Observations of conflictual family interaction have revealed that several distinctive behavior patterns tend to occur during the course of a family dispute. Patterns such as negative reciprocity, positive reciprocity, and coercion have been described and utilized as predictors of marital satisfaction and parent-child relations. This study examined…

To gather information on the role of gender in parent-adolescent interactions, a study was conducted of patterns of alliances formed during disagreements between 28 male and 28 female early adolescents and their parents. Interactions among adolescents and their parents were recorded while they planned an ideal vacation, and the transcripts were…

A study investigated whether various measures of communication competence would be more positively associated with constructive message strategies than with either destructive or avoidance strategies, and whether individuals would prefer a partner to be constructive rather than being constructive themselves. Subjects were 114 college students who…

Part of a continuing study of cross-gender identified (gender-referred) children is described. The entire study compares gender-referred children (14 boys and 4 girls) with their pre-adolescent siblings and with other children displaying a variety of psychiatric problems. The first phase of the study involves retesting the gender-referred children…

Instead of looking at the impact of specific third party actions or behaviors on negotiation outcomes, the authors studied the effects of anticipated intervention on the negotiation process. Third party power (ability to force an agreement on deadlocked negotiations or merely recommend one) and generalized reputation (favorable or unfavorable)…

Despite the apparent influence of marriage and childbearing on women's educational outcomes, these variables generally have not been included in models of educational attainment. To investigate the factors associated with the educational attainment of a national sample of young women drawn from the Project Talent Data Bank, the effects of family…

The stereotype of the "drunken bum" wife abuser has a long history in American culture. U.S. population surveys document a positive correlation between alcohol consumption levels and marital violence. In this study risk factors for marital violence among treatment seeking male alcoholics were examined. Subjects were couples (N=107) who had a newly…

The determinants of widows' attitudes toward women were investigated, using social and personality variables known to discriminate attitudes in other marital status groups as well as variables reflecting the unique experiences of widowhood. The subjects were 118 urban widows, aged 29-78. Over 40 potential attitude predictors were assessed in…

Career research has generally focused on either career stages of individuals or organizational models but not on an integration of both. Mental health administrators in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin were interviewed and completed questionnaires about turnover rates in their profession. Career types were identified and compared across job…

To see if mother-child conflict and mother firmness in conflict situations could be predicted from previous measures of the level of young children's attempt to influence their mothers, a study was conducted among 27 boys and 25 girls who were observed at 33 and 45 months of age. Information about the 33-month-old children's influence attempts…

Avoidance strategies involve the tactics and techniques people use when they don't wish to be influenced by others. To investigate the types of avoidance strategies men and women use to deal with an unwelcome persuasion attempt from an intimate partner, undergraduates wrote essays describing how they avoided such attempts. A 24-strategy coding…

Studying the characteristics of development extension agents can help in the understanding of the dynamics of development. These key personnel exhibit certain traits, not yet corroborated scientifically, as they attempt to induce drastic changes in the values, beliefs, production, and consumption patterns of developing nations in order to move…

The result of 6 months' observation of an American Taoist commune, this paper examines and interprets two episodes of confrontation, involving the persistently antagonistic Chinese director of the commune and one or more members, as a way of making sense of commune culture. The paper first examines the assumptions and values with which the…

The conflict theory of decision making was examined by testing a conflict model which differentiated among three basic coping patterns in response to decisional conflict, i.e., defensive avoidance, panic, and vigilance. Male college students (N=53) were administered two decisional problems, "The Changing Work Procedures Case" and…

Interpersonal interaction in intimate relationships must be viewed as a function of the context within which it occurs. A contextual model of interaction was studied along the dimensions of conflict and intimacy. Subjects were married couples, who individually discussed conflict and nonconflict issues of high-level or low-level intimacy. Patterns…