Outcome Of Social Interactions Research Articles

Determinants and outcomes of decision-making, group coordination and social interactions during a foraging experiment in a wild primate.

Social animals have to coordinate joint movements to maintain group cohesion, but the latter is often compromised by diverging individual interests. A widespread behavioral mechanism to achieve coordination relies on shared or unshared consensus decision-making. If consensus costs are high, group fission represents an alternative tactic. Exploring determinants and outcomes of spontaneous group decisions and coordination of free-ranging animals is methodologically challenging. We therefore conducted a foraging experiment with a group of wild redfronted lemurs (Eulemur rufifrons) to study decision outcomes, coordination of movements, individual foraging benefits and social interactions in response to the presentation of drinking platforms with varying baiting patterns. Behavioral observations were complemented with data from recordings of motion detector cameras installed at the platforms. The animal's behavior in the experimental conditions was compared to natural group movements. We could not determine the type of consensus decision-making because the group visited platforms randomly. The group fissioned during 23.3% of platform visits, and fissioning resulted in more individuals drinking simultaneously. As under natural conditions, adult females initiated most group movements, but overtaking by individuals of different age and sex classes occurred in 67% of movements to platforms, compared to only 18% during other movements. As a result, individual resource intake at the platforms did not depend on departure position, age or sex, but on arrival order. Aggression at the platforms did not affect resource intake, presumably due to low supplanting rates. Our findings highlight the diversity of coordination processes and related consequences for individual foraging benefits in a primate group living under natural conditions.

Modernist iconoclasm, resilience, and divine power among the Mangghuer of the northeast Tibetan plateau

Resilience, a concept derived from ecological theory, refers to the capacity of an entity or system to persist despite externally imposed shocks. This article uses resilience theory to examine how certain ideas persist when encountering antagonistic concepts that are backed by superior social and material forces. Such resilience is explored in the context of the Mangghuer people of the Sanchuan region of the Northeast Tibetan Plateau in China. Resilience is exemplified in the concept of divine power, the foundational concept in the Mangghuer version of Chinese popular religion, and its persistence in the face of Chinese state modernism. This research suggests that the content and ontological assumptions of concepts are important in determining the cultural outcomes of social interactions. Understanding cultural reproduction, resilience, and change therefore requires descriptive ethnographic understandings of concepts, not just of the power dynamics and social and material forces involved in their interaction. © Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture.

Multicomponent and Multimodal Lipsmacking in Crested Macaques (Macaca nigra)

Primates' communicative signals are often dynamic and composed of multiple components, sometimes belonging to different sensory modalities. Such multicomponent signals are of crucial importance in the study of communication: the addition of extra features to a signal has the potential to modulate or change the meaning and message of the specific signal. Traditionally, however, components of compound signals are studied in isolation from each other, or communicative displays are studied as static and invariant wholes. Both approaches may not allow us to assess the full function of the signals. In crested macaques (Macaca nigra), the lipsmack (a display mainly used in affiliative interactions) can be produced alone or combined with other visual and acoustic communicative features. We investigated whether the composition of the lipsmack influenced the outcome of social interaction while controlling for relationship quality. Our results show that lipsmacks composed of both visual and vocal components (i.e. multimodal signals) increased the probability of affiliative contact, and therefore have enhanced signal value. The total number of visual components involved in the display had no effect but some visual components seemed more influential than others. By analyzing lipsmacking behavior as a composite, dynamic display, we were able to reveal a level of complexity that is not apparent when looking at each component separately. The results highlight the importance of a more integrative, multimodal approach to the study of primate communication.

Influences of Web interactivity and social identity and bonds on the quality of online discussion in a virtual community

People participate in virtual communities (VCs) for knowledge sharing or social interaction. However, most studies of VCs have focused on elucidating knowledge sharing rather than predicting virtual social interactions. This study considers "quality of online discussion" an appropriate metric for assessing group-level outcomes of virtual social interactions, and thus for predicting member willingness to sustain an ongoing relationship with a virtual community (VC). This study develops a research model, grounded in Web interactivity, social identity and social bond theories, for predicting the quality of online discussion in terms of cognitive and social influences. Empirical results from an online survey of a VC verify distinct direct and indirect social influences (perceived internalization bonds and perceived identification bonds) and cognitive influences (perceived communication and perceived control). Implications for academics and practitioners are also discussed.

A dynamic analysis of why learners develop a preference for autonomous learners in computer-mediated communication

A large number of studies in CMC have assessed how social interaction, processes and learning outcomes are intertwined. The present research explores how the degree of self-determination of learners, that is the motivational orientation of a learner, influences the communication and interaction patterns in an online Problem Based Learning environment. Given the complexity of CMC, we expected that autonomous learners would be more willing to contribute to cognitive discourse. In time, we expected that control-oriented learners would develop a preferential attachment to contribute to discourse from autonomous learners. Data were gathered from 37 autonomous and 39 control-oriented learners who posted 1669 messages. Using a dynamic multi-method approach of content analysis of cognitive and social discourse, social network analysis, and measures of academic motivation, we find some preliminary evidence that motivational orientation influences communication and social interaction patterns amongst learners. From the beginning, most control-oriented learners develop a preference to connect to and communicate with autonomous learners, although a separate team-analysis indicates that group dynamics also influence how learners develop connections with other learners in time. Our findings further the understanding of differences found in distance learning courses about participation and drop-out.

A cross-sectional exploration of smoking status and social interaction in a large population-based Australian cohort

We used cross-sectional data to investigate whether current, past and never smokers report different levels of social interaction and whether the level of social interaction varied according to the type of interaction being measured. Self-reported questionnaire data were obtained from 239,043 men and women aged 45 years or older living in Australia between February 2006 and February 2010. The study participation rate was 18%. Poisson regression models were used to estimate the percentage differences in the mean values of four social interaction outcomes according to smoking status after adjusting for age, place of residence, income, education, health insurance status, physical limitation, psychological distress and exposure to passive smoke: number of times 1) spent with friends/family, 2) spoken on the telephone, 3) attended social meetings in the past week, and 4) number of people outside of home that can be depended upon. 7.6% of males and 6.9% of females were current smokers, 43.6% of males and 28.6% of females were ex-smokers and 48.8% of males and 64.5% of females had never smoked. Compared to never smokers, current smokers reported significantly fewer social interactions in the past week and had fewer people outside the home that they could depend on. Men and women current smokers attended 24.0% (95% CI, 20.3, 27.5) and 31.1% (95% CI, 28.1, 34.1) fewer social group meetings on average than never smokers. Smokers exposed to passive smoke reported higher levels of social interaction than those not exposed. Past smokers reported levels of social interaction that were intermediate to those of current and never smokers and the more years they had abstained from smoking, the more social interaction they reported on average. Our data are in line with previous research showing that smokers are not only worse off economically, physically and mentally, but are also less likely to be socially connected.

Delayed song maturation and territorial aggression in a songbird

Asymmetries in competitive ability can determine the outcome of social interactions in animals and are often expressed through differences in sexual traits. Competitive ability (resource holding potential, RHP), trait expression and ultimately reproductive success may vary with an individual's age or experience. In some species, reproductively mature males delay acquisition of some adult traits and thereby signal their young age. Theory on animal contests predicts that individuals assess the RHP of an opponent relative to their own, such that escalation is more common between evenly matched opponents. Here, we test predictions from this hypothesis that males respond to a territorial intruder based on their RHP relative to the intruder's RHP. We simulated white-crowned sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) intruding into the territory of a recruit or return. Playback of a song repertoire simulating a young male (recruit) elicited a weaker response from established territory holders (return), but a stronger response from recruits. Playback of a single song type simulating an older male elicited the opposite responses. This indicates that males distinguished between simulated young and old intruders based on song, and responded differently depending on their own experience. Our study highlights the possibility that receiver as well as sender traits should be considered when interpreting animal interactions.

The hierarchical face: Higher rankings lead to less cooperative looks.

In 3 studies, we tested the hypothesis that the higher ranked an individual's group is, the less cooperative the facial expression of that person is judged to be. Study 1 established this effect among business school deans, with observers rating individuals from higher ranked schools as appearing less cooperative, despite lacking prior knowledge of the latters' actual rankings. Study 2 then experimentally manipulated ranking, showing that the effect of rankings on facial expressions is driven by context rather than by individual differences per se. Finally, Study 3 demonstrated that the repercussions of this effect extend beyond the perception of cooperativeness to tangible behavioral outcomes in social interactions. Theoretical and practical implications of this phenomenon are discussed.

Effects of Direct Social Experience on Trust Decisions and Neural Reward Circuitry

The human striatum is integral for reward-processing and supports learning by linking experienced outcomes with prior expectations. Recent endeavors implicate the striatum in processing outcomes of social interactions, such as social approval/rejection, as well as in learning reputations of others. Interestingly, social impressions often influence our behavior with others during interactions. Information about an interaction partner’s moral character acquired from biographical information hinders updating of expectations after interactions via top down modulation of reward circuitry. An outstanding question is whether initial impressions formed through experience similarly modulate the ability to update social impressions at the behavioral and neural level. We investigated the role of experienced social information on trust behavior and reward-related BOLD activity. Participants played a computerized ball-tossing game with three fictional partners manipulated to be perceived as good, bad, or neutral. Participants then played an iterated trust game as investors with these same partners while undergoing fMRI. Unbeknownst to participants, partner behavior in the trust game was random and unrelated to their ball-tossing behavior. Participants’ trust decisions were influenced by their prior experience in the ball-tossing game, investing less often with the bad partner compared to the good and neutral. Reinforcement learning models revealed that participants were more sensitive to updating their beliefs about good and bad partners when experiencing outcomes consistent with initial experience. Increased striatal and anterior cingulate BOLD activity for positive versus negative trust game outcomes emerged, which further correlated with model-derived prediction error learning signals. These results suggest that initial impressions formed from direct social experience can be continually shaped by consistent information through reward learning mechanisms.

Timekeeping Through Social Contacts: Social Synchronization of Circadian Locomotor Activity Rhythm in the Carpenter Ant Camponotus paria

In ant colonies a large proportion of individuals remain inside nests for most of their lives and come out only when necessary. It is not clear how, in a nest of several thousand individuals, information about local time is communicated among members of the colony. Central to this seem to be circadian clocks, which have an intrinsic ability to keep track of local time by entraining to environmental light-dark, temperature, and social cycles. Here, the authors report the results of their study aimed at understanding the role of cyclic social interactions in circadian timekeeping of a day-active species of carpenter ant Camponotus paria. The authors found that daily social interactions with visitors (worker ants) was able to synchronize the circadian locomotor activity rhythm of host worker ants and queens, in one-on-one (pair-wise) and multi-individual (group-wise) interactions. Interestingly, the outcome of cyclic social interactions was context specific; when visitor workers socially interacted with host workers one-on-one, host workers considered the time of interaction as subjective day, but when visitor workers interacted with a group of workers and queens, the hosts considered the time of interaction as subjective night. These results can be taken to suggest that members of the ant species C. paria keep track of local time by socially interacting with workers (foragers) who shuttle in and out of the colony in search of food. (Author correspondence: vsharma@jncasr.ac.in)

Employee Impressions of a Manager

This study examines computerized simulations of employee impressions of a manager in specific manager-employee interactions. Prior research has shown that employee impressions play a significant role in work outcomes including job performance, job performance appraisals, acceptance of change, and relationship quality to mention a few. This project examines the validity of affect control theory through application of software INTERACT, the tool that operationalizes theory principles to predict impressions and other social interaction outcomes. The key ingredients to the theory are fundamental sentiments, quantified in EPA (evaluation, potency, activity) profile dimensions on semantic differential scales ranging from −4.3 to +4.3. The theory holds that people intuitively rely on sentiments that prevail among a cultural group and extend across time. It is proposed that these sentiments maintain meaning and order in the lives of employees at work and for people in general in social life. The research compares computer-simulated predictions with experimental results for comparable manager-employee interactions. The hypothesis is supported with highly significant results.

Early food and social environment affect certain behaviours but not female choice or male dominance in bluefin killifish

Environmental conditions during development can have long-lasting effects on morphology, physiology and behaviour. In contrast to human personality, our understanding of how the early environment influences the development of animal personality is limited. In bluefin killifish, Lucania goodei, a male’s mating behaviour is highly repeatable through time and across interactions. To examine whether these stable behavioural types are influenced by early nutritional and social conditions, we reared individuals on either high- or low-food levels in combination with either one adult male, one adult female or no adult. Individuals reared on high food were larger at the earliest measurements and remained so as adults. The high-food treatment also had the highest mortality, particularly if individuals were reared with an adult male. Despite these growth and survival consequences, the food and social treatments did not affect whether males were preferred by females or became dominant as adults. While the outcome of social interactions was not influenced by the early food and social environment, particular mating behaviours were; males reared on low food were more aggressive to females and showed more courtship, and males reared without an adult were more aggressive to females than those reared with either an adult female or male. Our results suggest that some of the behaviours that contribute to a male’s behavioural type within the mating context and that influence mating success in this species are sensitive to aspects of the early environment.

Exploiting Attractiveness in Persuasion: Senders’ Implicit Theories About Receivers’ Processing Motivation

Previous research suggests a positive correlation between physical attractiveness and the expectation of positive outcomes in social interactions, such as successful persuasion. However, prominent persuasion theories do not imply a general advantage of attractive senders. Instead, the persuasion success should vary with the receivers' processing motivation and processing capacity. Focusing on the perspective of the sender, the authors elaborate on lay theories about how attractiveness affects persuasion success. They propose that lay theories (a) match scientific models in that they also comprise the interaction of senders' attractiveness and receivers' processing characteristics, (b) guide laypersons' anticipation of persuasion success, and (c) translate into strategic behavior. They show that anticipated persuasion success depends on the interplay of perceived attractiveness and expectations about receivers' processing motivation (Experiment 1 and 2). Further experiments show that laypersons strategically attempt to exploit attractiveness in that they approach situations (Experiment 3) and persons (Experiment 4) that promise persuasion success.

Learning and growing in a ‘foreign’ context: intercultural experiences of international students

This paper discusses the background and key findings of a two‐year Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded mixed‐method research project (2006–2008) which was designed, within the context of university internationalisation, to provide an investigation of the experiences of first‐year international students during their undergraduate study at four UK higher education institutions. The research explored the complexities of international students' transitional experiences both in terms of their maturation and human development and their intercultural adaptation within a different educational environment and a different culture and society. These two types of transition interactively influenced the nature and process of students' change and development over time. Findings of the research challenge the psychological model of international students' linear intercultural adaptation and point to the presence of a complex set of shifting associations between language mastery, social interaction, personal development and academic outcomes. It is the management of this amalgam which results in intercultural adaptation and the successful reconfiguration of ‘identity’. Moreover, this research suggests that personal, pedagogical and psychological factors are as important as organisational and social cultures in influencing students' adaptation, identity change and ultimate success. The extent and nature of successful change and development can be restricted by the availability of support and the conditions of contact within the environments in which they are engaged.

The Social Thoughts and Beliefs Scale: Psychometric Properties and its Relation with Interpersonal Functioning in a Non-Clinical Sample

Cognitive theorists maintain that maladaptive cognitions play an important role in the formation and maintenance of social anxiety disorder. The Social Thoughts and Beliefs Scale (STABS; Turner et al. Psychol Assessment 15:384–391, 2003) was developed to assess the broad domain of cognitions associated with social anxiety in a clinical sample. The present study with 469 college students examined the applicability of the STABS with a non-clinical sample and its relation with social anxiety symptoms and indices of interpersonal functioning. The STABS scales showed good reliability (internal consistency), adequate convergent and discriminant validity, and acceptable concurrent and incremental concurrent validity in predicting social interaction anxiety or outcomes of interpersonal functioning. The STABS appears to have good psychometric properties measuring two dimensions, assessing thoughts of social comparisons and thoughts of social ineptness, and appears to be appropriate for use with non-clinical samples.

‘Staying in class so no one can get to him’: a case for the institutional reproduction of ADHD categories and behaviours

This paper focuses a sociological lens on what two early years Australian school boys labelled as having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and an early years teacher have to say about social relations within informal play environments. The boys participated in separate semi‐structured interviews where they predicted the likely outcomes of social interactions within informal play environments for a toy puppy that was exhibiting ADHD‐like behaviours. The students forewarned that the puppy should be ‘staying in class so no one can get to him’, and that ‘his friends will be cruel and tease him’, making him into a ‘bad’ puppy. A follow‐up interview with one early years teacher confirmed that the boys’ predictions reflected their lived experiences as students labelled as ADHD in institutional play environments. A theoretical framework based on concepts of social power and control is used to analyse the boys’ and teacher’s interview talk to explain how particular social discourses have the potential to trap students labelled as ADHD into this category and the difficulties one socially aware teacher faced as she tried to disrupt these dominant disabling discourses.

The function of teeth chattering in male Barbary macaques (Macaca sylvanus)

Teeth chattering is seen in many primate species and has been proposed to have a range of social functions. This observational study tested specific hypotheses relating to the function of teeth chattering in a semi-free-ranging group of Barbary macaques, Macaca sylvanus. During focal watches of males, the outcome of male-male dyadic social interactions in which teeth chattering was present or absent was compared. Using these data, we tested the predictions of four hypotheses: teeth chattering functions as a signal of submission, appeasement, affiliation or reassurance. Support was found for all four hypotheses. In addition, in some contexts, an exchange of teeth chattering appeared to have a greater impact on the outcome of interactions than one male alone giving this signal. These findings suggest that teeth chattering serves an important role in coordinating the social interactions of male Barbary macaques.

Reputation performance: a portfolio selection approach

This paper introduces a normative view on corporate reputation strategic management. Reputation performance is conceptualised as the outcome of complex processes and social interactions and the lack of a holistic reputation performance management framework is identified. In an attempt to fill this gap, a portfolio-based approach is put forward. Drawing on the foundations of modern portfolio theory we create a portfolio-based reputation management algorithmic model where reputation components and priorities are weighted by decision makers and shape organisational change in an attempt to formulate a corporate reputation strategy. The rationale of this paper is based on the foundational consideration of organisations as choosing he optimal strategy by seeking to maximise their reputation performance while maintaining organisational stability and minimising organisational risk.

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The ability to plan and sequence a task lies at the heart of many day-to-day activities such as washing, dressing and cooking a meal. These skills can also be important in comprehending and predicting the outcome of social interactions. Some people with a learning disability may have difficulty with such sequencing abilities. Strategies such as breaking a task down into its component parts can be helpful, but can be more difficult to do for social situations that can occur at a fast pace and which may involve a number of complex interactions. The use of visual materials, such as photographs, can help the individual to understand the sequence of social interactions.

There's no place like home: Cage odours and place preference in subordinate CD-1 male mice

Prior studies using mice have shown that scent marks are an important source of information and can cause behavioural changes in other individuals. Studies have also shown that scent marks in the environment can affect the outcome of social interactions between mice. We used conditioned place preference tests to investigate whether CD-1 male mice ( Mus musculus) are reinforced by olfactory cues from the home cage. Soiled bedding from the home cage was presented in the initially less preferred chamber of the apparatus to determine whether this association would reduce the unconditioned preference for one chamber over the other. We tested the effects of social rank and housing condition by comparing the performance of dyads that were polarised into dominant and subordinate relationships, both when paired and when separated, with mice that were isolated throughout. The development of conditioned place preference (CPP) supported by home cage odours was influenced by social rank but not by housing condition. Only subordinate mice showed CPP to home cage odours, and this effect was seen irrespective of whether they were housed with a dominant cage mate or alone. Neither dominant (paired or separated) nor isolated mice showed any change in their preference for the chamber associated with home cage odours. This suggests that the smell of home is a more powerful reinforcer for subordinate mice in that it can produce contextual conditioning to the environment in which it is experienced.