DISSERTATION (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Thesis (Educat.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1977. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 38-10, Section: B, page: 5097.

Thesis (Educat.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 1984. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-06, Section: B, page: 1956.

Thesis (Psy.D.)--Fairleigh Dickinson University, 2005. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 65-10, Section: B, page: 5460. Chairperson: Judith Kaufman. Available also in print.

This study was designed to assess post-program cognitions and experiences which were hypothesized to play a role in the generalization of social skills over time. In particular, self-efficacy perceptions, outcome expectancies, outcome values, and anxiety were assessed through a Biographical Inventory before participation in a social skills program. The Inventory was then used to assess the subjects' experiences once a month for three months after the program, and one year following the program. Subjects who demonstrated generalization on in-vivo, role-play, or self-report measures of giving and receiving criticism over the one year were contrasted, on their responses to the Biographical Inventory, with those who showed little or no generalization. Results from the in-vivo and self-report measures indicated that the high generalization group differed from the low generalization group in their post-program experiences with giving and receiving criticism. Higher self-efficacy perceptions and the perception of positive consequences were evident for the high generalization group for experiences involving criticism. The results are discussed in relation to self-efficacy theory.

No description available.

It was hypothesized that the communication of liking between children may play an important role in the development of friendships. In an initial study, 65 children were interviewed concerning the behavioral basis for their own impressions regarding who liked or disliked them in their peer group. These same children also rated a set of behaviors in terms of the inference (of level of liking) they would likely make if a hypothetical new classmate had directed that behavior toward them. 22 behaviors were tentatively identified as being among the more important cues used by children in judging the level of liking other peers had for them. To confirm the communicative potential of these behaviors another sample of 260 grade-5 students read a series of hypothetical vignettes. In each vignette a single behavior taken from this set of 22 behaviors, its opposite, plus a neutral incident constituted the evidence available to children for inferring the level of liking between characters. The 16 positive behaviors from Study 1 all led to inferences of liking that were significantly more positive than the neutral point on the rating scales. The negative behaviors led to significant inferences of disliking. These behaviors were then incorporated into a measure of behavioral communication of liking. This scale was designed as a peer-report measure in which children were asked to rate how many times every other classmate had directed each of these behaviors toward them within a clearly defined time period. Psychometric properties considered included factor structure, internal consistency, construct as well as predictive validity. Results suggest that this scale is capable of generating a fairly good measure of children's behavioral tendencies to convey liking toward other peers. Patterns of correlations between measures in Study 3 were also examined to see if these supported the proposed model for this research. Results support a conclusion that the behaviors included on the Behavioral Communicators of Liking Scale are socially relevant and that an appreciable portion of the relational impact of these behaviors may be due to their ability to convey liking. The final study involved an experimental manipulation of relational communication in the context of a social skills training program. The primary criteria for selection into this intervention program was that the child had to have very few or no friends and display behavior patterns unlikely to convey liking toward their peers. Interventions featured both friendship skills coaching and ongoing relationship problem solving focusing. Significant treatment-related improvements were found in terms of how much peer friendship targets liked the children enrolled in this social skills training program, in these friendship targets' impressions regarding how much treatment children liked them, and in the ratings treatment children received from their friendship targets on the positive behavioral communication factor, in the development of children's friendships. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

This study investigated the relationships between problem-solving ability, perceived aversiveness and deterrence of sanctions for institutional misbehaviour, and subsequent institutional and community adjustment in convicted adult offenders. Subjects completed a battery of tests designed to assess certain interpersonal problem-solving skills. They also provided subjective ratings of aversiveness and deterrence value of 10 common institutional sanctions. Institutional conduct was subsequently monitored for 3 months following testing. In addition, further criminal activity was monitored for a period of 1 year following release from incarceration. The results reveal a modest relationship between problem-solving ability and institutional adjustment and a much stronger relationship between problem-solving ability and subsequent recidivism. Poorer problem-solvers incurred more institutional charges in the early phase of incarceration and more followup criminal charges. In contrast, ratings of aversiveness or deterrence were more strongly related to institutional adjustment and in general were not predictive of subsequent criminal recidivism. Perceptions of aversiveness or deterrence of sanctions, though positively correlated, were not identical. For example, a number of subjects rated the sanctions as aversive but not deterrent, indicating that to some extent these factors are independent. Of the two, perceived aversiveness appeared to be a more accurate predictor of actual institutional behaviour, especially where there was a discrepancy between perceived aversiveness and perceived deterrence. There was some evidence of a relationship between problem-solving ability and perceptions of aversiveness. Good problem-solvers tended to rate sanctions as more aversive than poor problem-solvers. Thus, the greater cognitive flexibility that results from well-developed problem-solving skills may potentiate perceptions of aversiveness. In addition, subjective perceptions of aversiveness and deterrence of sanctions were found to be unstable over time. This was unrelated to whether or not subjects had actually experienced the sanction in the interim between pretesting and posttesting. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for deterrence theory and treatment-rehabilitation.

L'objectif global de cette thèse est de mieux comprendre comment les individus réagissent aux changements sociaux qui modifient les structures mêmes des sociétés ou des organisations. La première étude a été effectuée auprès de 423 étudiants russes de l'Université de Tyumen en Sibérie occidentale. Cette étude avait tout d'abord pour but de vérifier si les prédictions relatives aux réactions face au nombre et à l'augmentation rapide des personnes de groupes minoritaires dans un groupe majoritaire s'appliquent au contexte de changement social. Cette étude permet également d'approfondir les connaissances quant aux liens entre le sentiment de privation relative et l'identité sociale. Il est tout d'abord postulé que plus les russes perçoivent des changements nombreux et négatifs, plus ils éprouvent de la privation relative sociale. Selon le modèle, plus les Russes estiment que les changements s'effectuent rapidement, plus ils rapportent de la privation relative temporelle. Par ailleurs, plus les Russes éprouvent du mécontentement, moins ils sont fiers d'appartenir à leur groupe. Les hypothèses du modèle de prédiction ont toutes été confirmées. La seconde étude permet tout d'abord d'approfondir les connaissances concernant l'effet du nombre et de la rapidité des changements sur la privation relative par l'évaluation des réactions des individus aux modifications observées dans leur environnement. Le contexte d'étude est différent du premier et permet ainsi de généraliser les résultats obtenus à d'autres types de changement social. Finalement, cette étude a pour but de tester le lien identité sociale/privation relative par l'évaluation de toutes les dimensions de l'identité identifiées par Tajfel (1978). L'étude a été menée dans le milieu hospitalier québécois qui a été l'objet de nombreuses restructurations. En tout, 108 infirmières d'un hôpital régional y ont participé. Les résultats confirment en partie le modèle proposé. En fait, un seul lien va dans le sens contraire des hypothèses, soit celui entre la privation relative collective sociale et les composantes évaluative/affective de l'identité sociale. Selon les résultats, plus les infirmières évaluent comme désavantageuse leur situation par rapport à d'autres groupes de travailleurs, plus elles sont fières d'être infirmières. Plusieurs hypothèses explicatives ont été explorées de même que les implications théoriques et pratiques.

In the present study, children's perceptions of fearful and self-conscious shyness in their peers, were examined for age- and gender-related differences concerning whether they consider it a problem for a peer to be shy. Interviews with 220 children from grades one, three, five, and seven were conducted in order to elicit children's descriptions of shy peers' behaviours, emotions, and thoughts, as well as the causes of shyness. Using Buss' theory of shyness (1984, 1986), the interviews were coded for children's perceptions of the behavioural, emotional, and cognitive manifestations of shyness. The types of immediate causes and origins of shyness the children mention throughout the interview were also coded. Also, children's responses and explanations to the question, "Is shyness a problem for someone in your grade?" were contrasted across gender and grade levels. The results indicated that there were significant age differences in the reported components of shyness. There was partial support for the hypothesized age differences in the types of situations children reported most often. Grade seven children viewed shyness as a problem to a significantly greater extent than did the younger children. Peer-related reasons were reported most often as the explanation of why shyness is a problem. Boys reported more future-related problems associated with shyness than did girls, and grade three and grade five children reported more emotional problems related to shyness. These results were discussed with relation to Buss' theory of shyness, as well as the importance of peer relationships, and subsequent problems. Finally, a discussion of the implications of the present study to future research was presented.