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This paper discusses the accuracy of role definition on the part of individuals in dating situations. Data are based upon the responses of 417 college students to questionnaires. It was found that both males and females misread the sexual expectations of members of the opposite sex, and both always do so in the direction of increased permissiveness. A tentative suggestion is made that such inaccuracy in role definition will result in sexual standards being liberalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The general symbol manipulating capacities of the modern digital computer offer a valuable tool for theory development and verification. Diverse applications of computer models in Social Science are discussed, along with a validation study involving HOMUNCULUS, a Computer model of social behavior. Hypotheses concerning decision making in a role-conflict dilemma Were stated operationally as computer routines compatible with HOMUNCULUS. In computer runs using input data from actual questionnaires, alternative formulations regarding role conflict resolution were tested. Since the data generated by each run represented the logical consequences of the hypotheses operating in that run, it was possible to assess the adequacy of each programmed formulation by comparing the simulated responses with the actual decisions of living respondents. Such flexibility and dynamic capacity are major benefits accruing from testing a social theory through computer simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to examine and compare campus values in mate selections from 1939 to 1967. A replication of previous research done in 1939 by Hill and in 1956 by McGinnis was undertaken in 1967 by sending a questionnaire concerned with factors in mate selection to a random sample of students on four college campuses. From the findings it was concluded that the current college population has not departed significantly from values in mate selection held a generation ago. In fact, responses indicate a remarkable degree of consistency between the values voiced by the two generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an acquaintanceship questionnaire which was originally intended to search for characteristic qualitative patterns of acquaintanceship, the hypothetical assumption being that personality traits in part determine, and in part are determined by, the social contacts in occupational, religious, fraternal, recreational, and other circles of social interaction. It soon developed, however, that the solution to this problem, which the authors still regard as highly important to the progress of social psychology, lay far beyond the available facilities. Hence the results with which this article is concerned are those based on raw quantitative scores, that is, the total number of acquaintances. The material of the questionnaire consists of a standard list of 191 commonly used designations of types of persons, embracing those by occupation, religion, recreational interest, nationality and race, fraternal affiliation, academic classification, and certain other designations, miscellaneous but familiar.

This article presents information on parent-child communication, sentiment and authority. Sociologist George C. Homans maintains that under certain specified conditions, interaction leads to positive sentiments. In elaborating this relationship he asserts that strong authority may negate this hypothesized link between interaction and sentiment. The data were obtained from questionnaires completed by junior and senior high school students from North Carolina and Ohio. The questionnaires were administered in the classrooms of cooperating schools during April and May of 1960. Teachers in the participating schools were responsible for distributing the questionnaires to their pupils. The anonymity of the respondents was assured by asking that they not sign the instruments. The communities which were sampled cover the range from comparatively rural to two cities with populations slightly over 100,000. The sample for the present analysis includes 8,770 cases. All of the respondents used lived with both of their natural parents. They were enrolled in the seventh through the twelfth grades, and all but a few were between the ages of twelve and eighteen. Protestants predominated and non-whites were excluded. Males and females are represented in almost equal proportions. Each respondent was questioned separately about his relations with his mother and with his father. The questionnaire items employed to operationalize Homans' concepts defined sentiment in terms of perceived closeness of relationship to parents.

This article presents a study on the relation between interaction and liking. The data collection for this study was undertaken through so called group-questionnaire procedure. The group-questionnaire was carried through on October 17, 1962 under the control of a civil collection-leader, who was specially instructed for this occasion. Almost all forms were filled out at the same time in the same locality; a few forms were filled out a couple of days later under the same conditions. According to the collection-leader the data collection occurred under calm conditions and the atmosphere among those filling out the form seemed to be positive. In order to eliminate some of the possible suspiciousness of the recruits that the officers would see the individual's form, the recruits were requested to put the form into an envelop, seal it, and give it to the collection leader. As regards attitudes toward officers and toward military training the sanctioning probably lies mainly with the formal part of the unit. On the contrary, as regards attitudes to one's own group fellows and views on one's own motivation the informal social control among the recruits in the unit can be assumed to be stronger partly depending on the acts that follows the attitude.

Thirty pairs of female Ss were administered a questionnaire consisting of 40 factual items. Each S had the option of either answering each question independently or seeking help from her partner. The Ss' performances on the questionnaire yielded two independent variables which were used to predict and account for help-seeking and help-giving behavior in a task-oriented dyadic interaction involving identification of objects on Holtzman inkblots. The dependent variables consisted of explicit or direct requests for help, indirect requests for help, acquiescent responses, rejections of offered help, and unsolicited help-giving. The results indicated that significant portions of the dyadic interactions on the Holtzman task were predictable from the nature of the Ss' help-seeking behavior on the questionnaire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social systems consist of networks of interpersonal relationships. These relationships tend to express themselves in the process of interaction. Hence, they are frequently studied by research methods for the direct observation of interaction. They may also be studied by questioning each individual about his orientations to the others in the system. The questionnaire technique enables the researcher to take the point of view of each actor in turn, to point of view a good deal from him about his perceptions of the others, what he wants from them, and how he plans to obtain from them what he wants. By proper fitting together of the answers of all the participant individuals, the researcher thus obtains considerable insight into the system of relationships. The authors in this article wish to consider certain possibilities and limitations of the questionnaire approach to a study of latent orientations. Self-reports touch directly upon only those aspects of orientation which reach a certain level of awareness. Beyond this, in interaction the actors also tend to manifest orientations to the situation, as well as to one another; in particular, they attempt to accomplish the task which is at hand. In such respects, questionnaire data are assumed to differ in kind from data obtained by the outside observer of interaction.

In an attempt to get some basic information on first pregnancy and the effects of the pregnancy experience upon husband-wife relationships, a research was done with the cooperation of a group of couples who had recently gone through their first pregnancy. During the Spring of 1949, 228 couples who lived in the barracks village at Michigan State College were interviewed and asked for their cooperation. The study was anonymous. Questionnaires were distributed to the couples by the research team who later returned with a box with a slit in it for collection of the questionnaires. All couples living in the village whose first child was not more than 2 years old were included in the sample. Husbands and wives were given separate envelopes containing questionnaires to be filled in independently. Each spouse was to seal his completed questionnaire and then the two were to be placed in a large envelope. In this way it was possible to compare the responses of husbands and wives on certain questions. There was no way of knowing how many couples discussed their questionnaires as they filled them out. All but 7 of the couples interviewed cooperated in the study and 212 out of 221 questionnaires handed out could be used in the final tabulation.

The article focuses on the results of recent studies in marital adjustment in the U.S. The list includes three studies based on the anonymous questionnaire, one using a standardized psychiatric interview, one a medical examination and interview, and one a psychosociological interview. All these studies have one goal in common, that is, the discovery of factors related with marital adjustment. Implicit or explicit in all of them is the idea that some of the correlates discovered are causally related to marital adjustment and may have predictive value as to the probable success of a given marriage. Since the primary aim of the investigation was to throw light on the sexual history and sexual adjustment of typically normal women, it is important to note the procedures by which the subjects were secured. A preliminary letter was send to a large number of women in all parts of the U.S., explaining to them the nature of the proposed investigation and asking them whether they are willing to supply the desired information.

The article reports a study centered on a hypothesis about relationships between certain personal values and ideals for international relations. Eight different goals of the U.S. foreign policy were represented by Guttman-type scales which assessed the degree to which subjects advocated each goal. These scales were constructed from conceptions of ideal relations among nations which corresponded structurally with eight different conceptions of ideal relations among people. Ideals for interpersonal relations were embodied in eight scales of "personal values." Most of these scales in both sets showed satisfactory degrees of internal consistency in a cross-validating sample of subjects. All instruments were administered, in questionnaire form, to a representative sample of students at a large state university. Intercorrelations among all pairs of foreign policy goals showed seven of them to be fairly well associated with one of the two major clusters, which were interpreted as representing ideologies of "international cooperativeness" and "international competitiveness."

The present investigation was designed to test seven propositions concerning the relationship between rate of physical maturation and important aspects of personality structure, specifically, self-conceptions, underlying motivations, and basic interpersonal attitudes. The TAT protocols of 33 seventeen-year-old boys -- 16 who had been consistently physically accelerated throughout adolescence and 17 who bad been consistently retarded -- were analyzed according to a scoring schema involving 20 needs, press, and descriptive categories. The scores of early- and late-maturers in each of the categories were compared. An earlier study (8) demonstrated that late-maturing boys are more likely than their early-maturing peers to encounter a generally unfavorable sociopsychological environment. Analysis of the data of the present study indicates that this situation may have adverse effects on the personalities of the physically retarded. These boys are more likely to have negative self-conceptions, feelings of inadequacy, strong feelings of being rejected and dominated, prolonged dependency needs, and rebellious attitudes toward parents. In contrast, the early-maturing boys present a much more favorable psychological picture during adolescence. Relatively few of them felt inadequate, rejected, dominated, or rebellious toward their families. More of them appeared to be self-confident, independent, and capable of playing an adult role in interpersonal relationships. Early- and late- maturing groups did not differ significantly from each other in needs for achievement or personal recognition. These findings make it clear that rate of physical maturing may affect personality development in crucially important ways. However, it is important to note that in any particular case the effects of early- or late-maturing may be significantly modified by the individual's psychological history and present circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the study showing the ways of using animals in psychotherapy in the U.S. Members and Fellows of the American Psychological Association were sent with a questionnaire that includes queries about the use of animals in psychotherapy. Results show that 64% of the total sample returned the questionnaire and of these 21% reported that they use animals or animal content in psychotherapy. Moreover, it was determined that most of the respondents use animals to cultivate or model the positive nature of interpersonal relationships. The respondents also cited the dog and cat as the most frequently used animals.