After a review of the literature on the social information processing and empathy deficits among aggressive children and adolescents, 148 students in a training school for severe, chronic delinquents were divided into four groups based on their level of empathy and aggression. Scores from the Interpersonal Reactivity Index and the Student Behavior Rating Scale were utilized to assign the students to one of the four groups. To discriminate between the groups, social information processing deficits were measured by the Interpersonal Problem Solving Measure which examines the four information processing steps proposed by Dodge. This study found that significant differences existed between the groups only when the subjects were grouped on the basis of their empathy scores. Those subjects low in empathy exhibited deficits in Goal Selection (Step 2 - Interpretation) and Best Solution (Step 4 - Response Search) of Dodge's model. Both the cognitive (Perspective-Taking) and affective (Empathic Concern) components of empathy were found to be important in this relationship. Dodge's "hostile attributional bias" was not found. The results of the study underscore the importance of the construct of empathy in the treatment of aggressive youth. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-09, Section: B, page: 4130. / Major Professor: Wallace A. Kennedy. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This dissertation focuses on the importance that status has on society and the difficulties in adequately addressing its effect on consumption. The motivation to consume for status has not been adequately conceptualized or operationalized in the social science literature. The author suggests a new construct to address this issue: status consumption. Status consumption is defined as the motivational process by which individuals strive to improve their social standing through the conspicuous consumption of consumer products that confer and symbolize status both to the individual and to surrounding significant others. / To illustrate this, the author presents a model of the proposed six antecedents, three dimensions, and six consequences of status consumption presented in this dissertation. Based on the three dimensions, a three factor Status Consumption Scale, SCS, is created. Hypotheses are presented along with a proposed methodology to test the reliability and validity of the SCS in a series of five studies utilizing both students and adults. The results of the five studies illustrates that the fourteen item SCS is a reliable and valid measure with good factor structure having three unidimensional subscales (Sociability, An Interest in Consuming for Status, and Buying for Nonfunctional Reasons). / Thus, this individual difference variable of status consumption is demonstrated in this dissertation to be an explanatory variable that may explain and predict some aspects of consumer behavior. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-02, Section: A, page: 0600. / Major Professor: Ronald E. Goldsmith. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

This study examined the hypothesis that an overreliance on external sources of self-esteem is associated with depression and depression-proneness. Self-esteem and daily events were assessed among 206 male and female college students for 30 consecutive days. Subjects were identified as Currently Depressed, Past Depressed (depression-prone), or Never Depressed from their scores on a self-report inventory for depression and classified on personal style as either Sociotropic or Autonomous from their scores on the Personal Style Inventory (Robins, Luten, and Ladd, 1987). Based on theories of self-esteem vulnerability in depression, Currently Depressed and Past Depressed subjects were predicted to show more self-esteem lability (day-to-day event-related variability in self-esteem) than Never Depressed subjects. A specific vulnerability hypothesis was also tested wherein Sociotropic and Autonomous depressives were predicted to show high lability to social and achievement events, respectively. / Self-esteem lability was found to be elevated in Current and Past Depressives relative to Never Depressed subjects. Findings were unsupportive for the specific vulnerability hypothesis. The findings are discussed regarding their implications for theory, measurement, and future research. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-11, Section: B, page: 5969. / Major Professor: Jack E. Hokanson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The study of human decision process has long intrigued social researchers. Accountants, whose raison d'etre is to provide information for decision making, have a particular stake in the efforts of the decision scientists. However, in reviewing the decision science literature, one can see that decision research has evolved into a distinct dichotomy: the study of individual decision processes versus the study of group decision processes. Group decision processes have been shown to be quite different from those present in the individual decision setting. / Unfortunately, those who accept this dichotomous classification ignore the fact that the distinction between individual decision settings and group decision settings is not always well-defined. Preoccupation with only two categories prevents observers from appreciating the wealth of the dynamic processes that can occur across the range of varying involvement of second parties to individual decisions. / This dissertation defines and describes the range of varying involvement (or collaboration) by developing a typology or nomenclature to enrich future decision research. Concentration is on the two-person group, although the processes described can be expanded to groups of more than two persons by the inclusion of a richer set of effects. / The perspective adopted is that of the individual decision maker receiving assistance or involvement from a second party. Involvement is based on interaction, or more fundamentally, communication, between the decision maker and the outside party. Accordingly, the typology will be developed by defining various degrees along the continuum of involvement, based on communication as a multidimensional construct. The experiment is a demonstration of how movement along a communications construct from an individual perspective to a collaborative perspective can affect decision outcomes. / The thesis of this dissertation is that the range of collaboration is a continuum. However, to illustrate the point, an eight-level typology is developed and described. Implications are given for decision scientists, designers of decision support systems, researchers in accounting and auditing, and others interested in the study of decision processes. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 54-01, Section: A, page: 0233. / Major Professor: William Hillison. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1993.

The causal mediation and diathesis-stress hypotheses of the Hopelessness Theory of Depression were examined in the context of social relations, using a short-term prospective longitudinal design and a sample of 299 university undergraduates. / Partial empirical support was obtained for the causal mediation hypothesis. Inferential style dimensions were generally predictive of corresponding inferences made by participants for their single most upsetting future negative interpersonal event, although the magnitude of effect sizes observed for inferential style dimensions tended to be rather unimpressive, on the whole. Weak support was derived for an accompanying proposal that situationally-based judgements of consensus, consistency and distinctiveness are predictive of event attributions when attributional style dimensions are controlled for statistically. / In turn, equivocal support was obtained for the diathesis-stress hypothesis. Although some inferential style dimensions interacted with interpersonal stress in the hypothesized direction to predict increments in depression over time, other inferential style dimensions interacted with stress in a manner directly counter to theoretical expectations. Moreover, there was a lack of convincing evidence to support the notion that interactions of inferential style dimensions with interpersonal stress are specific in their effects to predicting an outcome of "Hopelessness Depression," as opposed to more general symptoms of depression. Implications of the findings for the Hopelessness Theory of Depression and future research are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-09, Section: B, page: 4956. / Major Professor: Jack E. Hokanson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

The purpose of this research was to examine the negotiation of social norms in a university mathematics problem solving class. The beliefs and patterns of action which the participants in this class negotiated to define their learning environment were seen as defining the taken-to-be-shared social norms. / Each class session was video recorded to accompany field notes. Video recorded interviews were conducted with the instructor after each class session and with four students periodically throughout the semester. / Lectures were not given nor were procedures imposed. Each learner constructed his/her mathematics and this construction was enhanced by their interaction with other participants in the classroom. / The research includes descriptions of each class session, as well as an examination of the beliefs and actions of the instructor and the four students interviewed. In investigating this mathematics class that focused upon mathematics as a sense making activity, opportunities were identified that encouraged mathematical thinking. / The set of norms negotiated in this class included collaboration, intellectual autonomy, students devising their own methods, students determining the viability of their solutions rather than the instructor, students initiating the presentation of multiple solutions and ideas, students focusing upon heuristics and strategies rather than answers, and an expectation for all solutions and ideas to make sense even those presented by the instructor. The successful negotiation of these social norms were effective in establishing a rich mathematics learning environment. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 55-03, Section: A, page: 0500. / Directors: Grayson H. Wheatley; Norma Presmeg. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1994.

This research utilized a pretest/posttest design to examine consumers' use of schema-based information processing and the potential influence it has on their perceptions of print advertising which positions brands with sporting events. More specifically, it explored the moderating influence of involvement with product categories and sporting events on the perceived congruence between events and brands in advertised sponsorship relationships. Ten hypotheses were formulated to test certain theoretical propositions regarding Fiske's (1982) theory of schema-triggered affect in explaining sponsorship advertising response. A total of 216 undergraduates viewed print ads manipulated to position known brands from three different product categories with three different major sporting events. The subsequent effects of sponsorship ad treatments were gauged using thought-listings, attitudinal, behavioral intention and memorability measures. / Of the study's ten hypotheses, eight resulted in a failure to reject the null. The research provides very limited support for Fiske (1982), in terms of explaining sponsorship advertising response. However, it does add to the growing body of literature on the general notion of consumer advertising schemas. The significant findings concerning the effects of manipulated ad schema congruence on measures of attitude-towards-the-ad, as well as the content of a number of thought-listing responses, suggests that consumers do have well defined schematic templates with regards to the structure and content of advertising (including relationships in event sponsorship). Moreover, it appears that sponsorship ad schemas may have public policy implications as subjects' attitudes towards sponsorship ads involving cigarettes were found to be significantly related to the perceived incongruence of positioning healthy activities with an unhealthy product. An increased understanding of sponsorship response may one day aid in the creation of health communication campaigns to help offset potential effects from sponsorships that "indirectly" promote alcohol and tobacco use by underage consumers. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-12, Section: A, page: 4597. / Major Professor: Gary Heald. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

This study examined the effects of arousal and alcohol intoxication on measures of eyewitness identification and recall. Subjects were 52 male undergraduates of legal drinking age who were social drinkers with no identified alcohol-related problems. Elevated arousal was induced in one half of the subjects by a threat of public speaking manipulation, while the other half was left at normal arousal. Within each of these groups, half of the subjects received a dose of alcohol sufficient to reach a maximum peak BAL of.075, and half drank orange juice only. Following the arousal and beverage manipulations, subjects observed a speaker target and a critic target on a videotape and then were asked to describe both individuals. Two days later they were asked to identify each of the individuals from photo lineups. The main dependent variables in this 2 x 2 design were eyewitness description and identification accuracy rates. Other dependent measures included subjects' confidence ratings of their own accuracy for each lineup, latency to respond to each lineup, and time estimates of target viewing time. Results indicated a main effect of alcohol on description accuracy and identification accuracy for the critic target, indicating a reduction in accuracy due to intoxication. There were no main effects of arousal on any measures. There was a Beverage x Arousal interaction for a measure of completeness of description for the speaker target, and for measures of confidence and latency to respond to the critic target-present lineup showing that subjects in the normal arousal and alcohol condition, or in the elevated arousal and the no-alcohol condition, offered more descriptions for the speaker target, were more confident of their accuracy in identifying the critic, and took less time to identify the critic from the lineup. Suggestions for future research aimed at clarifying the complicated nature of the alcohol-arousal-accuracy relationship are made. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-06, Section: B, page: 3140. / Major Professor: Alan R. Lang. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.

The purpose of this study was to identify the boundary regulatory behaviors as reflected by the Assertiveness, Aggressiveness and Relationship Scales of the Interpersonal Behavior Survey (Mauger & Adkinson, 1980) that distinguish psychologically symptomatic from nonsymptomatic adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs). Subjects ($N$ = 139) were split into symptomatic and nonsymptomatic groups using the Brief Symptom Inventory (Derogatis, 1982) and compared on the Interpersonal Behavior Survey (IBS) responses. Mann-Whitney tests of the differences between the two groups on each of the IBS scales revealed that nonsymptomatic ACOAs had significantly higher assertiveness scores on each of the IBS scales: General Assertiveness; Self-confidence; Initiating Assertiveness; Defending Assertiveness; Frankness; Giving/Receiving Praise; and Refusing Demands. The results indicated that symptomatic ACOAs scored significantly higher on the IBS Aggressiveness Scales of Passive Aggressiveness and Expression of Anger, and significantly higher on the IBS Relationship Scales of Conflict Avoidance, Dependence and Shyness. Implications for prevention, therapeutic intervention and future research are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-12, Section: B, page: 5568. / Major Professor: Mary W. Hicks. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1988.

Research has shown that teaching of behavioral techniques is successful in helping willing smokers to quit, only to return to smoking within a short time period. A sizable minority (20-50%) do not quit at all. This study investigated the hypothesis that the current emphasis on particular techniques for change (i.e. behavioral modification) rather than examining other potentially crucial variables (i.e. health beliefs) is responsible for the aforementioned results. Quitting smoking was conceived as a two phase process: (1) developing a set of specific health beliefs, hypothesized to be associated with non-smoking behavior and (2) learning behavioral techniques. The goal was to combine a persuasive message, based on the Health Belief Model, aimed at smoking related attitudes with a behavioral treatment program. Four treatment conditions were tested: persuasive message with behavioral techniques, persuasive message with placebo program, a placebo message with behavioral program, a placebo message with placebo program. Treatment was conducted in 17 groups (186 subjects total). Each group met for 10 sessions over a 9$1\over2$ week period. Data was collected at 5 points: before and after the first session, immediately before the second session, after the ninth session and after the last section. The results, analyzed by a path analysis, did not support the hypothesis. The persuasive message was not effective in changing health beliefs. However, subjects with stronger perceptions of the seriousness of the smoking consequences and lower perceptions of the number of cigarettes that could be safely smoked each day smoked fewer cigarettes. As in prior research, the behavior treatment was effective in reducing smoking, with 51% abstinent at the end of treatment, confirmed by respiratory air measurement. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-05, Section: B, page: 2207. / Major Professor: Daniel Boroto. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.