The impact of social environment and sex on adolescent social values: A comparison of the kibbutz and the city in Israel

The present study compares the effects of two different socialization environments—the Israeli kibbutz and the city—on the social values held by 16-17 year-olds. A total of 352 boys and girls, 195 porn the city and 157 porn the kibbutz, filled out a specially prepared thirteen-item questionnaire on social values. The results revealed the existence of four factors underlying these values: self-oriented concerns (factor 1), other-oriented concerns (factor 2), reliance on innate spiritual capacities (factor 3), reliance on physical and productive capacities (factor 4). Significant differences on factors 1 and 3 were uncovered for the kibbutz and the city subjects, while boys and girls differed significantly on factors 2 and 4. The findings were discussed in light of the differences in educational systems between the kibbutz and the city, and in light of sex-role differences characteristic of Western society in general.     

Differential effects of priming at the encoding and judgment stage

Two experiments investigated whether the direction of priming effects depends on the processing stage at which the individual links the prime to a trait that is applicable to the evaluation of an ambiguously described target person. In line with previous research, it is hypothesized that assimilation effects will emerge when primes are processed in terms of a trait concept that is applicable to the encoding task. However, when the primes are not processed in applicable trait terms, they may still affect subsequent Judgments if the individual recalls the prime when judging the target along a trait dimension. In this case, the primes may serve as an anchor, resulting in contrast effects. Two experiments, in which subjects were primed with names of prototypically nice or hostile famous individuals under instructions that did or did not prompt subjects to process the prime in applicable trait terms, supported these hypotheses. Implications for the emergence of priming effects in everyday social interaction are discussed.     

Risk taking in achievement-oriented situations: Do people really maximize affect or competence information?

Several studies of choice behavior (risk taking) in achievement-oriented situations are reanalyzed. The usual ways of pooling all choices over trials and subjects conceal the series of subjects' decisions and the dynamics inherent in these decisions. A basic strategy of subjects in an achievement-oriented choice situation seems to be to start with an easy task, choose a more difficult one whenever you succeed, and stay mostly at the same difficulty level whenever you fail. A computer model, in which such simple assumptions are made, generates preference functions over the order of difficulty levels that are indistinguishable from those found in empirical studies. It is concluded that the study of choice behavior in achievement-oriented situations should be based on the analysis of the series of single decisions by one subject. For this we need models that allow the predictions of such decisions and the prediction of action-controlling cognitions and emotions.     

Gender differences in autonomous and social achievement orientations

This research examined gender differences in orientations toward autonomous and social achievement. Three independent samples of subjects (total N= 359 males and 574 females) completed measures of achievement orientation (including Strumpfer's [1975] Autonomous Achievement Values and Social Achievement Values scales) and relevant cognitive, affective, and behavioral variables. Correlational and factor analyses clearly identified distinct autonomous and social achievement factors for both men and women in each of the samples. Examination of the correlates of achievement orientation indicated that whereas an autonomous achievement orientation is similarly expressed in males and females, there are considerable sex differences in the expression of an orientation toward social achievement. In particular, a social achievement orientation was associated with concerns over social approval and responsiveness to social influence among males, but was generally unrelated to these factors among females. Findings are discussed in terms of several recent hypotheses concerning the effects of sex role norms on the development and expression of achievement needs in men and women.     

A More Unified Approach to Free Logics

Journal of Philosophical Logic - Free logics is a family of first-order logics which came about as a result of examining the existence assumptions of classical logic. What those assumptions are...     

The mirror of physics: on how the Price equation can unify evolutionary biology

Synthese - Due to its high degree of complexity and its historical nature, evolutionary biology has been traditionally portrayed as a messy science. According to the supporters of such a view,...     

Theory and Effects in Consumer Psychology

Drawing on Calder, Brendl, Tybout, and Sternthal’s (2021) discussion of constructs and variables, I suggest that the verification approach’s focus on variables fosters a plethora of disconnected “effects” and a dearth of integrative theorizing in consumer behavior research. I discuss how publication practices and incentive structures are likely to contribute to these phenomena.