Although directly related to students' everyday lives, the abstract and even intimidating nature of relational theories often bars students from recognizing the immediate relevance to their relationships. The theories of symbolic interactionism, social exchange, relational dialectics, social penetration, and uncertainty reduction offer students…

Presents an expectancy model of coalition membership addressing inducements, contributions, and exchange in coalitions. Discusses how concepts and considerations both addressed and ignored in past work are accommodated by the model. Gives a number of practical implications of the model by focusing on interventions into client systems. (Author/RC)

This review of the literature on prosocial behavior in the elderly provides empirical data on the prevalence of helping behaviors among the elderly and the range of motives underlying their helping. Implications of these data for theories of social behavior in later life are considered, and questions are raised about the validity of the models…