Interpersonal relations

This qualitative study of the phenomenon of nurse providing care to a client that the nurse does not like or determines to be unpopular was conducted with five professional nurses, who had experienced the phenomenon. Phenomenological method guided the inquiry through the narrative descriptions, from which essential descriptive themes of secrecy, avoidance, internalized conflict, specialness, and unfinishedness were uncovered and revealed by dwelling with the material. The implications for nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research are discussed.

This study surveyed over 500 persons. It examined whether the physical distance dimension of our social world or "social space" is still a force in shaping the interaction between people when modern transportation and communication makes interaction with distant others more feasible. Using both oral, and mass interviews, participants were asked to describe the character, frequency of contact, importance, and distance of their contacts within a 24-hour period. As predicted by Latane's (1981) social impact theory, the bulk of the relationships occurred at close distances. Over two-thirds of the relationships occurred at distances of 10 niles or less. Relationship type affected the distance, frequency of contact, and importance of relationships significantly. "Partners" had higher frequencies of contact and shorter reported distance than either relatives or friends. A positive relationship between importance and distance seems to indicate that some far contacts can be maintained.

A two (process) by two (relationship) by two (issue) design was implemented in order to investigate the effects of the process used to deal with a conflict, the relationship of those involved in the conflict, and the issue that the conflict is centered around. Subjects read one of eight different scenario types and rated them on their satisfaction with the process used, the relationship of those involved in the conflict, and the outcome of the conflict. It was predicted that a three-way interaction between the independent variables would occur. Support for the predictions was found. Results are discussed in light of past interpersonal and organizational literature.

Many studies have been devoted to investigating the process by which individuals make dispositional attributions about the people that they encounter. A surprisingly small number of studies have been directed at examining the process by which individuals may detect change in their impressions of people once they have been formed. In fact, traditional social psychology literature suggests that individuals will engage in a number of processes to maintain or improve, rather than change, their initial attributions. With such alarming divorce rates, it is quite obvious that romantic couples are detecting change in their perceptions of one another. However, romance and attribution research has not been able to fully explain how detection of perception change occurs in romantic relationships. More specifically, traditional linear theories of attribution are not able to clarify how dramatic dispositional change can occur in romantic relationships. Results from an experiment lead us to believe that the detection of dispositional change in romantic relationships is actually quite dynamic, counter to current beliefs in the field. In addition, the Discounting Principle may be used in non-traditional ways.

This study examined sex differences in jealousy over sexual and emotional infidelity. I was interested in replicating Buss et al. (1992, 1999), testing the double-shot hypothesis, and investigating a potential trigger for within-sex differences in jealousy. It was hypothesized that males will be more distressed by sexual infidelity and females will be more distressed by emotional infidelity and that relationship experience will trigger males and females to respond in predictable ways. This study replicated Buss et al. (1992/1999) original findings, found no support for the double shot hypothesis, and found that relationship experience plays a partial role in the impact it has on predicting upset over infidelity, with males reliably becoming more distressed over sexual infidelity and females being more variable in there responses to jealousy.

This research study seeks to link empirically organizational commitment, trust and participatory decision making (PDM) practices and test their interrelationships. The research uses the Meyer & Allen (1984) Affective Commitment and Continuance Commitment Scale (ACCS) to measure organizational commitment and develops new scales to measure trust and PDM practices. The study hypothesizes multidimensional components for organizational commitment and trust; statistically significant associations among organizational commitment, trust and PDM practices; and trust as a preceding and intervening variable between PDM practices and organizational commitment. The research uses Pearson correlations, exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses. The research results support the multidimensionality of organizational commitment and trust; interrelationships among organizational commitment, trust and PDM practices; and the temporal role of trust. However, the research results do not support trust as an intervening variable between PDM practices and organizational commitment. The study concludes with opportunities for future research.

This study examines American cultural values through the lens of family storytelling. It addresses: (a) the role of family stories in the transmission of cultural values, (b) the existence of shared American cultural archetypes, motifs and themes, (c) the existence of shared national values, and (d) the role of storytelling in promoting peace. Since September 11, 2001, American leaders and journalists have repeatedly emphasized the distinction between the American Weltanschauung and that of the terrorists and their supporters, particularly with regard to an orientation to life and death, and tradition and progress. As dynamic folklore, family stories are the ideal instruments with which to tease out deep-rooted values. Stories are rich repositories of cultural schemas, the bricolage of information and attitudes that form our identities. They are also replete with symbols that reflect shared, unconscious understandings. Unlike many other cultural products, moreover, family stories are relatively unaffected by government or corporate agendas. What is more, they typically resonate with Americans. For this study, I examined 54 family stories collected from 12 native-born informants of diverse backgrounds according to four modes of analysis: archetypes; motifs; themes and subjects. The analyses revealed that the primary relevant archetypes, motifs, themes and subjects present in these stories are unlucky accidents/survivors; tricksters/heroes; death/rebirth, and family feuds. National values that emerged from the stories tend to reflect many of the values that are historically attributed to Americans, including an emphasis on achievement, individualism, and, in particular, progress. In addition, the stories reveal a certain tension between past- and future orientation in American culture. Finally, storytelling both reflects and comprises the social drama characterized by Turner as breach/crisis/redress/integration that leads to communitas. This study attempts to help promote communitas by demonstrating how we can begin to connect with others through the common values found in our stories.

The problem of this study was threefold: (1) To explore the
availability of instruments that will increase student awarenesses on
interpersonal and intrapersonal behavior. (2) To design or modify an
instrument to be used as part of an awareness model in educational
leadership training. (3) To survey awareness changes in a sample of
the student population when the model is used in educational leadership
training.
A pilot study was conducted on a group of students enrolled in
a Middle School Leadership Sequence during the summer of 1973. This
initial effort resulted in several training instruments, among them the
Personnel Relations Survey, that were effective in the area of behavioral
awareness. Of the instruments used in the pilot study, The Personnel
Relations Survey was selected and modified for use in educational leadership
training. Since the survey was designed to be used originally by
manager trainees in an industrial setting, the nonsignificant modification was, for the most part, the substitution of educational personnel
for employees, managers, and supervisors. The survey instrument which
was a part of the model was used with a sample of students in an experimental
and a control group to measure the dependent variables of exposure
and feedback in relationships with teachers, principals, and superintendents.
The participant was provided with a graphic analysis of his interaction
and awareness by using the Johari Window that was a part of the
model. Results were treated statistically with multivariate analysis of
variance.
Of the three hypotheses treated, there was insufficient evidence
to reject the two following:
1. There is no significant difference between the experimental
and control treatment effect when one is considering the
dependent measures of exposure and feedback relevant to
feelings.
2. There is no significant difference among the interaction
effect of treatment with personnel when one is con~idering
the dependent measures of exposure and feedback relative
to feelings.
No significant difference was noted in the treatment main effect
when comparing the performance of the experimental and control groups on
the dependent measures. The interaction effect of treatment, personnel,
and treatment with personnel was nonsignificant.
was:
One hypothesis that was rejected at the .05 level of significance
There is no significant difference between the personnel
relationships main effect when one is considering the
dependent measures of exposure and feedback relevant to
feelings.
A significant difference in the main effect of personnel was
investigated with a multiple comparison test and the results showed that relationships with superintendents were significantly different from the
relationships with the two other groups of educational personnel when
considering the dependent measure of exposure.
The model was not designed to produce change but to produce an
awareness of one's interaction style and more desirable styles to which
the participant could change if he so desired. Recommendations were
made for more effective use of awareness training in educational leadership.

With the cessation of cooperation between groups or individuals comes the threat that temporary competition transforms into destructive intractable conflict. To better understand how intractable conflicts develop, Liebovitch, Naudot, Vallacher, Nowak, Bui-Wrzosinksa, and Coleman (2008) recently developed a non-linear model of two-actor cooperation-competition incorporating interaction feedback and valence. This study tested their model's predictions by investigating attitude and valence change depending on whether a social exchange was cooperative or competitive. Participants experiencing an exchange that switched from cooperation to competition exhibited greater attitude change than participants in the control or the continuously competitive interaction condition and more valence change than the control or competition switching to cooperation condition. These results support the model's prediction that greater attitude and valence fluctuation manifests in interactions transitioning from cooperation to competition, providing the first verification of the model. These findings offer new insights into how human cooperation and competition evolve over time.

Synchronization research reveals that those who are able to coordinate behavior in time are more likely to feel positively towards one another. Unlike previous research that has taken a linear approach, I examine the dynamical nature of individuals' emotional coordination by investigating the overlap in their moment-to-moment emotional responses to positive and negative events in the form of film clips. By using the mouse program, I develop a new relationship paradigm and find that this measure is able to capture the nuances of emotional responses, and, more importantly, it is able to distinguish between relationship partners versus pairs of strangers. However, I am unable to determine that emotional coordination, as determined by smaller differences in mouse program data between partners, is related to relationship quality, as measured by their level of liking and loving (for romantic partners only) towards each other and their future expectancy of the relationship.