“I know you're kidding”: Relationship closeness enhances positive perceptions of teasing

Feeling close in a relationship may enhance perceptions of teasing within that relationship. In Study 1, participants recalled instances of teasing—as both teaser and target—in close and nonclose relationships. Participants perceived teases in close relationships more positively and better intentioned than those in nonclose relationships, as both teaser and target. The discrepancy between teasers and targets in perceptions of intent was also reduced by felt closeness. In Study 2, interaction partner closeness was manipulated and a tease was staged. Teases delivered by a close (vs. nonclose) partner were perceived as more positive and better intentioned. Each study has limitations but their methods complement each other. Together they provide convergent evidence that relationship closeness increases positive perceptions of teasing.     

Classroom Teacher and Teacher-in-Training Susceptibility to Stereotypical Bias

Two groups of classroom teachers and two groups of teacher trainees completed behavior checklists, first for a hypothetical child labeled either normal or emotionally disturbed and then for a videotaped child, labeled normal or emotionally disturbed. From an ANOVA of their responses, it was concluded that teachers and trainees hold quantitatively similar stereotypes for normal and disturbed children but differ in their susceptibility to label-induced bias. Teachers tended to be more realistic in their evaluations of “normal,” nonbiased behavior, but were influenced by the biasing label to a greater extent than the trainees. The authors discuss limitations of the study and its implications for training programs.     

Family,peer and school connectedness in final year secondary school students

The study aim was to investigate Australian Year 12 students' sense of connectedness to their schools, families, and peers, and examine associations between connectedness and emotional wellbeing. Year 12 students (492 male, 449 female) from 10 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia participated in Phase 1 of the study. of these, 204 participants (82 male, 122 female) returned surveys 1 year later; 175 of these were attending tertiary education institutions. The study found high levels of depression, anxiety and stress among Year 12 students, with higher negative affect associated with lower levels of family, peer and school connectedness. Negative affect 1 year after leaving school was predicted by negative affect and peer connectedness at Year 12. Results suggest there are significant numbers of at‐risk young people in their final year of school, who feel lonely and disconnected from peers, and who maintain concerning levels of depression, anxiety and stress in first year of university.     

Apologizing for Who I Am

Philosophical discussions of apologies have focused on apologizing for wrong actions. Such a focus overlooks an important dimension of moral failures, namely, failures of character. However, when one attempts to revise the standard account of apology to make room for failures of character, two objections emerge. The first is rooted in the psychology of shame. The second stems from the purported social function of apologies. This paper responds to these objections and, in so doing, sheds further light both on why we apologize (when we are in the wrong) and on why we accept apologies (when others are).     

ATTRIBUTIONAL CONFIDENCE AND UNCERTAINTY IN INITIAL INTERACTION

Attributional confidence, either in retroactive explanations of behavior or in proactive predictions of behavior, is discussed as a way of operationalizing uncertainty. Instruments for assessing attributional confidence either through the proactive mode or through the retroactive mode are constructed, and reliability and validity evidence are presented. Hypotheses derived from the axioms of uncertainty reduction theory are tested. Attributional confidence may be one way of making the nominal construct of uncertainty subject to direct testing.     

A Qualitatively Constructed Interpersonal Communication Model A Grounded Theory Analysis

This study examined 288 interpersonal research articles published during the past 25 years in Human Communication Research. The method used was grounded theory. Through constant comparison analysis, a 17-part categorization system was developed to account for each of the articles. The categories were cognition, nonverbal communication, compliance-gaining, message type, personality, interpersonal effects, conversation, close relationships, perception, deception, initial interaction, culture, relationship development, apprehension, self-disclosure, competence, and conflict. The categories were then placed in relationship with one another to create a model of interpersonal communication that consists of seven components. The final representation provides a new model of interpersonal communication, which is obtained from data, empirically supported, and analytically derived.