bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
RNIB Condover Hall: school leavers' survey 1994
Authors: Walsh Chris
Published: March 2007

RNIB Condover Hall School, located near Shrewsbury, provides education for children and young people aged five to 19. All the pupils have visual impairments and severe additional handicaps. This article describes an attempt (1994) to assess whether the current Condover Hall procedures in preparing and placing leavers were proving to be appropriate and adequate in practice. The survey targeted leavers' parents, establishments used for placement and social services departments involved with the school over several years.
Where Have All the Children Gone? An analysis of new statistical data on visual impairment amongst children in England, Scotland and Wales
Authors: Clunies-Ross Louise
Published: March 2007

This article reports on major findings from a recent study on the numbers of visually impaired (VI) children aged 0-16 known to Local Authority Visual Impairment Services in England, Scotland and Wales. The data shows that there are over 19,000 VI children in these countries of whom almost 5% are braillists and 34.5% have additional special needs. There are no universally adopted criteria for recording data on their visual impairment (VI). A growing number, 59%, of VI children are educated in mainstream schools, 10% in special schools for VI children and 29% in other special schools.
Print or Braille: Decision-Making in the Choice of the Primary Literacy Medium for Pupils with a Severe Visual Impairment
Authors: Jennings Julie
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this Paper is to define those factors which have a role in determining the literacy medium for children with a severe visual impairment who retain sufficient residual vision to be able to access print in some form but for whom Braille may be considered as a more efficient medium for reading and writing.
Cognition During Marital Conflict: The Relationship of Thought and Talk
Authors: Sillars Alan , Roberts Linda J. , Leonard Kenneth E. , Dun Tim
Published: March 2007

This article describes and analyzes the stream of thought occurring concurrently with overt communication about marital conflict. The research considers how marital conflicts may be affected by selective attention to different elements of conflict (different emotions, issues, interactional behaviors, and background events) and by spontaneous attributions about communicative intentions and outcomes. One hundred eighteen couples discussed a current conflict issue, then individually watched a videotape of the discussion and reported thoughts and feelings experienced during the discussion. Descriptively, the thoughts revealed limited complexity, infrequent perspective taking, a predominant concern for implicit relationship issues over content issues, and frequent direct analysis of the communication process. Spouses viewed their own communication in more favorable terms than their partner's communication. Husbands and wives also viewed the interactions differently, with wives appearing, in certain respects, more other-directed, relationship-sensitive, and objective. Interaction-based thoughts were especially subjective in the most severe conflicts, as suggested by a lack of correspondence between attributions about communication and observer coding of the interactions. Furthermore, in severe conflicts and dissatisfied relationships, the individuals had more angry, blaming, and pessimistic thoughts and less focus on content issues.
Rules for Relating Communicated among Social Network Members
Authors: Baxter Leslie A. , Dun Tim , Sahistein Erin
Published: March 2007

Two studies were conducted on the rules of relating communicated in the social network interactions of young adults. Study 1 involved 68 university students who completed a two week diary recording interactions with others in which rules for conducting relationships were communicated. In general, rules for relating tended to be communicated among same-sex dyads or triads through advice-giving, sanctioning, and gossip. Rules dealt primarily with romantic relationships (qualities of desirable/eligible partners, and how to initiate, sustain, and dissolve relationships) and friendships (how to conduct them). Study 2 was a survey administered to 127 university students on the extent to which they followed these rules, the degree to which they would receive negative sanctions if the rules were violated, and whether they perceived the rules to be gender-linked. Although several rules were perceived to be gender-linked, few sex differences emerged on perceived sanctioning and on reported rule compliance. In general, rules of loyalty, openness/honesty, and respect applied to both friendship and romantic relationships.
Attachment Models and Memory for Conversation
Authors: Miller Judi Beinstein
Published: March 2007

Attachment models were hypothesized to influence interest in an unfamiliar peer's conversational ideas by supplying default expectations for rewards that others provide. Having positive models of others would enhance attention to and memory for the peer's remarks. Undergraduates rated themselves on secure, dismissing, preoccupied, and fearful attachment styles and several weeks later acted as participants or observers in short or long conversations with scripted confederates. Immediately after the conversations, they took recall tests about the confederate's remarks. Recall of the confederate's ideas was positively correlated with measures of positive models for others, which were computed from the attachment style ratings, but the correlation was qualified in regression analyses by interactions between the attachment measures and conversation role, length, and sex composition of the student-confederate dyad. Results are discussed in terms of attachment-related motives and experience in same-sex and opposite-sex relationships.
Religion, Relationships, and Responsible Fathering in Latter-Day Saint Families of Children with Special Needs
Authors: Marks Loren D. , Dollahite David C.
Published: March 2007

The issue of responsible and involved fathering has inspired a growing body of scholarship, policy, and interventions. However, religious communities, practices, and beliefs have been overlooked as potential factors in encouraging responsible, involved fathering. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 19 Latter-day Saint (LDS, Mormon) fathers of children with special needs and analyzed to examine the meaning of religion in relation to responsible, involved fathering for these fathers and their families. Findings are presented in connection with three dimensions of religion: religious community, religious practices, and religious beliefs. Although the fathers' experiences with religion were sometimes challenging, religion was meaningful and influential for the fathers in supporting them in their efforts to be responsible and relational. Data reflecting father-child benefits and challenges associated with the three dimensions of religion are reported. Core constructs of the three dimensions of religion, based on the fathers' narratives, are also presented.
Stability and Change in Internal Working Models of Friendship: Associations with Multiple Domains of Urban Adolescent Functioning
Authors: Miller Alison L. , Notaro Paul C. , Zimmerman Marc A.
Published: March 2007

We examined the role of stability and change in low-achieving urban African American adolescents' internal working models of their close friendships across multiple domains of functioning. We compared three groups of youth defined by their attachment orientation based on two ratings one year apart: (i) stable-secure (secure both years); (ii) stable-insecure (insecure both years); and (iii) changing orientation. We assessed psychological well-being, participation in problem behaviors, negative peer influences, school attitudes, and sexual behavior, hypothesizing that adolescents reporting stable secure internal working models of friendship would show the highest levels of functioning across all domains, followed by adolescents reporting instability in their friendships and adolescents reporting stable insecure orientations. Internal working models of friendship were assessed using a modified version of Hazan and Shaver's (1987) Adult Attachment Classifications. Across all domains, adolescents with stable secure orientations functioned better than those with stable insecure internal working models (e.g., less problem behavior and more positive school attitudes). The change group either resembled the stable-insecure group or fell in between the two stable groups. Analyses comparing outcomes based on the direction of change in attachment orientation (i.e., change to secure versus change to insecure) revealed main effects for problem behaviors and sex by change direction interaction effects for sexual behavior. These results suggest that low-achieving adolescents' attachment orientations change over time and are associated with deleterious outcomes. They extend attachment theory to adolescents' relationships with friends.
Narcissism and Attachment Patterns of Personalized and Socialized Charismatic Leaders
Authors: Popper Micha
Published: March 2007

On the basis of the theoretical distinction between socialized charismatic leaders (SCL) and personalized charismatic leaders (PCL), two studies were conducted in order to: (i) construct measures that distinguish between these two types of leader; and (ii) explore, using attachment theory, aspects that might account for the differential development of leaders in the direction of becoming personalized or socialized charismatic leaders. The findings of the two studies presented here indicate narcissism as a major personality variable that distinguishes between PCL and SCL. Attachment theory can help to explain the sources of the development of leaders in the personalized or socialized direction.
An Exploration of Exchange in Three Social Relationships: Kinship, Friendship and the Marketplace
Authors: O'Connell Lenahan
Published: March 2007

Exchange norms are analysed within the context of three social relationships: the marketplace, friendship, and kinship. Exchange is treated as a complex, decision-making process that often involves the creation of trust and willingness to accept asymmetries in transactions. When constructing an exchange each partner bases his or her behaviour on: (1) social relationships; (2) norms; (3) the type of comparison - intrapersonal or interpersonal; (4) an estimate of the partner's trustworthiness; and (5) the number of parties in the exchange network. A sample of people who built their own homes with the help of kin and friends is examined from this exchange perspective. The data suggest that people employ four beliefs and norms to accept exchange imbalance: kinship and friendship licence, the assumption of eventual balance, the need norm, and the norm of noninstrumental concern. These norms and beliefs appear to allay fears of exploitation.
Marital Status and Life Satisfaction of Black Men
Authors: Ball Richard E. , Robbins Lynn
Published: March 2007

Although considerable research has addressed the relationship between marital status and perceived well-being, few studies have been of black populations. Particularly neglected has been the study of black men. This research focuses on the relationship between marital status and overall life satisfaction within a probability sample of 253 black men. Married black men are significantly less satisfied than are the unmarried men (including the separated). This difference persists when health, age, SES, and social participation are controlled. The lower life satisfaction of married black men may result primarily from malelfemale relationships damaged by the long history of socioeconomic disadvantages faced by black Americans.
Social Embarrassment: An Analysis of the Process
Authors: Edelmann Robert J.
Published: March 2007

In recent years the phenomenon of embarrassment has attracted an increasing research interest. As a result, there have been a number of attempts to conceptualize the underlying process. Although these tend to emphasize similar aspects of the phenomenon (social transgressions, negative public image, heightened self-attention), there are a number of gaps in our knowledge of the process involved. This paper reviews previous models of embarrassment and presents an adapted and extended account of the underlying process. The five central aspects are: knowledge of social rules, protective self-presentation, self-awareness, labelling, and dealing with embarrassment. These are described and discussed, and implications of the model for future research are considered.
Decision-Making and Self-Disclosure
Authors: Fisher D.V.
Published: March 2007

Self-disclosure, defined in part in terms of personal privacy, serves as one bridge between the private side of our `selves' and others to-whom we relate. The direct investigation of self-disclosure is problematic. However, the investigation of decision-making about self-disclosure provides an alternative means of studying this interface between privacy and personal relationships, one which minimizes the risk of self-presentation. In a study employing an ethogenic method, participants were able to give coherent accounts of their decision-making. Risk was a major factor in decision-making, such that some decisions were made prior to the interaction, some were initiated during the interaction, and others were made only after an invitation to disclose. Three important features distinguishing the decisions were `intent', `focus' and "response expectation'. Intent was differentiated as (1) the discloser's problem, (2) information about the discloser, and (3) responding to the recipient's problem. The foci were whether the disclosure referred to the discloser alone or to discloser and a third party (extra-dyadic), or to the discloser in relationship with the recipient (interpersonal). Response expectations were systematically related to those features. All interpersonal decisions were taken prior to the interaction, implying greater perceived risk. The decisions were substantially guided by the relational rules: `be loyal' and `minimize risk'. A framework is presented for the examination of self-disclosure as episodic, rule-guided behaviour embedded within the context of relationships.
Gender, Stress and Violence in the Adult Relationships of a Sample of College Students
Authors: Marshall Linda L. , Rose Patricia
Published: March 2007

Research is reviewed on violence among married and unmarried students. A survey of 308 undergraduates was conducted to explore the relationships between gender, stress and subjective rates of violence experienced as an adult and experienced and observed in childhood. To measure violence, ten behaviours were rated on five-point scales (labelled `never' to `very often'). Over 74 percent of the sample reported having expressed violence and 62 percent having received violence at some time in an adult relationship. Eliminating symbolic (threatened) violence, the frequencies were 52 and 62 percent, respectively. Single respondents not in a relationship, those in a relationship and married students were examined separately. Females were more likely to report both expressed and received violence across most groups. The correlation between expressed and received violence was also higher for females. Multiple regression analyses indicated different predictor variables across the groups and genders, but abuse received as a child emerged as the most frequent.
Self-Disclosure in Everyday Life
Authors: Schmidt Tracy O. , Cornelius Randolph R.
Published: March 2007

Descriptions of naturally occurring episodes of self-disclosure were obtained from a sample of thirty-one subjects, all college students, aged 20-23 years. Subjects were asked to describe a recent situation in which they told their best female or male friend something personal about themselves. Content analysis of the episodes revealed that the majority of the self-disclosures involved the subject describing some aspect of his or her relationships with an intimate, a friend or a family member. Although most of the subjects reported that they revealed this information in order to share their feelings with their friend, to release their feelings or to seek advice and reassurance, several subjects described their self-disclosure as an attempt to strengthen and improve their relationship with their friend. Subjects, on the average, reported that their self-disclosure was very helpful in bringing about the kind of relationship that they would ideally like to have with the person with whom they shared their personal information. Subjects also saw the act of self-disclosure as helping them become the kind of person they would like to become.
Children's Social Interaction with Older, Younger, and Same-Age Peers
Authors: French Doran C.
Published: March 2007

Characteristics of children's social interaction with younger, older, and same-age peers are explored in this review in an attempt to discover those behaviours that are more likely than others to occur in different relative-age partnerships. It is hypothesized that symmetric behaviour functions (e.g., friendship) are most commonly seen in the interaction of children of similar ages, whilst asymmetric functions (e.g., leadership) are most frequent in interactions between individuals of different ages. It is, indeed, apparent that friendships most commonly occur between individuals of similar ages. Aggression occurs primarily with age-mates, but is also frequently directed toward younger peers. Some types of prosocial behaviour (e.g., nurturance, prosocial dominance, helping) are more frequently displayed with younger peers than with age-mates, while behaviours associated with fairness and morality may be more prevalent in the interaction of age-mates. Instruction and leadership behaviours are most frequently displayed by older children interacting with younger peers. The interactions of children who differ in developmental status thus differ from those between age-mates, and may have different implications for child socialization.
Close Relationships at Work: Perceptions of the Motives and Performance of Relational Participants
Authors: Dillard James P.
Published: March 2007

For a variety of reasons it is likely that romantic relationships between members of the same organization will become increasingly common. However, there exists very little information about persons' reasons for entering close relationships with other employees, how non-involved parties view the relationships, and what the outcome of such pairings might be for the host organization. Interviews were conducted with persons who had either observed or been a part of an intimate relationship with a member of the same organization. The data suggest that (1) several different motives exist for becoming involved with a fellow employee, (2) these motives are attributed differently depending upon whether one is a participant in the relationship or an outside observer, (3) organizational romance does not inevitably cause performance decrements in the involved couple, and (4) while gossip about the relationship is to be expected, the tone of it depends upon the reasons why the involved persons initiated the relationship.
Prototypes of Intimacy and Distance in Same-Sex and Opposite-Sex Relationships
Authors: Helgeson Vicki S. , Shaver Phillip , Dyer Margaret
Published: March 2007

Differences between men's and women's conceptions of intimacy and distance may be a source of misunderstanding and conflict in close relationships. Although there is already an extensive literature on sex differences in intimacy, the meaning of the findings is somewhat unclear because each set of authors adopts a unique operational definition of intimacy. Often, this definition has been affected by the tendency to equate intimacy with self-disclosure. Distance (the opposite of intimacy, if intimacy is conceptualized as closeness) has been left largely unexplored in previous research and its relation to intimacy is unclear. In the present study, the components of intimacy and distance were delineated by asking men and women to describe an intimate and a distant experience with a member of the opposite sex and a member of the same sex. Prototypes were constructed by submitting the features mentioned in each kind of experience to hierarchical cluster analysis. The results revealed more similarities than differences between men's and women's conceptions of intimacy and distance. A conceptualization of intimacy emerged with a focus on appreciation and affection rather than self-disclosure. Distance appeared to revolve around dissatisfaction with and disapproval of the partner. Analyses of variance on specific features revealed sex differences and relationship differences that were consistent with previous research. Sex differences in the description of distance reflected the status or power differential between men and women.
Friendship Networks in Transitions: Married Mothers Return to School
Authors: Suitor J. Jill
Published: March 2007

The present study uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative data on forty-four married mothers and 231 of their non-familial associates to investigate changes in the mothers' friendship networks during their first year of enrolment in a university. Drawing upon theories of status similarity and reference groups, it was anticipated that the women's friendship networks would be affected both by changes in status similarity to their associates, and by the women's degree of involvement in the new focus of activity. It was found that (1) the women and their husbands reported that well-educated friends held predominantly positive attitudes towards the enrolment, while less educated friends held predominantly negative attitudes towards it; and (2) full-time students' closeness and frequency of interaction with less educated friends declined notably over the year, while a similar pattern did not emerge among part-time students. Explanations for these patterns are discussed.
Blue-Collar and White-Collar Marital Interaction and Communication Orientation
Authors: Krokoff Lowell J. , Gottman John M. , Roy Anup K.
Published: March 2007

In light of a literature review identifying severe difficulties of interpretation attaching to previous prominent work on blue-collar marriages and on unhappy marriages, the present paper advances some new approaches to these relationships. The study assessed the effects of marital happiness (happy, unhappy), occupational status (blue-collar, white-collar), and communication orientation (high, low), on the frequency of negative affect and negative affect reciprocity during problem-solving in the home, without any observers present. The results indicated that the overall frequency of negative affect was influenced by marital happiness for both husbands and wives, occupational status for husbands, and the interaction of marital happiness with occupational status for wives; negative affect reciprocity was influenced only by marital happiness and not occupational status; and the empirical relationship between negative affect reciprocity and marital happiness was stronger for high communication oriented couples than low communication oriented couples. Implications of the above findings for the generality of current taxonomies of marital interaction and theories about blue-collar marriages are discussed.
Life-Stage Differences in Communication During Marital Conflicts
Authors: Zietlow Paul H. , Sillars Alan L.
Published: March 2007

Conversations involving young, middle-aged and retired married couples were analyzed to shed light on the characteristics of communication within older marriages. The research indicated that retired couples were the least analytic and most non-committal in their remarks. Generally, retired couples rated marital problems as non-salient and their conversations were non-conflictive. However, those among the retired group who perceived salient, unresolved problems in the marriage were extremely conflictive, producing chains of reciprocal confrontative statements. Middle-aged couples were also non-conflictive and non-committal in their discussions but, unlike the retired couples, middle-aged couples became analytic when marital problems were salient. Young couples had a comparatively intense, engagement style of interaction, characterized by alternation between analytic, confrontative and humorous remarks. The results suggest that marital communication is shaped by a combination of developmental, life stage and cohort influences.
Facial Resemblance in Engaged and Married Couples
Authors: Hinsz Verlin B.
Published: March 2007

This study investigates the commonsense view that 'people tend to marry people who look like themselves'. Various explanations of the observation of facial resemblance were considered by having younger and older raters judge the degree of facial similarity among pairs of photographs representing either actual couples, or randomly paired same age individuals of the opposite sex. The results suggest that the observation of facial resemblance among couples appears to reflect a real phenomenon. It was observed by both young and old, and in new as well as older marital relationships. The study provided no supportfor environmental co-existence, perceptual bias, or matching hypotheses as explanations for this facial resemblance. However, the results are consistent with an explanation based on the repeated mere exposure hypothesis, suggesting that through repeated exposure to their own face and to the faces of others genetically similar to themselves, individuals develop an attraction to faces similar to their own.
Self-Evaluation Maintenance and the Motivation to Interact
Authors: Yinon Yoel , Bizman Aharon , Yagil Dana
Published: March 2007

Emotional vs. instrumental attraction to a better vs. a similarly performing other was examined in the present study. In line with the SEM model (Tesser, 1988) it was hypothesized that emotional attraction to a similarly performing other would be higher than attraction to a better performing other under high relevance, and vice versa under low relevance. Instrumental attraction to the better performing other would be higher than the attraction to a similarly performing other under both high and low relevance. In a factorial design, high school students were exposed to a better or similar other's performance on an intelligence test (high relevance) or a literature knowledge test (low relevance), after which both emotional and instrumental attraction were measured. It was found that, regardless of relevance, emotional attraction was higher to the similar than to the better performing other, and instrumental attraction was higher to the better than to the similarly performing other. The results are discussed in terms of the SEM model.
Memories of Peer Relations and Styles of Conflict Management
Authors: Miller Judi Beinstein
Published: March 2007

Memories of peer acceptance are investigated among young adults in relation to their imagined styles of conflict management. In an initial pilot study, college students provided accounts of their childhood and adolescent peer relations. They also wrote responses to a series of interpersonal conflict situations. Scales for estimating peer memories and conflict responses were developed from their responses. These instruments were used to test preliminary findings thhhhat assertive styles are associated with positive memories and acquiescent styles with negative ones. Evidence from a second pilot and follow-up study supported both propositions. The final peer relations memory scale and its subscales were shown to have respectable internal reliability and to predict self-consciousness as well as conflict response scores.
Interpersonal Control and Courtship Aggression
Authors: Stets Jan E. , Pirog-Good Maureen A.
Published: March 2007

This research examines the relationship between aggression and the interpersonal process of control during courtship. A sample of white heterosexual college dating relationships is examined. Data are collected on men and women inflicting and sustaining minor and severe aggression during courtship. The results show that across relationships, men are no more likely than women to control. This challenges the notion that men are more likely to control interpersonally because of their control in the wider society. Furthermore, control predicts inflicting and sustaining minor but not severe aggression. This suggests that the causal factors influencing minor aggression are different from those affecting severe aggression.
Complementarity in Romantic Relationships: A Self-Evaluation Maintenance Perspective
Authors: Pilkington Constance J. , Tesser Abraham , Stephens Deborah
Published: March 2007

Three studies were conducted to extend the Self-Evaluation Maintenance (SEM) model to romantic relationships. Subjects in all three studies indicated the importance of sixty-eight activities to themselves and, in Studies 2 and 3, to their partners. For activities that were relevant to subjects' self-definitions, a comparison effect emerged; subjects reported outperforming their partners. When self-relevance was low, a reflection effect emerged; subjects reported being outperformed by their partners. Subjects' reports also showed `empathic' comparison and reflection processes for their partners. These effects were strongest when relevance was high for one partner and low for the other; when partners' self-definitions were similar, the SEM processes were attenuated. These effects persisted even when the reports of both partners were considered (Study 3). The findings are discussed in the framework of the complementarity hypothesis, and implications for both the SEM model and the complementarity hypothesis are considered.
Mutual Support in Mixed-Status Relationships
Authors: Albrecht Torrance L. , Halsey Jane
Published: March 2007

The main purpose of this study was to learn more about how support operates in mixed-status pairs. Previous work has found fairly low agreement between recipients and providers on the functions of support exchanged in general relationships. The central question in this study was whether perceptual congruency regarding social support interactions had an impact on key aspects of task relationships between mixed-status partners, including relational certainty, trust, talk about new ideas and performance evaluation. Results of 95 nurse manager-staff nurse dyads showed that those relationships where nurse managers reported giving the most support and staff nurses reported receiving the most support were the relationships with the highest perceived reciprocity, performance ratings and most frequent discussions on innovation.
The Dialectics of (in)Competence
Authors: Spitzberg Brian H.
Published: March 2007

The study of interpersonal communication competence, like many other constructs in social science, has been unduly biased by an ideology of positivity. This article attempts to redress this emphasis by examining a variety of dialectical and problematic tensions in human relations. These tensions reflect potential dilemmas for social actors who face potentially incompatible objectives in their lines of action. In addition, several dialectical tensions reflect dilemmas in the attribution of competence in the stream of interaction. The intent of this analysis is to direct conceptual and empirical efforts toward a richer and more complex understanding of interpersonal competence.
Masculinity and Femininity in the Self with an Intimate Partner: Men are Not Always Men in the Company of Women
Authors: Vonk Roos , van Nobelen Dorien
Published: March 2007

Males and females from thirty intimate couples described their self in general, self with their partner, and their partner. With respect to masculinity and femininity, females' impressions of their male partners corresponded with males' perceptions of self-in-general, while males' impressions of their female partners corresponded more with females' perceptions of self-with-partner. Higher levels of femininity and lower levels of masculinity in the descriptions of self-with-partner were associated with more relationship satisfaction. Further, descriptions of self-with-partner reflected more feminine and less masculine attributes than descriptions of self-in-general. These findings suggest that people behave in a more feminine way toward their intimate partner than toward others, and that this is beneficial for an intimate relationship.
Social Prestige and Assortive Mating: A Comparison of Students from 1956 and 1988
Authors: Whitbeck Les B. , Hoyt Danny R.
Published: March 2007

The current patterns and trends in assortive mating among college students were examined in a replication and extension of Rogers & Havens' (1960) study of campus prestige and mate selection. Loglinear models of association were used to consider the effects of prestige, sex-ratio and propinquity on assortive mating. The tendency to date within group was found to have increased within the past 30 years. After adjusting for the over-time shifts in sex-ratio and propinquity, the pattern of assortive mating was found to be most consistent with interpretations of the increasing salience of prestige for assortive mating among college students.
Intimate Friendship Scale: Conceptual Underpinnings, Psychometric Properties and Construct Validity
Authors: Sharabany Ruth
Published: March 2007

The Intimate Friendship Scale is reviewed based on 16 studies relevant to children and preadolescents. The conceptual background is presented. Intimate friendship is considered a configuration of diverse but coherently related quantitatively commensurate elements, specified here. The structure of the original scale is described, as well as its eight dimensions of content. Data on the scale's reliability, content validity (through the use of judges), criterion validity (using reciprocity of choice), predictive validity (through follow-up comparisons after 7 years), construct validity (through comparisons involving kibbutz and city, social class, divorce, twins, defense mechanisms and group interventions) and discriminant validity (through comparisons with comradeship, popularity, role-taking, IQ and social desirability) are presented. The discussion addresses questions regarding the scale, and suggests directions for future research.
Using Rating Scale and Nomination Techniques to Measure Friendship and Popularity
Authors: Bukowski William M. , Hoza Betsy , Newcomb Andrew F.
Published: March 2007

The associations between measures of friendship and popularity derived from nomination and rating scales procedures were studied with a sample of school-age and early adolescent boys and girls. Confirmatory factor analyses and comparisons of the correlations among these measures showed that each of these techniques can provide parallel measures of popularity (i.e. sociometric preference) and friendship (i.e. whether the child is participating in a mutual friendship). These findings are discussed in regard to measurement issues in the study of friendship and popularity.
Desire for Marriage and Life Satisfaction among Unmarried Heterosexual Adults
Authors: Frazier Patricia , Arikian Nancy , Benson Sonja , Losoff Ann , Maurer Steven
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may underlie current marriage trends. A community sample of 217 unmarried adults aged over 30 years was surveyed regarding their reasons for being single, desire for marriage and life satisfaction. Results suggest, first, that unmarried adults attribute being single to both barriers and choices. Second, men desire marriage more than do women and the never-married want to marry more than the divorced. Divorced women have the least desire for marriage. Divorced individuals also report more life satisfaction than never-married individuals. Mediational analyses suggest that men have more desire for marriage than do women because they have less social support and that never-married individuals have more desire for marriage and lower life satisfaction than divorced individuals because they have lower self-esteem. Implications for counseling and future research are discussed.
Attachment and Social Cognition Theories of Romantic Relationships: Convergent or Complementary Perspectives?
Authors: Whisman Mark A. , Allan Laura E.
Published: March 2007

Adult attachment and social cognition perspectives of romantic relationships have developed relatively independently of one another, despite the fact that both stress the importance of cognitive conceptual frameworks of relationship functioning. This study examines the strength of the association between constructs from the two perspectives and their associations with concurrent relationship adjustment and 6-month longitudinal relationship dissolution. Results from 68 dating couples suggested a modest degree of convergence between measures of attachment, relationship beliefs and relationship attributions. Measures of both adult attachment and relationship beliefs and attributions were uniquely related to concurrent relationship adjustment, although between-partner differences on attachment and social cognition measures were largely unrelated to relationship adjustment. The only relationship cognition variable that was predictive of subsequent relationship dissolution was stronger endorsement by women of partner responsibility attributions (i.e. viewing negative partner behavior as blameworthy, intentional and selfishly motivated). These results suggest that attachment and social cognition may offer complementary perspectives of romantic relationships.
Attractiveness and Disclosure in Initial Encounters of Mixed-Sex Dyads
Authors: Stiles William B. , Walz Nicolay C. , Schroeder Michelle A.B. , Williams Laura L. , Ickes William
Published: March 2007

Physically attractive people describe their daily interactions as more disclosing, intimate and satisfying than do unattractive people. We investigated the disclosing aspect of this description during naturally occurring encounters. Six-minute interactions of 38 previously unacquainted mixed-sex dyads were videotaped using Ickes's dyadic interaction paradigm. Physical attractiveness was rated reliably and videotape transcripts were coded according to a taxonomy of verbal response modes. The average attractiveness of dyads was significantly correlated with their average frequency of `pure Disclosure' (first-person subjective utterances). Breakdowns revealed that both men and women disclosed more if they themselves were attractive and if their partner was attractive. Participants' self-reported shyness tended to suppress the frequency of `pure Edification' (third-person objective utterances).
Perceptions of Hispanic and African-American Couples at the Friendship or Engagement Stage of a Relationship
Authors: Garcia Stella D. , Rivera Semilla M.
Published: March 2007

In an attempt to comprehend the perceptions held about racially similar and dissimilar couples, four issues were examined in this study. First, differences in perceptions based on the couple's racial composition were investigated. It was hypothesized that perceptions about the couple, its members, and its relationship quality would be more positive for same-race dyads than mixed-race couples. Second, we examined the impact of intimacy level on perceptions reported about these dyads. Pairs who were friends were predicted to receive more positive perceptions than the engaged couples. Third, we hypothesized that racially dissimilar couples who were engaged would be perceived more negatively than the racially similar friend and engaged dyads and the racially dissimilar friend pairs. Lastly, past studies have indicated perceiver sex and race differences in perceptions of interracial couples. Given the inconsistencies in the literature, we looked at the possible sex- and race-of-the-perceiver effects on perceptions of these dyads. Results supported the first and second hypotheses, and there was partial evidence for the last. Understanding the perceptions of same-race and mixed-race couples thus requires consideration of its racial composition, the relationship's level of intimacy, and the perceiver's sex.
Do Venture Capitalists' Implicit Theories on New Business Success/Failure have Empirical Validity?
Authors: Riquelme Hernan , Watson John
Published: March 2007

In assessing new business proposals, venture capitalists rely on their own implicit theories (beliefs) about the attributes that a potentially successful business should possess. From these 'commonsense theories' venture capitalists develop decision rules (selection criteria) to assess the potential viability (and likely profitability) of new business proposals. Although identifying these selection criteria is important, it is also important to determine whether the criteria actually work; that is, are they related to future business success? Despite a call for such confirmatory research, there have only been a handful of studies to date that have attempted to validate venture capitalists' selection criteria. This article reviews and analyses previous empirical studies examining the reasons for small and mediumenterprise success and failure, and the results provide support for (validate) the selection criteria developed for a sample of UK venture capitalists.
How to understand financial information Part 1: introduction and assessing profitability
Authors: McMahon Richard G. P.
Published: March 2007

Financial statements mean little to the uninitiated. This paper, the first of two, explains, in layman's terms, how to understand financial information. It covers measures of profitability. The second article will cover measures of company liquidity and the use of financial ratios.
Constructing Political Reality in Russia
Authors: Voltmer Katrin
Published: March 2007

Democratization of public communication not only requires the institutional reorganization of the mass media, but also the adoption of new journalistic practices in political reporting. These practices include a new conception of the role of journalists in society and new standards of the quality of news reporting. This article takes the Izvestiya, one of Russia's quality papers, as an example to discuss the specific problems Russian print media are confronted with when struggling for independence. A quantitative content analysis of the political coverage of the Izvestiya, which compares front-page news in 1988 and 1996, elucidates how the paper informs its readers about political matters today and how the structure of news has changed over the last decade. The findings show the coexistence of old and new journalistic norms. There are clear signs of growing professionalization with the news becoming more factual, more timely and broader in the selection of topics. At the same time, we still find a high degree of subjective evaluations indicating the persistence of the historical legacy of Russian journalism.
New Social Movement Theory and Minority Language Television Campaigns
Authors: Hourigan Niamh
Published: March 2007

New social movement (NSM) theory has been the dominant framework for the analysis of European social movements since the 1970s. The framework has generally focused on movements articulating `new' grievances such as the women's, ecology and peace movements. This article attempts to use this perspective to account for the campaigns of indigenous European linguistic minorities for own-language television services. The analysis suggests that social movement theorists need to return to the work of early NSM advocates such as Alain Touraine and Alberto Melucci, who focused on the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial society. This work helps explain how the goals set by social movements within more traditional cleavages have been transformed and restructured by the transition to post-industrial society.
Issues and Personalities in German and Dutch Television News
Authors: Kleinnijenhuis Jan , Maurer Marcus , Kepplinger Hans Mathias , Oegema Dirk
Published: March 2007

This article elucidates the role of issue news and personality news in Germany and the Netherlands. A party with a popular leader is assumed to benefit from increased media attention. A party may also benefit from issue news. News on an issue favours its `issue owner' (e.g. the German Social Democrats in the case of news on social security). Good news on issue developments (e.g. rising employment) favours the parties who make up the Dutch coalition government, whereas bad news (e.g. rising unemployment) favours opposition parties. Content analysis of the 1994 and 1998 election campaigns in Germany and the Netherlands shows that issue news and personality portrayal vary heavily between countries and between subsequent elections within one country. A broad comparison of news patterns and election outcomes suggests that election outcomes do indeed correspond with the news. A closer examination of effects of news about issues and party leaders on party preference at the level of individual respondents confirms the results of the exploratory analysis.
Diffusion of News About the Assassination of Olof Palme: A Trans-Continental, Two-City Comparison of the Process
Authors: Gantz Walter , Tokinoya Hiroshi
Published: March 2007

This article, presenting telephone survey data gathered in Japan and the US, presents a cross system examination of the diffusion process. Because Japan and the US have highly developed and readily accessible news media, the authors anticipated that diffusion in both countries would be relatively rapid and extensive, occurring primarily through mediated channels of communication. Since the event also was seen as more salient in Japan, the authors expected diffusion to be more rapid and extensive in Japan, with interpersonal channels playing a more active role in the process. These expectations were confirmed by the data. News coverage and accessibility of the media may be as central as salience in dictating how rapidly and extensively events diffuse throughout society, as well as how members of society become aware of events.
The Short-Term Impact of Cable Television in West Germany: Preliminary Findings from a Quasi-Experimental Study
Authors: Pfetsch Barbara , Kutteroff Albrecht
Published: March 2007

Before its general introduction, cable television in West Germany was assessed in four pilot projects. The paper reports on a quasi-experimental panel study for the pilot project in Ludwigshafen. This was designed to examine audience pre-dispositions towards the new medium and the consequences of exposure to it. Comparisons were made between cable subscribers and non-subscribers over time in terms of general leisure behaviour, media use and the effects of cable television on those dimensions. Overall, the results support an image of the cable audience whose members' relationship to the medium reflects attitudes towards uses made of television before cable was delivered to their homes.
Audiences for International Radio Broadcasts
Authors: Mytton Graham , Forrester Carol
Published: March 2007

More than eighty governments support international broadcasting services. There are also commercial, religious and other kinds of station. Both the number of stations and their hours of output have greatly increased since the war, and expansion continues today. The development of the transistor led to rapid growth in radio set ownership in the 1950s and 1960s, especially in the Third World. New listeners were attracted to international broadcasts in large numbers, particularly where local choice was poor. Audience research shows the comparative size and nature of audiences for the major international broadcasts in four continents. In some countries audiences for the BBC, VOA, Deutsche Welle, Radio France and others are large enough to rival domestic stations. BBC listeners mostly give news and current affairs as their principal reason for listening. Most international broadcasters, however, reach few listeners. This article considers the significance of international radio broadcasting and what we know of its audiences.