bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Angry arguments across the picket lines: Left Labour councils and white collar trade unionism
Authors: Weinstein Jeremy
Published: March 2007

This paper examines the experience of those Labour authorities who emerged from the 1982 local elections, saw themselves as part of the 'new urban left' and so committed to constructing 'local socialism'. It seeks to explain how those councillors then became locked into a series of unantici pated but actually inevitable bitter industrial disputes with their workers organised in NALGO.

It traces some of the recent developments both within the left of the Labour Party and white collar trade unionism which led to those conflicts. These wider ideas are then tested out by events in the London Borough of Southwark, specifically 1) the residential social workers' action and 2) the campaign against rate capping.

The paper draws on interviews with NALGO shop stewards in South wark and concludes that the traditional positions of these trade unionists, although characterised as defensive, negative and obstructive by some Labour councillors, have actually stood the test of time rather better than the more ambitious hopes of their socialist employers .
Assessment and accountability in community care
Authors: Cornwell Nicki
Published: March 2007

This article examines implementation issues for the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act. A comparison with the 1981 Education Act is used to raise concerns about decision making processes and professional power issues.
Putting patients first: the continuity of the consumerist discourse in health policy, from the radical right to New Labour
Authors: Crinson Iain
Published: March 2007

This article seeks to comment on the extent to which the 'liberal conser vatism' of the New Labour government—liberal as in a celebration of market mechanisms, 'conservative' as in a prescriptive moralism—incor— porates the now less fashionable, but enduringly influential discourse of consumerism in its political agenda for the National Health Service, arguing that this marks a continuity with the politics of the last Conservative government.
A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Effects of Apology and Perspective Taking on Forgiveness
Authors: Takaku Seiji , Weiner Bernard , Ohbuchi Ken-Ichi
Published: March 2007

Guided by Robinson’s general belief that polite language yields trust from others, the authors examined the likelihood of apology acceptance in two cultures (Japan and the United States).Prior to reading a scenario in which they were to imagine being mistreated by their classmates, the participants were randomly assigned to one of three perspective-taking conditions: (a) recall times when they mistreated or hurt others in the past; (b) imagine how the victimized classmate would think, feel, and behave in the scenario; or (c) imagine the situation as the personal victim. Participants then read the scenario, which was followed by an elaborate apology from the classmate. Results from both cultures indicated that, compared with the participants in the control condition, the participants in the recall-self-as-wrongdoer condition were significantly more likely to accept the apology from the classmate and forgive the transgression. Expected and unexpected cultural differences also were found.
Personality Judgements of Australian Aborigine and White Speakers: Ethnicity, Sex and Context
Authors: Gallois Cynthia , Callan Victor J. , Johnstone Michael
Published: March 2007

Eighty-four male and 84 female high-school students, who were urban whites, rural whites, or rural Australian Aborigines rated audiotapes of Aboriginal and white male and female speakers. Each speaker presented two standardcontent passages representing statusand solidarity-oriented contexts. Aboriginal students rated all speakers favourably, and rated Aboriginal speakers more favourably in the solidarity context. Rural white students, who had more contact with Aborigines than did urban whites, rated Aboriginal speakers more positively than did urban whites. Interactions involving sex of speaker revealed that traditional sex-roJedit6fotypes were applied according to context by urban white young people. Finallyt the discussion presents the possibility of a hierarchy of impressions based on speech, in which the application of sex-role stereotypes to outgroup sp4akers varies as a function of social distance from the group.
Requesting Rewards: A Study of Distributive Justice
Authors: Winterhoff-Spurk Peter , Herrmann Theo , Weindrich Diana
Published: March 2007

Social psychological research on distributive justice is confined to the'how much' of reward allocation situations. This paradigm was elaborated byinvestigating verbal forms of reward claims in an experiment with 193 pupils aged 12 to 14. In so-called 'standard situations', speakers used simple 'E-requests' and speech ellipses (referred to the speaker's primary goal e.g. 'I'd like my 15 chips' or '15 chips please') to state their claims. In ambiguous 'non-standard' situations, more polite and complex request forms were manifested which were composed of justification and appeal clauses (e.g. 'We made an agreement that each of us gets something. I would like to have 15 chips too'). The findings are viewed as an initial contribution toward greater ecological validity in the social psychological area of distributive justice because real allocations take place in 'face-to-face' situations in which speech plays an important role.
Language and Social Psychology
Authors: Robinson W. Peter
Published: March 2007

In the social psychology of language, one recent major development has been an expansion in the types of method considered acceptable for generating and probing descriptions and explanations. Six methodological contrasts are examined, and arguments are advanced both for matching methods to questions and for preferring a multiplicity of them to any exclusive commitment to one. A sketch of the history of research into language use, social class, and education is used to illustrate the academic and sociopolitical consequences of methodological tunnel vision. The example is generalized to questions of whether the development of our societies and subject is to be founded on rational constructions of realities. It is argued that the issue of what are to count as well-founded beliefs depends on the attitudes adopted to the representational function of language and the criteria used to evaluate statements serving this function.
Depression and Verbal Behavior in Conversations with Friends and Strangers
Authors: Segrin Chris , Flora Jeanne
Published: March 2007

This study sought to determine whether people with depression exhibited social skills deficits in the domain of verbal behavior. Thirty-five students with depression and 39 nondepressed students engaged in a 7-minute conversation with either a friend or a stranger. Results indicated no depressed-nondepressed differences in speech productivity or negativity. However, a number of significant interactions indicated that people with depression who talked with a friend exhibited more negative language and used more language indicative of partner-focused attention than other participants.
Linguistic Power and Persuasion
Authors: Holtgraves Thomas , Lasky Benjamin
Published: March 2007

This study examined the role of linguistic power in persuasion. Participants listened to a persuasive message conveyed in either a powerless style (frequent hedges, hesitations, and tag questions) or a powerful style (the absence of these features). In addition, the ability of participants to process the message and speaker gender were manipulated. Participants who heard the powerless version perceived the speaker and the arguments more negatively and were less in favor of the message proposal than were participants who heard the same message in a powerful style. These effects occurred regardless of whether participants were able to process the message deeply. There was also evidence that the effects of linguistic power on persuasion are mediated by its effects on perceptions of the speaker and the message arguments.
Improving Primary Schools through School Development Planning
Authors: Broadhead Pat , Cuckle Pat , Hodgson Janet , Dunford John
Published: March 2007

Pat Broadhead and Janet Hodgson are lecturers in education; John Dunford is a lecturer in educational management; and Pat Cuckle is a research fellow, all at the School of Education at the University of Leeds. In this article they draw upon a survey of primary headteachers which was designed to explore aspects of the design and implementation of school development plans. It explores, in particular, discrepancies between the conventional wisdom to be found in official documents and the literature and the reality of current practice in a number of primary schools.
The New Schools' Inspection System
Authors: Thomas Gerran
Published: March 2007

This paper provides a brief history of schools' inspection in its contemporary form, and explains how the chief responsibility for such inspections was passed in 1992 from HMI to OFSTED in England, and the Office of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector in Wales. From his research into 37 teachers at all levels in six secondary schools located within five different LEAs and observations of two training courses for inspectors, the author concludes that inspections under the new system are more stressful than they need to be. With a view to reducing their negative effects, proposals for changes in the training of inspectors, in the procedures used by teams of inspectors and in the behaviour of some inspectors are put forward.
The Case for Theoretical Pluralism
Authors: Griffiths Daniel
Published: March 2007

In this paper, the author begins with the proposition that research and theory tend to lag behind practice in educational administration. By this he means that the problems of schools, and the activities of administrators, teachers, students and parents are not adequately explained by present theories nor examined successfully by present-day research. In addition, while there seems to be a general awareness of the social milieu in which the school exists, theory and research in educational administration do not reflect the social setting of education. There are many reasons for this, including faulty research methodology. In exploring this claim the author makes the case for theoretical pluralism and does so by attempting to demonstrate the shortcomings of research based on single theories. He claims that practitioners have always complained that research has not helped them to do a better job and suggests that theoretical pluralism offers the best hope of remedying this.
Improving Ineffective Departments in Secondary Schools
Authors: Harris Alma
Published: March 2007

This article outlines the findings from a small-scale qualitative study of differentially effective departments within a range of secondary schools. It describes the methodology selected for the investigation and considers those factors which contribute to departments being less effective. It is argued that less effective departments have common characteristics, or features, which militate against effective working. The article concludes that different improvement strategies will be required for departments that are at different stages of development and growth.
The Career Perspectives of Deputy Headteachers
Authors: James Chris , Whiting Denise
Published: March 2007

This paper reports on a study of the career perspectives of primary and secondary deputy headteachers in two LEAs in England and Wales as they consciously make the decision whether or not to strive for headship. Drawing upon the data, five categories of deputy headteacher emerge: `potential aspirants', `active aspirants', `unpredictables', `settlers' and `unavailable aspirants'. Evidence is presented which indicates that the career perspectives of deputy headteachers are constructed from a broad range of professional and personal factors. In the final section of the paper, the implications of these findings for the process of management development are discussed.
School Autonomy in the Netherlands
Authors: Karsten Sjoerd
Published: March 2007

Since the 1980s, confidence in the government's ability to govern has in the Netherlands been under fire from many directions. This has resulted in an educational policy which favours deregulation and increasing levels of autonomy for school boards and their schools. This paper demonstrates that, despite the pursuit of administrative reform, an intermediary administrative tier has come into being between the central government and schools, which further complicates the relationship between these two levels. One effect of such a buffer zone could be that, while schools and school boards continue to feel the sense of powerlessness and lack of autonomy characteristic of earlier times, the government's sense of central responsibility is weakened.
Defending Ways of Life
Authors: Johnson Richard
Published: March 2007

This article explores the rhetorics of President Bush and Prime Minister Blair in the aftermath of 11th September. It takes their differing versions of masculinity as a starting-point. The speeches refer extensively to `ways of life', a concept also worth recovering theoretically. Anti-terrorism is a defence of ways of living which are without moral ambiguity and are in absolute opposition to terrorist `evil'. Bush constructs a hegemony at home as a basis for unilateral global interventions. His Americanism draws on familiar themes (`freedom', patriotism, religion), but also invokes compassion, pugnacity and sporting masculinities, drawn especially from the game of baseball. Blair's more `intellectual' version aims at the construction of an international `community' or coalition with Britain in a pivotal role. The contexts, strengths, vulnerabilities, and political and ethical limits of anti-terrorism are explored in detail, including some correspondence with Al-Qa'ida's fundamentalism.
Material Objects in Social Worlds
Authors: Harré Rom
Published: March 2007

This article strongly argues the priority of symbolic, especially discursive, action over the material order in the genesis of social things. What turns a piece of stuff into a social object is its embedment in a narrative construction. The attribution of an active or a passive role to things in relation to persons is thus essentially story-relative: nothing happens or exists in the social world unless it is framed by human performative activity. Drawing on Gibson's notion of `affordance', Harré affirms that material things may be disposed towards many different usages, and may acquire multiple identities according to different narrative constructions, even though the range of their possible `existences' is constrained by certain material features. Objects acquire their full significance only if one takes account of their double role in both the `practical' order, which includes social arrangements for maintaining life, and the `expressive' order, which creates hierarchies of honour and status, and which enjoys priority over the former. Reasoning from a microsociological constructionist perspective, Harré restates his view that there is nothing else to social life but symbolic exchanges and joint management of meaning, including the meaning of things; the illusion that some thing is real is merely an effect of certain interpretational grammars which remain stable across the generations or even the centuries.
Bohemian Love
Authors: Wilson Elizabeth
Published: March 2007

The rise of a bohemian subculture in the early 19th century drew on the Romantic beliefs in genius on the one hand and erotic passion on the other. Romantic love was a tragic, often forbidden passion and thus could include the most transgressive form: homosexuality. In the German bohemias of Munich and Berlin at the turn of the century, however, the influence of psychoanalysis as a radical new theory of human desire influenced the `erotic revolution' of the period; this moved bohemian love from an understanding of desire as a fatal passion to a celebration of it as a liberating and ecstatic force, albeit with sometimes disastrous consequences. The migration of psychoanalysis to the American bohemia of Greenwich Village inaugurated a further change as popularized versions of Freudian theory advocated the importance of sexual fulfilment in life, yet also became normative and prescriptive. The ironic conclusion drawn is that `bohemian love' has become the norm in a consumer society, yet shorn of its subversive and transgressive elements.
The Domain of the Third: French Social Theory into the 1980s
Authors: Boyne Roy
Published: March 2007

Empty space. The body started off again, heavy and hot, with tremors and flushes of anger assailing the throat and stomach. But no one inhabited that body now. The streets were emptied as though their contents had been poured down a sink: something that a while ago had filled them had been swallowed up. The usual objects were still there, intact, but they had all become disrupted, they descended from the sky like enormous stalactites, or towered upwards like fantastic dolmens. All their usual little appeals, their shrill cicada-chirpings, had vanished into thin air, and were silent. A man's future had once challenged them, and they met it with a scatter of diverse temptations. That future was dead. (Jean-Paul Sartre, The Age of Reason.)
Habermas, Post-Freudian Psychoanalysis, and the End of the Individual
Authors: Alford C. Fred
Published: March 2007

For some time now a number of critics have argued that Juergen Habermas has misinterpreted Freud. The gist of this criticism is that Habermas' interpretation of psychoanalysis as `depth hermeneutics' must violate the intent of Freud's work, which is so deeply grounded in drive theory. In other words, Habermas confuses philosophical reflection with psychoanalysis. This paper takes a somewhat different focus. It examines the consequences of Habermas' interpretation of Freud for Habermas' view of the individual. It is shown that Habermas' interpretation eventuates in an abstract and shadowy view of the individual. It is argued that an alternative view of psychoanalysis, object relations theory, can help locate the source of Habermas' pale view of the individual, and help correct it, without succumbing to `neo-Freudian revisionism'. Object relations theory also suggests that in order to overcome the diminution of the individual in real life it is necessary for political theory to examine seriously the role of the family. Finally, object relations theory generates an interesting criticism of so-called postmodern psychoanalysis—for example, the work of Jacques Lacan. This criticism can help us better understand the relationship between Habermas and modernism.
West German and American Interaction Forms: One Level of Structured Misunderstanding
Authors: Kalberg Stephen
Published: March 2007

Forms of interaction are seldom addressed in comparative perspective. This investigation based on field notes and interviews examines the manner in which a series of American and West German patterns of interpersonal relations diverge. The insider/outsider, public/private, Freundschaft/friendship dichotomies, as well as modes of speaking and group dynamics, are discussed. A series of regular and structured misunderstandings may result when Americans and West Germans come into contact.
What Prospects of Morality in Times of Uncertainty?
Authors: Bauman Zygmunt
Published: March 2007

This article explores ethical theories as variations on two biblical stories of the origins of morality: morality as the necessity to make choices and assume responsibility and morality as conformity to a rule set by a supreme power. It looks at Knud Løgstrup's and Emanuel Levinas's theories as the most prominent examples of the first approach — and thus best fit to grasp the realities of moral life under contemporary conditions of existential uncertainty and the only ones which perceive in the plurality of choices the natural home of the moral self, rather than a threat to morality. The meaning of Løgstrup's `unspoken demand' and Levinas's `unconditional responsibility'; responsibility to the weaker versus obligations to the stronger; moral choice as the aspect of human condition versus justice as the outcome of social action are also explored.
Some Relevant Questions For Work With Racist And Racially Motivated Offenders
Authors: McDonald Charles
Published: March 2007

The necessity of tackling racism remains high on the political and professional agenda for the Probation Service. Here, Charles McDonald, a seconded prison probation officer, presents a case study of constructive work with a racially motivated offender, posing a number of important questions and discussing the usefulness of the 'From Murder to Murder' resource pack.
Aspects of Adolescence: Delinquency, Neurosis and Creativity
Authors: Scarlett Jean
Published: March 2007

A consideration of anti-social and creative tendencies in adolescents, based on the author's work in a Borstal Recall Centre, an interpretative study of the life and literature of Emily Brontë, and the ideas of D. W. Winnicott.
Strategies for Preventing Reoffending: A Course for Sex Offenders
Authors: Eldridge Hilary , Gibbs Peter
Published: March 2007

Working with groups of offenders against children, combining prevention, social skills and education, has proved helpful to participants and so far there have been no reconvictions.
Keeping in Professional Shape: A Collaborative Strategy for Skill Development
Authors: Vanstone Maurice
Published: March 2007

It is vital that every member of the Probation Service assumes responsibility for keeping in professional shape, and a prime duty of management to create and resource the opportunity for teams to have a clear training strategy.
The Police and Prison Write-Offs: Who Benefits?
Authors: Gill Pete
Published: March 2007

There has been a vast increase in the police practice of visiting prisoners to obtain admissions to other offences, leading to an increased 'clear up' rate. But whose interests are really being served?
An introduction to the use of inkjet for tactile diagram production
Authors: McCallum Don , Ungar Simon
Published: March 2007

The three common methods for producing tactile diagrams are mixed-media, swell paper and thermoform. This paper describes a new innovative method for producing tactile diagrams using piezoelectric inkjet technology that overcomes some of the limitations of these methods. A photocuring acrylic polymer ink is repeatedly printed onto a thermoplastic substrate and exposed to ultraviolet light which bonds the ink to the substrate and cures it to a hard state. The speed and precision of the process means that diagrams with fine, yet easily discriminated tactile features will be available to the user relatively cheaply. The process is allied to work in the printed circuit board and rapid prototyping industries, which are using similar inkjet technology to engineer highly toleranced components. It is hoped that the newly available tactile maps will facilitate psychological, psychophysical and cartographic research.
The response of blind and partially sighted teenagers to genetic counselling: first study in the West Midlands
Authors: Porter Janice A. , Bundey Sarah , Insley Jack
Published: March 2007

This article describes the response of blind and partially sighted teenagers to genetic counselling; their knowledge of disability and their attitudes towards marriage and parenthood. The types of visual impairments diagnosed, together with their frequencies, are also reported.
OFSTED inspections and their challenge
Authors: Mason Heather
Published: March 2007

From September 1994 maintained and non-maintained special schools, and all primary schools, have been subject to an inspection by the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED). Since 1993, all secondary schools, including those with units for the visually impaired, have formed part of the new inspection process. Some special schools, including one residential and one day primary school for the visually impaired, were inspected by HMI in order to establish a model for future inspections and to train registered inspectors for their new duties. Anxiety has already been expressed about the knowledge- base of the Inspectorate. The following article attempts to examine and explain some of the reasons for this anxiety in relation both to special schools for the visually impaired and to mainstream schools with specialist provision.
Look and Think users in the early nineties
Authors: Bozic Nick
Published: March 2007

This study examined how the Look and Think functional vision assessment and training procedure was being used in schools in the recent past. A questionnaire was sent to 218 educational institutions throughout the UK exploring usage during the year 1993. It asked questions about: whether the procedure had been used; the manner in which assessments were carried out; the sort of children that Look and Think was used with; and how the visual training component of the procedure was organised. Fifty-eight per cent of the instititions which responded had used Look and Think during 1993. The meaning of the responses obtained is discussed, and thoughts on possible future research are outlined.
The play behaviour of young blind children and its relationship to developmental stages
Authors: Ferguson Roseann , Buultjens Marianna
Published: March 2007

Monthly observations made of the play behaviour of 16 young blind children over an 18 month period revealed a number of significant correlations between play categories and the Reynell-Zinkin Developmental Scales. The main findings show that the children who had high scores on all the developmental scales also had a high involvement in 'fantasy' play; however our observations show children as young as 18 months, prompted by older children, exhibiting 'pretend' play in their symbolic use of language and imitation but not in symbolic use of objects, suggesting that the reported delays in symbolic play in blind children may not be so much delays as differences. Children with low scores on language and sensory motor understanding spent more time in exploratory play. It is suggested that a period of intense exploration may be a necessary precursor to development in these areas. Intervention by encouraging and assisting exploratory play may maximise its benefits.
Visual and Additional Impairments: Social Perspectives and Attitudes
Authors: Aitken Stuart
Published: March 2007

Over the past 30 years or so there has been an increased recognition that a substantial number of people who are visually impaired have additional impairments. Increased recognition has been accompanied by the introduction of new methods and technologies. Other contributors to this special issue (BJVI, 15.3, September 1997) share these new approaches with readers. This Paper asks why there has been an increased recognition and describes some of the social perspectives and changes that may have helped to shape attitudes towards people with visual and additional impairments.
Married Couples' Conflict Responses and Marital Quality
Authors: Ridley Carl A. , Wilhelm Mari S. , Surra Catherine A.
Published: March 2007

In order to further our understanding of conflict within a marital relationship, this study had two purposes: (i) to identify married couples' conflict response profiles, and (ii) to relate these conflict profiles to appraisals of marital quality. Spouses in 173 intact married couples completed a questionnaire that included measures of a sample of aggressive, withdrawing, and problem-solving responses occurring during conflict episodes, and indices of marital quality. Cluster analyses of married dyads' conflict responses generated four conceptually interesting profiles - two symmetrical ('distancing couples' and `engaging couples') and two asymmetrical ('distancing husbands' and `distancing wives'). Results indicated that couples who endorse different conflict profiles could be distinguished according to their level of marital adjustment. The advantages to understanding conflict responses within a marriage by studying the couple as the unit of analysis were highlighted.
Social Support as Relationship Maintenance in Gay Male Couples Coping with Hiv or Aids
Authors: Haas Stephen M.
Published: March 2007

The purpose of this study was to explore how particular sources of social support (partners, friends, and family) affect the relationship maintenance of gay male couples in which one (HIV-discordant couples) or both partners have HIV or AIDS (HIV-concordant couples). Using a qualitative grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967), 40, one-hour, in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 gay male couples, 15 discordant and 5 concordant couples. Findings indicated that relational partners were the primary source of social support for both HIV-positive and HIV-negative partners, followed by close friends, and then family members. The support provided by relational partners was particularly salient to couples in this study. Contrary to past research that has found family members hesitant to provide social support, couples here reported moderate to high levels of support from families. Findings also indicated that gay male couples' social network support from close friends and family functioned both as illness-related social support on an individual level and as a means of relationship maintenance support on the dyadic level. For couples dealing with chronic illness, these findings suggest that illness-related social support also likely serves relationship maintenance functions. Future research is needed to explore the degree to which the interdependence of social support and relationship maintenance can be strategically utilized by couples coping with chronic illness.
Thoughts on Social Relationships and Language in Hominid Evolution
Authors: White Randall
Published: March 2007

This paper argues that the evolution of language must have been dependent on the development of social relationships. A broad range of ideas pertaining to the evolution of human language is first critically reviewed. Our state of knowledge with regard to neural, psychological, anatomical and sociocultural aspects of language evolution is outlined. It is argued that a number of major transformations between 100,000 and 35,000 years ago are best understood as reflecting the emergence of language-as-we-know-it. The selective advantages of this development are discussed. It is then suggested that this must have been a long, tortuous process, relying importantly upon the development of an appropriate set of social relations. Finally, consideration is given to the likely nature of social organization and relations prior to a modern level of language competence.
Antecedents and Responses Associated with Loneliness
Authors: Gerstein Lawrence H. , Tesser Abraham
Published: March 2007

Although researchers have isolated various aspects of the loneliness experience, they have failed to comprehend the processes that occur along with, and as a result of, feeling lonely. This study addressed this issue by examining the relations between two sets of predictors (personal characteristics; situational and attributional variables), a `length of time lonely' variable and three responses associated with loneliness (affect, behaviour and physiological complaints). It was expected that each set of predictors would be linked to each measured response. Using the Loneliness Rating Scale and a biographic instrument which incorporated reasons for feeling lonely, plus behavioural and physiological responses connected to loneliness, data were collected from 279 college students and subjected to factor-analytic and multiple regression procedures. Results suggested that participants experienced four physiological complaints while lonely (stress, impaired body functioning, physical discomfort and feeling physically drained), and utilized four behavioural strategies to cope with loneliness (active solitude, drugs or sex, self-indulgence and social contact). Results also suggested that the predictor variables differentially contributed to each set of responses. Overall, a greater amount of variance was explained by the situational and attributional variables than by the personal characteristics or the `time lonely' variable. Based on this, it appears that to understand the particular responses of lonely individuals one must comprehend their reasons for feeling lonely and the type of expectations that they have for the future of their loneliness experience.
Self-Disclosure in Adult Friendship: Gender and Marital Status Differences
Authors: Tschann Jeanne M.
Published: March 2007

This research examined whether self-disclosure in adult friendship differs according to gender and marital status. Sixty-seven women and fifty-three men were asked about intimate and non-intimate self-disclosure to closest same-sex friends. Disclosure to spouse among married respondents was also assessed. The intimate disclosure of married men to friends was lower than that of unmarried men, married women and unmarried women; the intimate disclosure of these last three groups was similar. Married people's non-intimate disclosure to friends was lower than that of unmarried people, regardless of gender. Married people's intimate disclosure to their spouses was high regardless of gender; in comparison, married men's intimate disclosure to their friends was low, while married women's disclosure to their friends was moderate or even as high as disclosure to their spouses. The results suggest that sex roles are not the only determinant of gender differences in disclosure to friends. Marital status appears to have an important influence on disclosure in friendship for men but not for women. It was concluded that research on gender differences in self-disclosure and friendship has neglected an important variable, that of marital status.
Dating Agency Members: Are they `Different'?
Authors: Goodwin Robin
Published: March 2007

Despite the fact that it is becoming increasingly commonplace to find a partner through a dating agency, and there is an increasing awareness among personal relations researchers that dating agencies are a rich source of data, research into such agencies has typically been very limited and sporadic. In the present study, two types of analyses were conducted to examine the representativeness of dating agency members in relation to other indices of a more general population. In the first analysis, demographic comparisons were made between data from a large survey of members of Britain's largest dating agency and recent census information using the criteria of occupation, education and racial background as the comparative data. In the second analysis, the social competence scores of seventy-six young dating agency members on Levenson & Gottman's (1978) Dating and Assertion skills Questionnaire (DAQ) were contrasted with scores on these scales obtained by previous researchers. Results indicated that, as anticipated, dating agency members differed from the more general British population in having attained a higher educational level and in occupying higher status jobs. Paradoxically, however, such otherwise successful individuals had fewer presentation skills than previous DAQ respondents. The implications of such findings and the need for further research are discussed.
Attributional Processes in Response to Social Displays of Depressive Behavior
Authors: Elliott Timothy R. , MacNair Rebecca R.
Published: March 2007

The present study examined spontaneous attributional processes in social responses to depression. Participants ( n = 143) were randomly assigned to view a videotape of a person who displayed either depressed or non-depressed behavior. Attributional sets regarding the target were manipulated. In one condition, the target appeared physically disabled; in another condition, the target was described as having alcoholism. In the neutral condition, no such information was available. Subjects rated their subjective emotional experience on several visual analogue scales after viewing the target, and completed a thought listing measure that did not directly solicit subject thoughts about the target. Results indicated that depressed targets elicited higher levels of depression and pity among subjects. However, attributional sets had no effect on subject emotional experience. Subjects had significantly higher rates of attributional thoughts and control attributions after viewing the depressed targets regardless of attributional set.
Relationship Stability and Relationship Satisfaction in Cohabiting Gay and Lesbian Couples: A Prospective Longitudinal Test of the Contextual and Interdependence Models
Authors: Kurdek Lawrence A.
Published: March 2007

This study examined the extent to which variables from the contextual model (personality traits indicative of general interpersonal competence) and variables from the interdependence model (perceived rewards from, costs to, satisfaction with, alternatives to and investments in the relationship) predicted relationship stability and linear changes in relationship satisfaction in a sample of cohabiting gay and lesbian couples assessed annually over a 4-year period. Findings were similar for gay and for lesbian couples. Demographic variables, contextual variables and interdependence variables discriminated between partners whose relationship dissolved ( n = 22) and those whose relationships remained intact over the 4-year period ( n = 92). Linear changes in the contextual and interdependence variables over the 4-year period predicted linear changes in the relationship satisfaction of intact couples over this same period. In analyses of both relationship stability and relationship satisfaction, variables from the interdependence model were found to mediate the effects of the contextual variables. The findings are interpreted in a framework that integrates contextual and interdependence models of relationship quality.
Root Metaphors in Accounts of Developing Romantic Relationships
Authors: Baxter Leslie A.
Published: March 2007

This study was undertaken in an attempt to complement extant approaches to our understanding of how parties make sense of their developing romantic relationships. A metaphor analysis was undertaken of 106 interview transcripts, finding three root metaphors that dominated the data: relationship development as work, relationship development as a journey of discovery and relationship development as an uncontrollable force. In addition, four secondary root metaphors were identified: relationship development as danger, relationship development as organism, relationship development as economic exchange and relationship development as game. These seven root metaphors were subsequently reduced through cluster analysis to four groups: work-exchange, journey-organism, force-danger and game. These four groups are posited as folk-logics which relationship parties use to make sense of their relational experiences.
Status Transitions and Marital Satisfaction: The Case of Adult Children Caring for Elderly Parents Suffering from Dementia
Authors: Suitor J. Jill , Pillemer Karl
Published: March 2007

This article uses a combination of quantitative and qualitative data to examine the factors explaining marital satisfaction among 117 women who recently began caring for an elderly parent with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia. The analysis examines the relative importance of the demands of caregiving, other social statuses the caregiver occupies (employment and parenting of minor children), husband's provision of instrumental and emotional support and husband's behaviors that hinder the caregiving effort. The findings indicated that husbands' hindrance and emotional support were related to marital satisfaction, while husbands' instrumental support was not. None of the other variables in the analysis was important in explaining marital satisfaction. These findings are consistent with other recent studies that demonstrate the relative importance of spouses' emotional support and hindrance in explaining marital satisfaction following status transitions.
Relationship Maintenance Strategies and Dialectical Contradictions in Personal Relationships
Authors: Baxter Leslie A. , Simon Eric P.
Published: March 2007

This questionnaire study of both partners from 162 romantic and marital relationships sought to examine perceived partner maintenance strategies as correlates of participant satisfaction for relationships at varying dialectical moments of the autonomy-connection, predictability-novelty and openness-closedness contradictions. The perceived partner maintenance strategies of contact, romance and avoidance varied in efficacy depending on the particular dialectical conditions of the relationship, especially among male participants.
Predicting Jealous Responses: The Influence of Adult Attachment and Depression on Threat Appraisal
Authors: Radecki-Bush Catherine , Farrell Albert D. , Bush Joseph P.
Published: March 2007

This study tested a model of romantic jealousy based on cognitive motivational theory (White & Mullen, 1989) and formulations from adult attachment studies (Hazan & Shaver, 1987). A causal model was tested in which attachment, depression and situational threat were hypothesized to predict jealous responses through their effects on appraisal of threat. Imagery scenes, depicting varying levels of threat by a romantic relationship rival, were presented to 135 undergraduates. The model fit the data very well. Threat appraisal was predicted by attachment, depression and level of situational threat. Appraisal, in turn, predicted positive and negative relationship perceptions and emotions reported in response to jealousy-evoking situations. Results were interpreted as suggesting that attachment style and depression indirectly influence affective and cognitive responses to jealousy-evoking situations by functioning as schemas which influence the appraisal of a rival relationship. Insecure attachment and depression were also found to be related to less effective coping strategies. Findings regarding depression and ineffective coping suggested implications for the personal and relationship adjustment of persons with secure and insecure attachment.
The Narrative Approach to Reality in Relation to Children's Cooperative Interaction
Authors: Smorti A.
Published: March 2007

It was hypothesized that children who use a narrative style of classification are more capable of cooperating with a play-mate than children who use a logical style of classification. Participants were 907-year-old children: 50 females and 40 males. Style of classification was studied by giving the subjects 13 miniature toys to classify. Three main classification criteria were distinguished: categorical, functional and narrative. Forty-five children who classified the objects by category without making use of narrative were designated as logical, 45 children who classified the objects chiefly by narrative criteria were identified as narrative classifiers. Three experimental groups were formed: a logical-logical group consisting of 15 dyads of logical subjects; a narrative-narrative group consisting of 15 dyads of narrative subjects, and a logical-narrative group consisting of 15 dyads composed of one narrative subject and one logical subject. Each subject was asked to perform a cooperative task with a narrative or a logical companion. The task entailed manoeuvring a pulley device that required coordination between the members of the dyad. The children's proficiency at the task was analysed by computing the number of errors each dyad made. The results showed that narrative-narrative dyads were more capable of carrying out the task and cooperating than logical-logical dyads.
The Social Construction of Love
Authors: Beall Anne E. , Sternberg Robert J.
Published: March 2007

What does it mean to love someone? In particular, does it mean the same thing across time and space, or does its meaning change with context? Is the emotional experience of love, regardless of how people define love, always the same, or does the experience of love vary with context? In this article, we argue for a social-constructionist view of love, according to which both the definition and the emotional experience of love are contextually bound. We review both the social history and the psychological backdrop of love, concluding that we can understand love only in terms of cultural conceptions of (a) the beloved, (b) the feelings that accompany love, (c) the thoughts that accompany love, and (d) the actions, or the relations one has with the beloved.
Social Construction, Gender/Sex Similarity and Social Interaction in Close Personal Relationships
Authors: Neziek John B.
Published: March 2007

Participants maintained a social interaction diary, a variant of the Rochester Interaction Record, to describe their close personal relationships. Relationships were defined using relative frequency of contact with different individuals and via participants' descriptions of relational partners. Individuals with whom participants had more contact were more likely to be described as close friends than were individuals with whom participants had less contact. The results suggest that the characteristics of same-sex relationships depend less on the specific partners composing the relationship than do the characteristics of opposite-sex relationships. As hypothesized, the characteristics of close same-sex relationships did not differ from the characteristics of other same-sex relationships, although interactions with best friends were more intimate than interactions with other same-sex partners. In contrast, the characteristics of close opposite-sex relationships differed from the characteristics of other opposite-sex relationships. Men and women who were romantically involved had more contact with their romantic partners than with other opposite-sex persons, and they had more contact with their romantic partners than men and women who were not romantically involved had with their most frequent opposite-sex interaction partner. For women, interactions with most frequent opposite-sex interaction partners were more affectively rewarding and instrumentally positive if these men were romantic partners, whereas for men, the affective quality and instrumentality of interactions with most frequent opposite-sex interaction partners did not differ as function of whether these women were romantic partners.
Stories and Relationships
Authors: LaRossa Ralph
Published: March 2007

How do the supposedly true stories we tell about the past influence our relationships in the present? What, in other words, is the rhetorical value of historical texts, written and oral? In this essay, I argue that more attention should be paid to how people socially create stories about `what really happened back then', to suit their own political interests; and how, in the process of doing so, they partition the world into cognitive territories known as `selves' and `others'.