People's Social Interactions Research Articles

System of Functionality of Religion and Levels of its Expression

Today, in social life, religion is undoubtedly an important factor in the social interaction of people, which can significantly influence the process of stabilization or destabilization of society, determine the direction of its development. Most of the population of our country, according to specific sociological studies, considers knowledge about the functioning of religion and the principles of organizing its institutionalized forms as socially important and necessary for man.

System of Functionality of Religion and its Levels of Expression

Today, in social life, religion is undoubtedly an important factor in the social interaction of people, which can significantly influence the process of stabilization or destabilization of society, determine the direction of its development. Most of the population of our country, according to specific sociological studies, considers knowledge about the functioning of religion and the principles of organizing its institutionalized forms as socially significant and necessary for them.

Causal Relationships between Perceived Social Skills and Day-To-Day Social Interaction: Extending the Sociometer Hypothesis

Twice over two years, participants described their day-to-day social interactions for two weeks, and they described their social skills. Within each phase of the study, self-perceived social skills and the quality of social interaction were positively related. Moreover, the results of cross-lagged panel analyses suggested that changes in the quality of day-to-day interaction led to changes in perceived social skills, whereas changes in social skills did not lead to changes in the quality of interaction. In contrast, quantity of interaction and social skills were not related either within or across time. Consistent with some aspects of the sociometer hypothesis, improvements in the quality of people's social interactions led to increases in self-perceived social skills, and declines in the quality of social interactions led to decreases in self-perceived social skills.

Virtual connections: Community bonding on the Net

In the mid-1990s, Howard Rheingold and Sherry Turkle reported on the social interactions of people in chat rooms and on newsgroups. While chat rooms and newsgroups continue to play a role in computer-mediated communication, the Web has assumed a prominent place in forging relationships among people with common interests. A series of community-based Web exhibits focusing on ethnic groups in Tucson, Arizona, and the U.S. Southwest, serves as a case study in how the Web is building electronic communities and renewing social capital.

Les jeunes et la culture de l'écran. Enquête nationale auprès des 6-17 ans

This article presents the results, for France, of a European survey on children's and adolescents' communication practices, and particularly their use of screens (television, computers, videogames, etc.). A set of social processes related to use of the media can thus be examined. In particular, the article analyses social inequalities among users of screens and gender disparities in the media sphere. The author questions the role of the media in young people's social interaction. New types of screens seem to suggest new dynamics of sociability and sharing, both within the family and among peers. Moreover, media consumption patterns seem to be linked to perceptions of the cultural environment. Finally, the survey reveals the versatility of media usage and the synergy which is created between digital screens and printed texts.

Self-Presentational Goals, Self-Monitoring, and Nonverbal Behavior

This study examined how particular interpersonal goals relate to the expression of emotions during social interaction for people particularly high and low in self-monitoring needs. Before interacting with a partner, participants were assigned a goal of either self-promotion (appearing competent), ingratiation (appearing likable), or were assigned no specific goal. Naive judges viewed 15-sec segments of these interactions and rated participants regarding the emotions displayed. Results indicate that displays of positive and negative emotion are differentially affected by an individual's self-monitoring status, self-presentational goal, and gender. Overall, high self-monitors and women expressed less negative emotion and more positive emotion than low self-monitors and men. Furthermore, although women showed little variability in their displays of negative emotion due to goal, men's displays of negative emotion were affected by self-presentational goals.

Self-Presentational Goals, Self-Monitoring, and Nonverbal Behavior

This study examined how particular interpersonal goals relate to the expression of emotions during social interaction for people particularly high and low in self-monitoring needs. Before interacting with a partner, participants were assigned a goal of either self-promotion (appearing competent), ingratiation (appearing likable), or were assigned no specific goal. Naive judges viewed 15-sec segments of these interactions and rated participants regarding the emotions displayed. Results indicate that displays of positive and negative emotion are differentially affected by an individual's self-monitoring status, self-presentational goal, and gender. Overall, high self-monitors and women expressed less negative emotion and more positive emotion than low self-monitors and men. Furthermore, although women showed little variability in their displays of negative emotion due to goal, men's displays of negative emotion were affected by self-presentational goals.

Family Neighbors

It is argued that people's neighborhood social interaction is strongly affected by the presence of a parent or adult child in the neighborhood. Although only a minority of people have any "family neighbors," such people often have a central role in community social networks. Analysis of survey results from one metropolitan region demonstrates that much of the effect of many common predictors of neighboring (such as lenght of residence in the community, income, and urban/rural location) is indirect, through their effect on the number of family neighbors. Implications for the theoretical interpretation of these predictors are discussed.

Social cognition and impaired social interaction in people with severe learning difficulties*

Social skills training has focused on 'performance' or overt behaviour, rather than on the other components of successful social functioning: motivation and goals, analysis of social information, and performance feedback, Some basic aspects of this 'analysis' or 'social cognition' component were compared in a preliminary study of 25 teenagers and young adults with severe learning difficulties, whose social interaction was categorized as either 'impaired' or 'appropriate'. As predicted from the literature on autistic children, there were no differences between the groups on tasks involving recognition of the visual aspects of the concept of self or perceptual role-taking. It is suggested that social impairments do not reflect social cognitive abilities which are 'lower level' (i.e. can be solved on the basis of information available to the senses). Contrary to expectations, on the four individual tasks of affective role-taking, which is 'higher level', since it requires inferences to be made about the inner emotional state of another person, the differences between the groups were not significant. However, the results were in the predicted direction, and when scores on the tasks were combined, the overall performance of the socially impaired group was significantly poorer (P less than 0.05). It is suggested that the results from this aspect of social cognition might be attributed either to methodological difficulties or to differences between autistic children and the present sample. The clinical implications of the findings of the study are discussed.

Explanations for unemployment in Britain

AbstractPsychological studies on unemployment in the 1930's and the 1970's and 1980's have concentrated on the psychological impact of unemployment on such things as people's health, self‐esteem and social interaction. Furthermore studies have, not unnaturally, concentrated almost exclusively on the unemployed neglecting the employed altogether. Very few studies have concerned the range and determinants of lay explanations or attributions about the causes of unemployment. This study set out to examine differences in the explanations for unemployment as a function of whether people were employed or unemployed, as well as their age, sex, education and voting pattern, The results showed a predictable pattern of differences between the employed and unemployed, the former believing more in individualistic explanations and less in societal explanations than the latter. Whereas there were few sex and age differences, education and vote revealed numerous differences in explanations for unemployment. As in the case with explanations for poverty, Conservatives found individualistic explanations for unemployment more important than Labour voters who in turn found societal explanations more important than Conservative voters. Results were discussed in terms of the psychology of explanations, political socialization and the experience of unemployment. Problems in this study as well as the limitations and difficulties in research of the kind were also discussed.

The genesis of the junior college movement

As a distinctly American phenomenon, the two-year college, or the junior college, rapidly is becoming a dynamic force affecting the thought processes, habits, economic status, and social interaction of people from every walk of life in every part of the community. From obscure beginnings, the two-year college has become the fastest growing social and educational institution in the United States. Since 1901, when eight junior colleges enrolled fewer than 100 students, the number of junior colleges has increased to more than 1,000 with enrollments exceeding 3,000,000.1 While the two-year college is the product of some 125 years of historical development, actually, only three major stages characterize its development. The first and longest stage lasted from 1850 to 1920, during which time the idea and acceptable practice of the junior college, as a separate institution offering the first two years of baccalaureate curriculum emerged. During the second stage, spanning from 1920 through World War II, terminal and semi-professional education gained widespread currency in the junior colleges. The stillcurrent third stage, beginning with the close of World War II, was ushered in by an awakening to the broadened responsibility of providing equal opportunity for all who could profit from education. Within the limited scope of this study, I will investigate only the salient features of the first stage and the background thinking leading up to the following two stages.