Physical symptoms and the interplay of work and family roles

The paradigm underlying research on the relationship between work and physical-health symptoms in men has focused on workplace stressors and has ignored men's family roles. Research on women, work, and health suggests several necessary additions to this paradigm, including (a) a focus on job rewards and job concerns and (b) attention to the impact of family roles on the relationship between job rewards and concerns and physical health. We included these variables in a study of a disproportionate random sample of 403 employed 25- to 55-year-old women. Major findings are that (a) work rewards (e.g., helping others at work) are related to reports of low levels of physical symptoms; (b) work concerns (e.g., overload) are associated with reports of high levels of physical symptoms; (c) particular work rewards, which may be different for women than for men, mitigate the negative health effects of work concerns; (d) among employed mothers, satisfaction with salary is negatively related to physical-health symptoms; and (e) women in positive marriages or partnerships were more likely to reap physical-health benefits from the rewards of helping others at work and from supervisor support.     

FULL AND ERRANT COACHING EFFECTS ON ASSIGNED ROLE LEADERLESS GROUP DISCUSSION PERFORMANCE

The effect of coaching on Leaderless Group Discussion Performance was examined. Thirty-six female undergraduate subjects participated in six-person assigned role leaderless group discussions. Trained observers evaluated performances in each discussion, which included two 5s from each of three coaching conditions. Ss in full coaching condition received extensive coaching on proper group discussion performance. 5s in the errant coaching condition received improper, but believable, coaching. 5s in the naive, or control, condition received no coaching. Results showed that 5s in the full coaching conditions were rated significantly higher than 5s in the errant or naive conditions. The results were discussed in the light of previous research.     

Regression analyses as a tool for studying reading processes: Comment on Just and Carpenters eye fixation theory

Just and Carpenter (1980) presented a theory of reading based on eye fixations wherein their “psycholinguistic” variables accounted for 72% of the variance in word gaze durations. This comment raises some statistical and theoretical problems with their use of simultaneous regression analysis of gaze duration measures and with the resulting theory of reading. A major problem was the confounding of perceptual with psycholinguistic factors. New eye fixation data are presented to support these criticisms. Analysis of fixations within words revealed that most gaze duration variance was contributed by number of fixations rather than by fixation duration.     

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.     

RELATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS OF VERBAL, ARTICULATIVE, AND NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION TO EMPLOYMENT DECISIONS IN THE JOB INTERVIEW SETTING

Recruiter ratings of 338 on-campus interviews were used in a discriminant analysis procedure to determine the relative importance of the verbal, articulative, and nonverbal dimensions of communication during the job interview. Correlation of seven variables with the discriminant function indicated that appropriateness of content, fluency of speech, and composure were of greatest importance in contributing to a favorable employment decision. These findings were contrary to the recent literature which has emphasized the importance of nonverbal behavior. Implications for job-interview skills training are discussed, and suggestions for a comprehensive workshop model are presented.     

Control of instrumental behavior by deprivation stimuli

In Experiment 1, rats were given one trial per day in a straight alley under food deprivation on half of the trials and under water deprivation on the other half. Wet mash was available in the goal box under food deprivation for Group H and under water deprivation for Group T, the other deprivation being nonrewarded for each group. After 15--18 trials both groups ran significantly faster on their rewarded than on their nonrewarded deprivation days. A third group showed that random variation of alley color retarded formation of the discrimination. A fourth group was run in a conditional discrimination in which under food deprivation wet mash was available in a black alley, nonreward in a white alley, and vice versa under water deprivation. This group took 114 trials to begin running significantly faster in their rewarded than in their nonrewarded alley under each deprivation. In Experiment 2, it was shown that prior learning about deprivation cues "blocks" learning about alley color when alley color is subsequently presented in compound with the deprivation cue but that when both alley color and deprivation cues are relevant from the start of training, the rat learns about both cues. It is suggested that previous studies have underestimated the importance of deprivation cues by using conditional discrimination designs, choice measures rather than speeds, and parameters that are not optimal for discrimination learning.     

Cross-cultural model testing: toward a solution of the etic-emic dilemma

A model for the prediction of behavior from attitudinal components, developed by Triandis, was tested with samples of U.S. and Mexican women, and with fertility relevant behaviors. The elements of the model are etic, but the operationalizations of the various variables were done emically. Results support the model in both cultures. While the predictive utility of the model is equivalent in two cultures, there are social class differences on which component of the model is most emphasized. The U.S. upper-middle-class sample and the Mexican upper-middle-class sample emphasized the person's attitude toward the act, while the Mexican lower SES (socio-economic status) sample emphasized the person's normative beliefs (moral obligations).