This study examined the relationship between the severity of negative consequences of a blameworthy behavior and attribution of responsibility for that behavior. (Author)

Basketball experts (N=28) responded to "rule- and norm-related behavior" questionnaire, assessing crisis relevance of behaviors which were against rules of situation and were either fair or unfair, called or not called by officials. Results revealed that officials' calls and fairness of violations substantially influenced diagnostic…

Two experiments are reported: one in which presentation of external information about a stranger evoked significantly higher attraction ratings than available psychological information; and a second where similarity of Subject and Other on external characteristics had greater effects upon attraction scores than did similarity of psychological…

Undergraduates, divided into three groups--high verbal-low spatial (HiV-LoS), intermediate, and a high spatial-low verbal group (HiS-LoV)-- ties test. For males at least, the groups differed significantly on certaintook Cattell's 16PF questionnaire and Thurston's Primary Mental Abili personality variables involving response to social stimuli.…

Previous research has shown that thinking about some attitude object results in more polarized attitudes than being distracted from thinking about the object. In this study, 64 subjects indicate their attitudes toward fictitious persons. After thinking about the person or being distracted from thinking about the person, they again scaled their…

The relationship between the ability to coordinate social perspectives and levels of anxiety induced by the social context was studied. Results showed a relative failure to coordinate perspectives in the "anxious" compared with the "neutral" condition and were discussed in terms of social contextual effects on aspects of social cognitive…

It was predicted that the amount of satisfaction following an interpersonal exchange will be higher when the resource given is similar to the one reciprocated and lower when they are dissimilar. Interpersonal exchange situations were experimentally created in which two independent variables were manipulated. (Author)

Tenth and twelfth grade males and females who knew each other judged, within grade levels, their classmates on physical attractiveness (PA), perceived attitude similarity (PAS), and interpersonal attraction (IA). Regression analyses supported the hypotheses that PA and PAS are positively correlated. (Author)

Independent groups of seven-year-old subjects listened to humor on headphones, either with a nonlistening companion (audience) or with a companion who also listened (coactor). In coaction sessions, children sitting closer engaged in more eye contact, laughter, and smiling. (Author)

The effects of several factors on willingness to take a counterattitudinal position in a forthcoming debate were investigated. Subjects were presented with the dilemma of either compromising their own position and thereby not forfeiting a competitive advantage in the debate or forfeiting a competitive advantage by not compromising their own…

Teenagers, classified according to Rotter's Locus of Control Scale, indicated whether or not and why they engaged in alcohol consumption or marijuana smoking. A higher proportion of externals drank but the groups did not generally differ in marijuana smoking behaviors. (Author/BEF)

Social exchange theory was employed to predict instigative helping behavior as a function of two types of resources available to the recipient for reciprocation (social and non-social). The possibility of influencing reciprocation of both types of resources produced significant increases in subjects' helping. (Author)

This study investigated how "correct" and "incorrect" dissenters from erroneous group consensus affect conformity on visual and opinion stimuli under normative and informational social pressure. Results are consistent with earlier data. (Author)

Recent laboratory work has suggested a defensive attribution interpretation of the attribution of responsibility following an accident. A questionnaire was devised concerning a campus stabbing incident in which one girl suffered severe consequences. Results were compatible with defensive attribution. (Author)