Four studies analyzing body-rocking in individuals with mental retardation found: (1) rocking chairs are not necessarily preferred and produce higher amplitude rocking; (2) body-rocking characteristics were stable over a 21-month period; (3) when compared with body-rocking college students, persons with mental retardation engage in more…

Although the belief that women are not socialized to be competitive is widely held, research findings in this area are not conclusive. To compare the behaviors and the perceptions of behavior in men and women in a realistic setting, 180 students participated in a 2-hour, two-part simulated job interview that required either competitive or neutral…

Much of the sex role research published in the late seventies was concerned with measuring masculinity and femininity, based on stereotyped trait ratings using tests like the Bem Sex Role Inventory or the Personal Attributes Questionnaire. In response to the need for a wider variety of measures, the Activities Inventory (AI), a checklist of…

The authoritarian/permissive dimension of hypnosis refers to the manner in which hypnotic suggestions are phrased. In the authoritarian mode suggestions imply the subject is under control of the hypnotist; permissive suggestions are phrased to emphasize the subject's own thinking. To compare the permissive suggestions of the Creative Imagination…

Although research has examined the content of alcohol-outcome expectancies and also the role of alcohol use in aggressive and sexual behaviors, few studies have linked the two lines of inquiry. To examine the efficacy of outcome expectancies for predicting actual behavior, 64 male social drinkers, aged 21 to 25 years, completed questionnaires and,…

Within the area of attribution theory, an overjustification effect is inferred if, following reward for an intrinsically interesting activity, individuals subsequently show less interest in that activity than comparable individuals who receive no reward. In an attempt to isolate the overjustification effect, 60 college students (30 male, 30…

Past research suggests that Type A's have a higher need for control than Type B's, and empirical evidence documents their greater reactivity to control loss. To extend investigation to control decisions and examine the hypothesis that Type A's would be less willing than Type B's to relinquish control to another person, 160 male undergraduates were…

Previous research has indicated that Type A's have a higher need to control their environments, and respond more reactively to control loss than Type B's. To clarify the role of information processing in the control relinquishment decisions of Type A's and B's, 147 male and female college students took part in a problem solving experiment. Pairs…

Research on individual's response to emergency situations in the presence of others has produced conflicting results. The bystander effect is the label applied to inaction or the unlikelihood of assistance with others present. The social facilitation effect occurs when the presence of others energizes response; strong habit responses are…

A survey of eight motor habits, including body-rocking, was administered to two large samples (N=861, N=766) of college students. A surprisingly high proportion of respondents (over 40% of males and over 50% of females) reported they engaged in body rocking when either bored or overstimulated The similar incidence in people with mental retardation…

This study explored the ways in which college students conveyed elder respect. Based on data from a questionnaire survey of 521 subjects, 12 forms of elder respect, ranging from care respect to celebratory respect, were measured. Of these forms, six--acquiescent respect, care respect, linguistic respect, salutatory respect, consulting respect, and…

Achievement striving is a central dimension of the Type A behavior pattern. To investigate the relationship between Type A behavior pattern, personal performance goals, and goal achievement on two general information tests, 126 undergraduates participated in a two-phase study. First, behavior patterns were assessed using the Framingham Type A…

Historically pesonality has been predicated on behavioral consistency. To demonstrate the uniqueness of personality using three methods, 23 female college students initially recorded self-descriptive words at the end of each of 23 days. These words were then assigned favorability values from the Adjective Generation Technique norm list. First,…

Exploratory research has indicated that interpersonal dominance is one of the strongest correlates of Type A behavior, although little effort has been made to demonstrate a link between the behavioral manifestation of interpersonal dominance and Pattern A responding. To establish such a link two studies were conducted. In the first study, extreme…

Recent studies have indicated that bulimia, characterized by binge eating followed by depressed mood and purging, is increasing. To investigate the behavioral and emotional antecedents and consequences of binge eating in women, 22 female college students (14 diagnosed bulimics, 8 binge eaters) completed self-monitoring forms for four binges.…