Social Psychological Constructs Research Articles

The Social Psychology of Trust with Applications in the Internet

Abstract Three levels of trust as a social psychological construct are delineated: trust in a specific person (relational trust), trust in people in general (generalised trust) and trust in abstract systems. Whereas much research is available on relational trust and generalized trust, much less is known about trust in systems. From theory and research several assumptions are derived which are related to the development of trust in the Internet. For example, the reliability of information technology is assumed to be directly related to the development of trust in the Internet. In addition, it is assumed that in situations in which it is hard to verify the justification for trust, people construct subjective beliefs which represent a transformation of relational trust into system trust. Applications of these assumptions for strengthening the trustworthiness of the Internet are discussed.

Some theoretical models and constructs generic to substance abuse prevention programs for adolescents: possible relevance and limitations for problem gambling.

For the past several years the author and his colleagues have explored the area of how social psychological constructs and theoretical models can be applied to the prevention of health threatening behaviors in adolescents. In examining the need for the development of gambling prevention programs for adolescents, it might be of value to consider the application of such constructs and theoretical models as a foundation to the development of prevention programs in this emerging problem behavior among adolescents. In order to provide perspective to the reader, the present paper reviews the history of various psychosocial models and constructs generic to programs directed at prevention of substance abuse in adolescents. A brief history of some of these models, possibly most applicable to gambling prevention programs, are presented. Social inoculation, reasoned action, planned behavior, and problem behavior theory, are among those discussed. Some deficits of these models, are also articulated. How such models may have relevance to developing programs for prevention of problem gambling in adolescents is also discussed. However, the inherent differences between gambling and more directly health threatening behaviors such as substance abuse must, of course, be seriously considered in utilizing such models. Most current gambling prevention programs have seldom been guided by theoretical models. Developers of gambling prevention programs should consider theoretical foundations, particularly since such foundations not only provide a guide for programs, but may become critical tools in evaluating their effectiveness.

Social anxiety and social comparison: differential links with restrictive and bulimic attitudes among nonclinical women

This study investigated the relationship of two social psychological constructs (social anxiety and social comparison) with bulimic and restrictive eating attitudes among nonclinical women. Eighty young women completed a measure of social anxiety (the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, FNE), a measure of social comparison (the Iowa–Netherlands Comparison Orientation Measure, INCOM), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Eating Disorders Inventory (EDI). The results indicate a differential link between the two different social processes and the nature of eating psychopathology. Specifically, heightened social anxiety predicted drive for thinness, while levels of social comparison predicted bulimic attitudes. The findings support a model where the two social processes are each associated with different patterns of eating pathology.

The context of religiosity, social support and health locus of control: implications for the health-related quality of life of African-American hemodialysis patients.

Most African-Americans choose hemodialysis as a treatment regimen when diagnosed with renal failure modality. Some researchers suggest that African-American hemodialysis patients' health-related quality of life enables them to cope with and survive this type of difficult renal therapy better than other racial and ethnic groups. This article examines how the sociocultural and social psychological constructs of religiosity, social support and health locus of control, relate to the health-related quality of life for this population group.

As Ye Sweep, So Shall Ye Reap

The inability of formal skills such as schooling and on-the-job training to account for most of the valiation in adult labor-market success has spurred investigations of other factors. Cognitive ability, as measured by IQ-type tests such as the Armed Forces Qualifying Test has received the bulk of this attention. The consensus from research by economists and sociologists is that cognitive ability plays a significant although far from overwhelming role as a determinant of adult success (e.g., Christopher Jencks, 1979; John Cawley et al., 1997). Cognitive skills do not appear to account for more than about one-fifth of the association between completed schooling and earnings (Samuel Bowles et al., 2000). Similar magnitudes emerge in studies examining the strength of parents' cognitive ability as a predictor of the intergenerational success of their children (Meredith Phillips et al., 1998). The search for key noncognitive factors important in predicting both intraand intergenerational success has been wide-ranging. Jencks (1979) demonstrates that, net of background, formal schooling, and cognitive skills, personal traits such as industriousness, perseverance, and leadership have noteworthy associations with subsequent earnings and occupational status. Measures of social-psychological constructs such as locus of control (Julian Rotter, 1966) and self-esteem (Morris Rosenberg, 1965) have been shown to be predictive of subsequent labor-market success in some cases (e.g., Rachel Dunifon and Duncan, 1998; Arthur Goldsmith et al., 2000). Our focus in this paper is on the role of a different kind of personal characteristic: organization and efficiency, as operationalized in our data set by the housework-hours-adjusted score from five annual interviewer assessments of the cleanliness of a respondent's dwelling at the time of the interview. We argue that keeping a and organized home reflects an overall ability and desire to maintain a sense of order in a wide range of life activities. People whose homes appear clean both value order and demonstrate the ability to impose a degree of order at home. It is likely that people who are able to maintain such homes carry over the ability and desire to be organized to other aspects of their lives, such as work and parenting. The ability to maintain a degree of organization may be a skill that would command a reward in the labor market. Additionally, children raised in more organized households may be more successful in school and work. The results presented here indicate that, net of socioeconomic-status background, cognitive ability, completed schooling, housework time, and a host of other factors, the cleanliness rating of one's home is predictive of: (i) one's own earnings 25 years later; (ii) children's subsequent completed schooling; and (iii) children's earnings measured 25 years later. These results suggest the utility of continuing the search for noncognitive factors in intraand intergenerational models of schooling and labor-market success.

Extending Models of Prosocial Behavior to Explain University Alumni Contributions1

Survey data merged with contribution records from a development office database provided a basis for understanding alumni support for a university. The survey randomly sampled alumni of a state university school of management who had graduated between 1980 and 1988. Subjects filled out mail questionnaires measuring social psychological constructs from the literature on prosocial behavior. The determinants of obligation to donate included perceived efficacy, perceived need, reciprocity, and individual attachment to the university. Obligation and other constructs explained the number of donations recorded in the development office database over 6 years. The model also predicted intentions to support the university by working for an alumni association or attending reunions. This model of alumni donation leads to recommendations for designing university fund‐raising communications.

Motivation, Self‐confidence, and Group Cohesion in the Foreign Language Classroom

Defining the motivational basis of second and foreign language acquisition has been at the center of much research and controversy for many years. The present study applied social psychological constructs to the acquisition of English in the unicultural Hungarian setting. A total of 301 Grade 11 students from the region of Budapest answered a questionnaire assessing their attitude, anxiety, and motivation toward learning English, as well as their perception of classroom atmosphere and cohesion. In addition, their teachers rated each of the students on proficiency and a number of classroom behaviors and evaluated the relative cohesion of each class group. Factor and correlational analyses of the results revealed that xenophilic (M=4.22on a 1–6 scale), sociocultural (M=3.96), instrumental (M=3.78), and media‐use reasons (M=3.79) were most strongly endorsed by the students whereas an identification orientation (M=1.8l)was rejected. Factor analysis of the attitude, anxiety, and motivation scales confirmed the existence of attitude‐based (integrative motive) and self‐confidence motivational subprocesses and revealed the presence of a relatively independent class‐ room based subprocess, characterized by classroom cohesion and evaluation. Correlational analyses of these clusters further revealed that, while all subprocesses were associated with achievement, self‐confidenceand anxiety showed no relationship to classroom atmosphere. We discuss these findings in the context of current theories of second and foreign language acquisition and with reference to their applied implications.

Beyond managerial opportunism: Supplier power and managerial compliance in a franchised marketing channel

A groundbreaking contribution to transaction cost analysis was advanced by John (1984) who recognized that managerial opportunism is a behavioral variable requiring theoretical explanation, not an exogenous constraints to be assumed and imposed upon the marketing channel network. However, it is argued that several features of John's final model predicting opportunism seem problematic. An alternative model, one that explains supplier power and managerial opportunism-the latter being viewed as an aspect of the broader and more common social psychological construct of compliance-is proposed and operationalized using John's (1984) indicator measures. Then, using John's (1984) published data, this model is subjected to statistical testing and modification through analysis of covariance structures. Results suggest that the proposed model is superior to John's with respect to goodness-of-fit and other important modeling criteria. Conclusions, managerial implications, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. j busn res 1994. 30.211–223

Self-Monitoring and the Regulation of Social Experience: A Control-Process Model

An application of Carver and Scheier's (1981; Scheier & Carver, 1988) control-process model of behavior is proposed that portrays the social-psychological construct of self-monitoring as a set of self-referent cognitive processes that contribute to the regulation of human social experience. The model posits that high- and low-self-monitoring persons differ according to the nature of their self-referent analysis of social situations, the standards that guide their self-evaluation, and the manner by which they maintain self-control. According to the model, high-self-monitoring persons routinely reference the public self when analyzing social situations, evaluate the situated self against social standards, and enact behaviors aimed at bringing the self into line with the environment

Self‐monitoring and turnover: The impact of personality on intent to leave

AbstractEmployee turnover is a topic of considerable interest within most organizations. Despite years of research, the antecedents of turnover remain elusive. Traditionally, studies have focused on job satisfaction and organizational commitment as the primary precursors of voluntary (as distinguished from involuntary) turnover. Increasingly, however, researchers have suggested investigating possible personality variables that may help explain even more variance in turnover. The social psychological construct of self‐monitoring was found to be such a variable. After the traditional predictors of satisfaction and commitment had been entered, self‐monitoring accounted for previously unexplained variance in turnover intentions. Furthermore, the pattern of relationships among the variables of job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions differed for high and low self‐monitors. Specifically, commitment was a better indicator of intent to leave among low self‐monitors but job satisfaction showed a stronger relationship among high self‐monitors. Implications for the organization and suggestions for further research are discussed.

The Technological Perspective

Changes in technology after the ability of people to express competence, to interact with others, to be active rather than passive, and to exercise influence. For the most part, these changes in psychological processes are accidental by-products of technology's attempts to solve the practical problems of society. Because of the close relation between technology and social behavior, we argue that technology should be included as an explanatory variable in social psychology's construction of behavior. Several benefits should result from developing a social psychology of technology. For one, social psychology will be better able to account for the variance of critical social behaviors such as competence, autonomy, social influence, and social isolation. Second, the study of technology will provide a historical perspective for examining changes in social behavior. Finally, the application of social psychological constructs and methods to the study of technology will provide insights that are not available from studies of this topic by economics, philosophy, and political science.

The relation between type A behavior and chronic emotional distress: a meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis was conducted of studies examining the relation between Type A behavior and chronic emotional distress as measured by standard psychological scales. Aggregating across all studies, the average effect size was .27, indicating a positive association between Type A and chronic dysphoria; however, there was considerable variability in the size of the relation among studies. Partitioning by Type A measure revealed that Structured Interview-assessed Type A was unrelated to chronic dysphoric emotions; however, most of the self-report measures of Type A behavior were moderately correlated with upset. The Framingham Type A Scale and the Bortner Scale showed the strongest relations. Thus, contrary to the traditional view, Type A measured by self-report does have some emotional concomitants, although they are not in the pathological range. Also discussed are how the results bear on the proposal that the maladjusted personality confers coronary risk, the implications for reported associations between Type A and illness complaints, and for the study of the Type A as a social psychological construct.

Implications of Selected Social Psychological Theories on Life-Long Skill Generalization: Considerations for the Music Therapist

Descriptions of music therapy services frequently emphasize the importance of changing behavior, promoting growth and self-development, and improving a person's overall quality of life. To achieve these general goals of therapy, the progress noted in structured settings must generalize into the client's skill repertoire. Historically, publications about music therapy techniques have reflected research findings in behavioral psychology, while briefly noting pertinent applications to social situations. This article specifically discusses how the social psychological constructs of attribution theory and learned helplessness may promote life-long skill generalization. Implications for current music therapy services focus on how these constructs may refine the therapy process in respect to reinforcement techniques and contrivance.

Relocation and Alienation of the Elderly: Support for Stokols' Model

Fifty residents of senior citizen housing were interviewed to assess the applicability of Stokols' model of alienation to their relocation experiences. In this model three conditions are necessary' for the development of alienation: feeling thwarted or frustrated by some group, holding negative attitudes toward it, and subsequently being forced to maintain association with this group. When applied to relocation experiences, these conditions translate into the elderly feeling forced to relocate from their neighborhood, holding negative attitudes toward their old neighborhood yet maintaining associations with salient others whom they knew before relocating. The three-way interaction of these variables specified by Stokols' model provided a significant increment in the prediction of alienation in two of three multiple regression analyses. Implications of these results for Stokols' model and the related social psychological constructs 'of reactance, comparison level, and frustration-aggression theories are di...

Soccer Hooliganism In Britain

This paper examines the social problem of soccer hooliganism in Britain in relation to selected sociological and social-psychological perspectives of a general nature. First, the development of soccer hooliganism over the last two decades is outlined. Second, the phenomenon is located in its sociohistoric and subcultural context. Third, the social-psychological construct of identification is discussed with reference to the soccer fan. Finally, the findings and analyses of British researchers are considered within the overall framework of collective behavior theory.

Attributional biases among clinicians and nonclinicians.

Presented 27 randomly chosen clinicians (psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers) and 18 nonclinicians with a series of statements that describe deviant and nondeviant actor behavior and employ McArthur's (1972) social psychological constructs of emotion, action, and opinion. Ss made a series of causal attributions of actor behaviors. Data were subjected to both univariate and multivariate analyses of variance. The data showed a clear dispositional attribution bias among both clinicians and nonclinicians across all stimulus statements. Further specific tests revealed that clinicians did not differ from each other or from nonclinicians in their attributions and that a significantly greater dispositional bias occurred with deviant actor behavior and in situations that featured actor actions over opinions over emotions. These results were discussed in terms of their theoretical implications and in terms of their applicability to clinical practice.

Person-Situation Interaction within a Consumer Behavior Context

Summary The impact of person and situation on the influence of informal reference groups on consumer behavior is discussed. The social psychological construct of self-monitoring was utilized to examine the person factor, while the social-nonsocial nature of products represented the situation factor. The study employed 141 male and female undergraduates who responded to two measures of co-orientation with informal reference groups and three measures of consumer behavior: information seeking, information source credibility, and group influence on product choice. Results indicate that informal group influence on consumer behavior was significantly greater for high self-monitors as compared with low self-monitors. Situational variations were minimal.

Measurement of romantic love.

This study reports Ihc initial results of an attempt to introduce and validate a social-psychological construct oi romantic love. Starting with the assumption that love is an interpersonal attitude, an internally consistent papcr-and-pencil love scale was developed. The conception of romantic love included three components: affiliative and dependent need, a predisposition to help, and an orientation of exclusiveness and absorption. Love-scale scores were only moderately correlated with scores on a parallel scale of liking, which reflected a more traditional conception of interpersonal attraction. The validity of the love scale was assessed in a questionnaire study and a laboratory experiment. On the basis of the emerging conception of love, it was predicted that college dating couples who loved each other a great deal (as categorized by their love-scale scores) would spend more time gazing into one another's eyes than would couples who loved each other to a lesser degree. The prediction was confirmed. Love is generally regarded to be the deepest and most meaningful of sentiments. It has occupied a preeminent position in the art and literature of every age, and it is presumably experienced, at least occasionally, by the vast majority of people. In Western culture, moreover, the association between love and marriage gives it a unique status as a link between the individual and the structure of society. In view of these considerations, it is surprising to discover that social psychologists have devoted virtually no attention to love. Although interpersonal attraction has been a major focus of social-psycho logical theory and research, workers in this area have not attempted to conceptualize love as an independent entity. For Heider (1958), for example, loving is merely intense liking— there is no discussion of possible qualitative 1 This report is based on a doctoral dissertation submitted to the University of Michigan. The research was supported by a prccloctoral fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health and by a grant-in-aid from the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The author is grateful to Theodore M. Ncwcomb, chairman of the dissertation committee, for his invaluable guidance and support. Mitchell Baris, Cheryl Eisenman, Linda Muller, Judy Newman, Marlyn Rame, Stuart Katz, Edward Krupat, and Phillip Shaver served as observers in the experiment, and Mr. Shaver also helped design and assemble the equipment. 2 Requests for reprints should be sent to the author, Department of Social Relations, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138.

Patterns of attitudinal changes among foreign students.

Based on a social-psychological construct, "anticipatory adjustment," two distinct patterns of attitudinal and behavioral changes on the part of foreign students in the United States were predicted: (a) the U-curve pattern for students from highly developed countries and (b) a reverse pattern for representatives of underdeveloped countries, for whom, it was hypothesized, the involuntary return home at the end of their study period would be perceived as a threat. The findings, based on a study of a trinationality sample of foreign students on the UCLA campus, support the hypothesis. Some unanswered questions regarding the education of foreign students in the United States are considered.