Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1972. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

M.Com. (Industrial Psychology) / Human beings are daily being confronted with circumstances within and out of their own control which influence and regulate their behaviour to a great extent. One of the most important controversial issues in the behavioural sciences is particularly the extent to which these circumstances have an influence on behaviour. An individual is either free to control his own behaviour, or his behaviour is being controlled by forces over which he has no control. These principles of free will versus determinism, .had an unique influence on the development of the different psychological approaches. This issue is also of fundamental importance in the field of industrial psychology, as studies in this subject of study are always directed at a better understanding of. the relationship between the individual and his environment. In view of the general emphasis placed on such aspects as selfactualization and the vital role of the individual in determining his own future, it can be concluded that the degree of control which an individual has in influencing his environment, is of central importance in the better understanding and explanation of behaviour. In this study, special reference was made to the degree of control which an individual has over his life, his time and over social relationships, in context of the 4-dimensional theory of human behaviour. In an effort to create an integrated system of knowledge in the behavioural sciences, Raubenheimer (1978) proposed a 4-dimensional classification theory of human behaviour. This theory postulates that the three spatial dimensions (depth, breadth and height) and a fourth dimension (time), have psychic analogues which are defined as constructs of human behaviour.

D.Com. (Industrial Pyschology) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

This study investigates some behavioral aspects and properties of eliciting utility. Previous investigations devoted to empirical utility measurement have stemmed from the work of experimentalists who have applied various utility models in an effort to measure utility. However, empirical studies devoted to investigation into behavioral factors which may bias the measurement are lacking and it is this gap in the utility literature that prompted our empirical study. We chose to examine the standard gamble method for deriving von Heumann-Morgenstern cardinal utility and the MacCrimmon-Toda method for deriving indifference curves. The domain of choice involved hospital days in bed with risk of additional days. The analysis consisted of identifying relationships between behavioral factors and properties of choice predictions obtained by the methods. Furthermore, the study also provided a means for comparing properties of the two methods for eliciting utility. Among other findings, the results show that not all subjects expressed agreement with the appropriateness of specific axioms of behavior which underly some methods for eliciting utility and that not all people express constant sensitivity over all stimuli levels. The two results in themselves suggest that a priori assumptions regarding "rationality" and infinite sensitivity may have to be reexamined. The preferences elicited by both methods seem to suggest that the subjects follow a linear rule to trade-off sure outcome and risk. Although correspondence between test-retest preferences predicted by the standard gamble was generally closer than that for the MacCrimmon-Toda method, the MacCrimmon-Toda method had generally better predictive ability. Our results also indicate that certain behavioral factors seem to affect preferences predicted by the methods as we hypothesized. This observation has implications for practical measurement of utility since "successful" application of methods for eliciting preferences depends upon our awareness of which behavioral factors may bias the measurement. / Business, Sauder School of / Operations and Logistics (OPLOG), Division of / Graduate

Two contradictory social psychological models of human sociability exist in the social science literature: a steady state model, and a homeostatic model. In this thesis a model of possible environmental effects on individual solitary behavior is developed to test these underlying social psychological models. These models are tested in a secondary analysis of activity log data of a sample of industrial workers. The results indicate that two causal processes interact in producing differences in the amounts of time people spend alone. In one process, temporal constraints on the number of persons and the amount of time available for non-work social interactions facilitate solitary behavior on workdays. These direct effects carry over into the weekend when the constraints of work hours are not directly present. In the other process people compensate for extremes in their social experience at work by participating more in discretionary solitary activities. When combined, these two isolating processes produce an even stronger interaction effect. These observations support the homeostatic model of human sociability. Suggestions are then made for a more sophisticated future testing of these models. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

A search of the literature revealed that there are very few studies which have investigated two topics: (a) trait concept formation and change; and (b) trait attribution as a function of the amount and type of behavioral information which is used as stimuli. The purpose of the present investigation is to study some parameters of these processes. First, two aspects of trait concept formation are studied: (a) the effect of differentially-valid behavioral information on subjects' ability to form trait concepts; and (b) the resistance to change of trait concepts which are formed by reading either high-or low-valid behavioral information. Second, two aspects of trait concept change are investigated: (a) the influence of differentially-valid behavioral information on trait concept adjustment; and (b) the influence of two within-trait concept manipulations on trait concept adjustment. One manipulation was the reversal of one trait dimension and the other was the replacement of a second trait dimension with an entirely new trait dimension. Third, two aspects of trait attribution are studied: (a) the effect of the validity of the behavioral information which was presented in the trait concept formation and the trait concept adjustment parts of the study; and (b) the effect of the amount and the consistency of the behavioral information. Each of 96 introductory psychology students formed one of several conjunctive trait concepts by reading either high- or low-valid behavioral information. Then subjects adjusted their trait concept to accommodate new and contradictory behavioral information of either high- or low-validity. Finally, after they had successfully adjusted their concepts, subjects gave their overall trait impressions. The behavioral information was obtained in three stages. In the first stage, 185 introductory psychology students generated one behavioral statement for each of eight trait terms which were used as stimuli. In the second stage, two major ratings were obtained from independent samples of introductory psychology students: (a) the probability of the trait given that the behavior was performed (113 introductory psychology students gave this rating); and (b) the probability of the trait given that the behavior was not performed (63 introductory psychology students gave this rating). For each behavioral item, a validity index (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1974) was obtained by subtracting the second rating from the first one. On the basis of the validity indices, two pools of behavioral statements (the high- or low-valid pools) were obtained and were used in the experimental part of the study. The principal results from analyses of variance are as follows: (a) trait concept formation did not vary significantly as a function of differentially valid behavioral information; (b) trait concepts which were formed by reading high-valid behavioral information were found to be more resistant to change than are those which were formed by reading low-valid behavioral information; (c) trait concept adjustment varied as a function of differentially-valid behavioral information but not as expected; (d) the reversed component of the trait concept was harder to adjust than was either the unchanged or the new component; (e) trait attribution on the reversed component of the adjusted trait concept did not vary significantly as a function of the validity of the behavioral information; and (f) trait attribution reflected the amount and the consistency of the behavioral information that subjects received throughout the entire study. The generalizability of some of these findings is limited because the contextual arrangement of the trait dimensions was found to influence both trait concept formation and change and trait attribution. A discussion of the results centered on: (a) the curvilinear hypothesis of Jones and Goethals ( 1972); (b) some content- and context-related effects on impression formation; (c) some aspects of trait attribution and implicit personality theory; (d) the summary view of traits (Wiggins, 1974); and (e) the Fishbein and Azjen (1974) approach to behavioral validity. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

The purpose of the present study was to compare nonactivist students, of both left and right political ideologies, on a behavioral measure that would assess, in part, their humanitarian concerns and their valuation of social . expectancies. To date, the literature concerning both student activism and ideology has been almost entirely confined to the use of questionnaires, checklists, and other paper-and-pencil techniques. Results from these studies have indicated that student left activists were often found to have a more positive personality profile than nonactivist student cross sectional samples. Later investigations pointed out, however, that due to serious methodological and procedural confounding, many of the personality characteristics previously ascribed solely to student left activists may either apply to all left oriented students or to all activist students, regardless of ideology.

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