THE ROLE OF INITIAL CONVERSATIONS IN DETERMINING ATTRACTION TO SIMILAR AND DISSIMILAR STRANGERS

The present study focused on identifying the independent and conjoint influence of attitude similarity and initial interaction on interpersonal attraction to relative strangers. Participants were informed they would be working on a project with either an attitudinally similar or an attitudinally dissimilar stranger. Half of the participants next engaged in an initial interaction with their partner and the other half did not. All participants then filled out a scale that included a measure of interpersonal attraction. Results indicated that the conjoint, nonadditive effects of attitude similarity and initial interaction overrode the significant main effects of these variables. Although attitudinally similar noninteractants were more attracted to their partners than dissimilar noninteractants, no differences in attraction were observed among similar and dissimilar interactants. Dissimilar interactants were more attracted to their partners than dissimilar noninteractants, but no differences in attraction were observed between similar interactanls and noninteractants.     

INVOLVEMENT IN COMMUNICATION NETWORKS AS A PREDICTOR OF ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT

This study examines the relationship between involvement in a job-related communication network and organizational commitment. The findings indicate a complex relationship that is moderated by the degree of job involvement. For employees who are not involved in their jobs, involvement in the job-related communication network functions to foster commitment to the organization. Two major conclusions are drawn: (1) the impact of involvement in communication networks on employee attitudes and behaviors may occur only for individuals with certain characteristics; and (2) previous studies that have reported main effects for individual variables on organizational commitment may need reinterpretation in light of the disordinal interaction obtained here. The possibility that different commitment processes operate for different kinds of employees is explored, with special emphasis on those employees for whom communication is a potent factor in determining attitudes. Implications for future research on the relationship between communication network involvement and other employee responses are discussed.     

DECEPTION AND AROUSAL

This study tested a physiologically based arousal theory of deceptive communication. The sympathetic activation (skin resistance) of three groups of communicators was monitored. Two of the groups, deceivers and unaroused truth tellers, paralleled the types of communicators used in earlier deception studies; and a third group, aroused truth tellers, was exposed to a noise stimulus to raise their sympathetic activation to a level comparable to deceivers. Comparison of the behavioral differences between comparably aroused deceivers and truth tellers made it possible to identify the cues unique to deception-induced arousal. Results confirmed that deceivers experienced significantly greater sympathetic activation than unaroused truth tellers. Six verbal and nonverbal behaviors reliably distinguished deceivers from unaroused truth tellers, and, most important, these same six behaviors reliably distinguished deceivers from aroused truth tellers.     

Responsible Relationship: Imago Dei and the Moral Distinction between Humans and Other Animals

In light of modern evolutionary science, some theologians have criticized using the image of God to distinguish humans from other animals. This concept, however, still offers rich theological insight into the natures of both humans and other animals. Following the relational interpretations of Emil Brunner and Karl Barth, this article explores how the imago Dei may be used to distinguish human creatures without necessarily implying a division in kind between humans and other animal creatures. Humans are distinguished not by any superior abilities they might possess, but by the character of their relationship to God and other creatures.     

Perceived Deservingness of Outcomes as a Function of Religious Fundamentalism and Target Responsibility

We examined the perception of deserved outcomes associated with religious fundamentalism (RF). Interviews with videotaped targets varied in target's religiosity, responsibility, and outcome valence (good/bad). Participants either low (LF) or high (HF) on RF formulated an impression of how deserving a target was for a situational outcome. Participants low in RF held targets to be less deserving of a bad outcome than a good one; the HF group showed this to a lesser degree. HFs believed the target was more deserving of a bad outcome than did LFs, even when the target was not responsible for the outcome. Religious fundamentalism is related to attributing greater deservingness of bad outcomes, possibly because of a greater belief in a just world.