Spousal consensus on 12 different topics is examined. Amount and direction of the influence of these factors (structure, cohesion and stress) thought to account for consensus are evaluated. Interviews with 321 urban couples provided the data for analysis. (Author)

The authors hypothesized that the individual's significant others are crucial to the development of preretirement attitudes and postretirement adjustment. The data upheld both the predicted relationships. (Author)

The article discusses possible reasons and statistical sex differences concerning dating anxiety, and then goes on to describe four models proposed to account for these data. Social skill training and "practice dating" are suggested as treatments. Practical considerations in the implementation of the treatment are also dealt with. (LPG)

The use of sensory awareness training and the place of training were systematically controlled in four fourth-grade classrooms. Analysis of variance produced significant effects of intervention training in both settings. This supports the hypothesis that sensory awareness and personal contact promote lessening of social distance within groups.…

Data on marital careers of 176 lower-class individuals from Trinidad are analyzed in terms of the frequency and sequencing of three types of marital unions--friending, living, and marriage. Sequencing of marital unions shows movement toward more stable relationships within partnerships and throughout the individual's marital career. (Author)

This paper reports the satisfaction between several independent variables and marital satisfaction. Adequacy of role performance of both self and spouse and spouse's conformity to expectations emerged as the strongest predictors of satisfaction derived from playing family roles. (Author)

The 380 upper-middle class respondents in this exploratory study are involved in Intimate Friendship (IF): otherwise traditional friendship in which sexual intimacy is considered appropriate behavior; IF appears to be an outgrowth of practicing sexually open marriage over an extended period of time. Positive and negative aspects of this practice…

This study investigates seating distance and angles of location and orientation in a conversational situation as a function of several variables: attitudinal agreement or disagreement by a stranger, agreeing or disagreeing normative information, and personality variables. Subjects were 52 randomly selected introductory psychology students from the…

The nonverbal touching behavior of strangers in a dyadic interaction was studied to assess the current controversy between encounter group trainers and their critics concerning the use of nonverbal touching exercises to foster interpersonal openness. (Author)

Male and female subjects identified as very attractive or very unattractive worked in an interview-like situation with a listener of the opposite sex who was presented so as to maximize or minimize his or her natural attractiveness. Intimacy of self-disclosure was found to be significantly greater for females than for males, significantly greater…

This paper discusses a study undertaken to examine the reaction of others to the behavior of depressed persons. The general hypotheses of the study are that (1) normal subjects respond differentially to the behavior of depressed patients; (2) this differential response is due to the fact that the target individuals are depressed, and not that they…

Because cohabitation generally begins casually with no explicit understanding and because there are few outside pressures holding the couple together, it would seem that this type of living arrangement would be characterized by brevity; this is not the case. Since cohabitation arrangements are generally not brief but long lasting, their…

Examines some of the conditions associated with dissolution of the friendship tie. Subjects were 232 boys and girls between the ages of eight and 15 at a summer camp. The hypothesis that reduction in social interaction would be associated with increased probability of dissolution was not conclusively supported. (Author/HMV)

Personal relationships of skid row men have been described in terms of disaffiliation and replacement of friends. Analysis of social relationships of Philadelphia skid row residents upheld the theory of replacement. The loss of relationships, however, was more closely associated with length of residence in skid row than with age. (Author)

Operant principles were used to design an activity for a group of handicapped, elderly women in a home for the aged; the activity was monitored to study its impact on their levels of participation and social interaction. Results are described. (Author)