The cold glow of success: Responses to social rejection as affected by attitude similarity between the rejected and chosen individuals

Studied the effects of attitudinal similarity between two males on reactions to social rejection by a female. Sixty-five male undergraduate students had met an attitudinally similar or dissimilar male confederate. Later a female confederate either chose or did not choose the male confederate as a work partner. Following that, measures designed to tap subjects affective state and self evaluations were administered. Two way interactions for affect and self evaluations (p < 0.01 and p 7lt; 0.05 respectively) indicate that, relative to a control group, only subjects whose similar male partner was chosen expressed unfavorable affect and self-evaluations. The relevance of these findings for the affective consequences of social comparison processes is discussed.     

Dimensions of adolescent psychopathology

A factor-analytic study of parent ratings of 253 male and female adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 referred for psychiatric and delinquent problems is reported. Parents rated their children on the Adolescent Form of the Louisville Behavior Checklist. One hundred thirty-seven items were intercorrelated and subjected to a principal component factor analysis and nine factors were rotated to varimax solution. The nine factors were named: Egocentric-Exploitive, Destructive-Assaultive, Social Delinquency, Academic Disability, Adolescent Turmoil, Apathetic Isolation, Neuroticism, Dependent-Inhibited, and Neurological or Psychotic Abnormality. A second-order analysis revealed two broad-band Internalizing and Externalizing dimensions. The factors were shown to be similar to but different from DSM III categories as well as from other factor-analytic studies of adolescents. This study indicates that much research will be required before a consensus can be reached on the basic dimensions of psychopathology of adolescence.     

The effect of response force on avoidance rate

In a Sidman-avoidance schedule of counter losses for two human subjects, the loss-to-loss and response-to-loss intervals were 20 sec. The avoidance response was a vocal response that was louder than a minimum vocal requirement. This requirement was set at 80 db, 95 db, or 110 db. In addition to vocal responses meeting the minimum requirement, all responses exceeding a threshold of 75 db or louder were recorded. The rate of both above-threshold and avoidance responses decreased as the response-force requirement increased. Thus, high response-force requirements produced an effect on avoidance responding similar to its effect on positively reinforced responding.     

College Student Personnel and Academic Freedom for Students

The issue of academic freedom for students is frequently a source of heated controversy. In the emotionally charged atmosphere that surrounds this question the true nature and purpose of academic freedom are too often obscured. This discussion focuses attention on the philosophical and educational premises that underlie this concept and attempts to examine it from several frames of reference. A brief summary tracing the historical evolution of academic freedom for students to the present is developed and 8 common points of emphasis as interpreted from several current statements on the subject are outlined. An additional concern of some moment involving the relationship and responsibility of the college student personnel worker to these 8 significant points of common emphasis is noted.