Received and Perceived Social Support Following Natural Disaster1

Because they were participating in a concurrent panel study, 222 older adults had been asked how much help they would expect to receive in a hypothetical emergency before experiencing two separate floods. For the subsample suffering losses or injuries during the floods, Study 1 examined the accuracy of their expectations, as well as possible changes in them, as a result of help actually received. Generally, victims received much less help than they had expected to receive prior to the floods. Preflood expectation of support predicted help from kin, whereas loss and education predicted help from nonkin sources. However, subsequent expectations did not change as a result of the level of help received. Using the total sample, Study 2 examined the broader issue of whether the disaster itself affected subsequent perceptions of support. Flood exposure, as measured at both individual and community levels, was associated with declines in perceptions of support and social participation.     

Temporal learning in 4 1/2- and 6-year-old children: role of instructions and prior knowledge

The present study investigates effects of different types of instructions (high-rate, interval, and minimal) during training with a fixed-interval schedule as a function of prior acquired temporal knowledge. A pretest was used to assess 4 1/2- and 6-year-old children's ability to understand the temporal parameters of a fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement. The results as a whole show that the control exerted by instructions given by the experimenter or elaborated by the subjects themselves on fixed-interval performance of young children depends on the interaction of two factors: development of verbal self-control skills and mastery of knowledge required by the rules forming the instructions.     

IN VIVO VERSUS SIMULATION TRAINING: AN INTERACTIONAL ANALYSIS OF RANGE AND TYPE OF TRAINING EXEMPLARS

We analyzed the role of the range of variation in training exemplars as a contextual variable influencing the effects of in vivo versus simulation training in producing generalized responding. Four mentally retarded adults received single case instruction, followed by general case instruction, on washing machine and dryer use; one task was taught using actual appliances (in vivo) and the other using simulation. In vivo and simulation training were counterbalanced across the two tasks for the 2 subject pairs, using a within-subjects Latin square design. With both paradigms, more errors were made after single case than after general case instruction during probe sessions with untrained washing machines and dryers. These results suggest that generalization errors were affected by the range of training exemplars and not by the use of simulated versus natural training stimuli. Although both general case simulation and general case in vivo training facilitated generalized performance of laundry skills, an analysis of training time and costs indicated that the former approach was more efficient. The study illustrates a methodology for studying complex interactions and guiding decisions on the optimal use of instructional alternatives.     

Social Interactions of Obese and Nonobese Women

The stigma associated with obesity is likely to limit the opportunities obese women have to develop social skills. This hypothesis was tested by having obese (n = 15) and nonobese (n = 22) women converse on the telephone with college students who were unaware of the women's weights. Ratings made by judges who listened to the women's contributions to the conversations but who were unaware of their weights showed that obesity was negatively related to judgments about the women's likability, social skills, and physical attractiveness. The telephone partners of obese women rated the women and themselves more negatively than did the partners of nonobese women. Obese and nonobese women generally did not differ in their evaluations of their own and their telephone partners' behavior, and they also did not differ on a measure of social self-esteem. These findings suggest that there are real differences in the social behavior of obese and nonobese women and that these differences affect the impressions formed by those with whom they interact.     

Mechanisms governing empowerment effects: a self-efficacy analysis

This experiment tested the hypotheses that perceived coping and cognitive control self-efficacy govern the effects of personal empowerment over physical threats. Women participated in a mastery modeling program in which they mastered the physical skills to defend themselves successfully against unarmed sexual assailants. Multifaceted measures of theoretically relevant variables were administered within a staggered intragroup control design to test the immediate and long-term effects of the empowerment program and the mechanisms through which it produced its effects. Mastery modeling enhanced perceived coping and cognitive control efficacy, decreased perceived vulnerability to assault, and reduced the incidence of intrusive negative thinking and anxiety arousal. These changes were accompanied by increased freedom of action and decreased avoidant behavior. Path analyses of causal structures revealed a dual path of regulation of behavior by perceived coping self-efficacy, one mediated through perceived vulnerability and risk discernment and the other through perceived cognitive control self-efficacy and intrusive negative thinking.     

Gender patterns in social touch: the impact of setting and age

This study examined the impact of age of participants and the setting in which touch occurred on gender patterns in 799 instances of observed intentional touch. Gender asymmetry, a pattern in which men are more likely to touch women than vice versa, was observed when touch between adults was examined but not when touch involving children was examined. Adult touch interactions occurring in public, nonintimate settings showed gender asymmetry, but adult touch interactions occurring in greeting or leave-taking settings did not. Cross-sex touch was more prevalent among adults, whereas same-sex touch was more prevalent when a child was involved. Implications for theoretical perspectives on gender and touch are discussed.     

Victims' perceptions of social support: what is helpful from whom?

Although research has demonstrated that social interactions influence psychological well-being, little is known about what specific actions victims of stressful life events experience as helpful or unhelpful. Wortman and Dunkel-Schetter (1979) previously suggested that victims frequently experience rejection, withdrawal, and communication problems with those close to them. To address these issues, 55 cancer patients were interviewed concerning the specific actions they found to be helpful or unhelpful from several potential support providers: spouse, other family members, friends, acquaintances, others with cancer, physicians, and nurses. The data indicated that the Wortman and Dunkel-Schetter victimization model applied better to interactions with friends and acquaintances than to interactions with close family members. In addition, support was found to be partially dependent on the source: Particular actions were perceived to be helpful from some but not other network members. Implications for theory and research on social support are discussed.     

On-line and memory-based modification of attitudes: determinants of message recall-attitude change correspondence

Experiments investigated the impact of message elaboration on attitude change-message recall correspondence when attitude change occurs in an on-line (as attitude-relevant information is received), or memory-based (on the basis of retrieved attitude-relevant information) fashion. In 2 experiments, Ss' processing goals were manipulated to increase or inhibit on-line change and message elaboration. As predicted, Ss reported postexposure attitudes more rapidly in on-line vs memory-based conditions. Decreased message elaboration increased attitude-recall correspondence, regardless of when attitude change occurred. Increased elaboration produced elaboration-attitude judgment correspondence. Results suggest that recall of message content will best predict persuasion when message content is encoded free of elaborations, regardless of when attitude change occurs.     

Continuity and change: assortative marriage and the consistency of personality in adulthood

How is personality stability possible amid the myriad of social changes and transformations that characterize a human life? We argue that by choosing situations that are compatible with their dispositions and by affiliating with similar others, individuals may set in motion processes of social interchange that sustain their dispositions across time and circumstance. To test this proposition we examined mate selection, using data on married couples from two ongoing longitudinal studies at the Institute of Human Development, University of California, Berkeley. Consistent with other research, the results point to homogamy as a basic norm in marriage. More important, the results show that marriage to a similar other promotes consistency in the intraindividual organization of personality attributes across middle adulthood. We offer some speculations for a more relational approach to the problem of individual continuity and change.