem to use emoticons in a way similar to facial behavior in face-to-face communication with respect to social context and interaction partner.