Self-presentation and drive in social facilitation

Social facilitation refers to cases in which the presence of others increases the probability of certain responses on the part of an independently operating individual. Drive theory attributes these effects to an unconscious facilitation of dominant responses, as defined by Hull-Spence learning theory. Self-presentation explanations posit changes in motivation and cognitive strategies that result from an increased concern with favorable private and public images. The present paper reviews evidence and presents an experiment indicating both points of view are valid, but that neither perspective by itself can account for all relevant data.     

A comparison of six methods for assessing the importance of perceived consequences in behavioral decisions: Applications from attitude research

Six different approaches to measuring the importance of perceived consequences in behavioral decisions were compared: (1) an elicitation approach, (2) a subjective probability model, (3) Jacoby's behavioral process technology, (4) a Bayesian model, (5) a direct rating approach, and (6) a correlational approach. The convergence among the methods was evaluated for two different decision topics: (1) emphasizing a career relative to marriage, and (2) use of birth control pills. Results indicated that the six approaches yielded estimates of importance that were, by and large, unrelated to each other.     

Measured interests versus expressed interests as predictors of long-term occupational membership

This study compared the predictive accuracy of measured versus expressed interests over a 21-year period using as a criterion occupational membership at age 36. Subjects were 83 males whose measured and expressed interests were elicited at ages 15, 18, and 25. The Strong Vocational Interest Blank was used to determine measured interests while expressed interests were determined through a combination of questionnaires and interviews. C. McArthur's (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1954, 38, 346–353) method was employed to determine the predictive validity of subjects' measured interests. The predictive validity of expressed interests was determined by using A. Roe's (The psychology of occupations. New York: Wiley, 1956; Journal of Counseling Psychology, 1957, 4, 212–217) scheme for occupational classification to code occupational preferences and compare them to age 36 occupations. Results indicated that at each point in the study expressed interests were slightly better predictors of age 36 occupational membership than measured interests. Supplementary analyses revealed no relationship between the extent to which subjects' measured or expressed interests corresponded to age 36 occupations and either overall job or career satisfaction.     

The composite measure of the defense mechanism inventory

A reanalysis of previously published data suggests that the Defense Mechanism Inventory can be utilized to yield a composite measure of reaction to frustration by contrasting linearly the defenses of Turning-against-object and Projection against those of Principalization and Reversal-of-affect. Factor-analytic and correlational data support the exclusion of Turning-against-self from the composite measure. Studies of content validity are presented for the combination of the four defenses into one dimension. Patterns of interitem reliability are charted for the five defenses and the composite measure for both men and women. Internal consistency data are also presented for the standard scoring as well as for a modified method to explore the feasibility of simplifying and shortening the test-taking procedure.     

Career development of special populations: A framework for research

In view of the recent interest in the career behaviors of diverse groups of individuals, this article presents a model for conducting research on the career development of special populations. Available research paradigms are reviewed in terms of their potential impact on such efforts. An alternative framework, designed to make maximum use of available data sources while minimizing potential theoretical bias, is offered. An illustration of research conducted within the recommended framework is presented in which the impact of a variety of career-related variables on the attitudinal and cognitive aspects of vocational maturity is examined from the perspective of two special population groups, disabled and disadvantaged college students. Drawing upon previous research findings, variables under consideration included level of scholastic achievement and endorsement of rational, intuitive, and dependent decision-making styles. Also included were two population-specific variables related to the characteristics of membership in each of the two special groups. The regression analyses conducted to explore the relationships between vocational maturity and these predictor variables indicate, in general, that variance in the attitudinal and cognitive factors of vocational maturity can be at least partially explained by the variables considered. However, the relative contributions of the predictors and the resulting proportions of variance explained differs according to which population and which criterion factor is under examination. These findings are compared with those emerging from previous research, and implications for future efforts are discussed.     

The role of anxiety in the Career Decision Making of liberal arts students

Liberal arts students (N = 341) completed parallel halves of the A-State portion of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) before and after completion of either a career-planning questionnaire consisting largely of Harren's Assessment of Career Decision-Making (ACDM) instrument (treatment group) or a set of consumer preference marketing questions (control group). As hypothesized, the treatment group showed an increase in post-test anxiety as compared to pretest responses; level of expressed anxiety in the control group pre- and post-test did not change significantly. Additionally, state anxiety (at both points in time) in the treatment group was found to relate to most of the ACDM measures operationalizing the career-planning model of Harren and his associates, thus confirming that anxiety is both another indicator of student lack of success in the career planning process and a justifiable extension of their model. Anxiety was found to relate more weakly to specific career concerns, suggesting that students are not fully aware of the source(s) of their anxiousness. Further, two key scales from Harren's model (dependent decision-making style and occupational commitment) were found to be related to specific career concerns, indicating that those measures are reftective of actual student concerns in successful career planning. Further research should seek to demonstrate the development of these relationships between career planning and anxiety over time.     

Verbal accounts and attributions of social motives

The effects of verbal accounts offered by a threatener on targets' subsequent attributions of the threatener's social motives was studied. Following a standardized interaction in a Prisoner's Dilemma game the subjects' opponent offered one of three accounts for using threats: cooperative intent, establishment of transrelational equity, or ignorance. In a fourth condition the confederate offered no account for his actions. Attributions were assessed by having subjects rate each of four responses representative of the social motives of cooperation, competition, apathy, and deceit in five different situations. It was found that the type of account had specific attributional effects. A cooperative account led to a correspondent inference of a cooperative disposition, a transrelational equity account was apparently perceived as illegitimate and led to an attribution of a deceitful motive, and an excuse of ignorance was linked with apathy.     

Naloxone and cold-water swim analgesia: Parametric considerations and individual differences

The role of endogenous opioids in the mediation of stress-induced analgesia has been studied using the opiate antagonist naloxone to reduce or eliminate the response. While the analgesic responses following some stressors are reduced by naloxone, other stressors, like cold-water swims, are altered minimally. However, in the case of inescapable foot shock analgesia, the temporal, numerical, and spatial arrangement of the shocks are critical parameters in determining whether naloxone is capable of altering the analgesic state. In assessing parametric variations of naloxone antagonism of cold-water swim analgesia, five experiments were performed. The first experiment showed that naloxone antagonized the analgesic response following a 3.5-min swim in a 15°C bath, but not in baths of 8°C and 2°C. The second experiment demonstrated dose-dependent antagonism of analgesia induced by 2°C swims for 2.5 and 3.5 min; shorter durations failed to increase thresholds. The third experiment indicated that naloxone decreased 2°C, 3.5-min swim analgesia when the pain test occurred 30 min after stress; longer intervals failed to produce analgesia. The fourth experiment showed that the temporal relationship between injections and swims had little bearing on resultant effects. Finally, since it appeared that naloxone decreased analgesia induced by the 2°C, 3.5-min swim in some animals, but not others, the fifth experiment found that the degree of naloxone antagonism was correlated with the magnitude of the analgesic response induced in individual animals. These results are discussed in terms of opioid and nonopioid mechanisms subserving pain inhibition.     

Facial asymmetry in posed and spontaneous expressions of emotion

Patterns of facial asymmetry (i.e., extent of movement) as a function of elicitation condition, emotional valence, and sex of subjects are examined. Thirty-seven right-handed adult males and females were videotaped making positive and negative expressions of emotion under posed (verbal, visual) and spontaneous conditions. There were no differences in facial asymmetry as a function of condition. Overall, expressions were significantly left-sided, a finding implicating the right hemisphere. When sex and valence were considered, negative expressions were left-sided for all subjects, while positive expressions were left-sided for males only. Further, positive expressions were significantly less lateralized than negative ones for females. Measures of hemiface mobility and ocular dominance did not mediate these patterns of facial lateralization.