This paper describes the self-evaluation maintenance model (SEM) which suggests that much social behavior can be understood by assuming that persons are motivated to maintain a positive self-evaluation. The two processes by which one's social circumstances may affect self-evaluation, i.e., reflection and comparison, are described. The relationship…

In order to determine the effect of day care center sponsorship on children's development, the authors examined the ways in which programs, objects and materials, and teacher/child interactions affected the preoperational behavior of 4-year-old black children in publicly and privately supported day care centers. A total of 120 4-year-olds (30 from…

A total of 230 second through fifth grade boys and girls from five private schools in the San Francisco Bay area were asked to keep a record of the books they read for pleasure over the period of a month to determine whether there were differences between the books chosen across the grades and between sexes. The students recorded the books on a…

A community-focused health promotion program for older adults was planned and implemented in Fairfax County, Virginia. A needs assessment was conducted to determine the social health problems and behavior patterns of the older adults in the community. After analysis of factors that may impinge upon the decision-making processes of those who might…

In this article the experience of an American teacher in Ethiopia is related. An attempt to teach English to African students by a method other than simple rote learning brought about a conflict with Ethiopian supervisors. Reasons for the conflict are analyzed and different values and political perspectives are discussed as possible sources of…

A study was conducted to examine whether androgynous individuals would view out-of-role implicit behavior by both male and female managers more positively than would either masculine or feminine individuals and whether low status behavior by the managers would be rated as being more considerate than high status behavior. Two weeks after completing…

The effects of labels, "mentally retarded" and "institutionalized" on the evaluations and causal attributions of nonretarded persons, and on the social distance preferences of EMR persons, were assessed. In addition, each group was asked to predict the likelihood of a labeled (mentally retarded) or a nonlabeled target person achieving success at a…

Individual differences in the motivation and skill to manage impressions can be measured by the Self-Monitoring Scale. "Blind" dating encounters were established to investigate whether complementarity rather than similarity in partner's self-monitoring would lead to greater attraction and satisfaction with the relationship. College students (N=64…

A study was conducted to examine speech interruption patterns as an index of communication dominance and gender differences in language behavior. Six graduate student groups involving a total of 35 subjects were videotaped. The data extracted for study were 255 transcribed interruption sequences. A category system was developed and used to code…

This guide is one part of eight instructional units developed by the Human Behavior Curriculum Project. These units provide a systematic study of behavior which can increase understanding of everyday life. They can be used to supplement other courses or as a separate course of study. There are three themes common to the units: (1) Human behavior…

A 5-week, 12-hour course given to the community emphasized understanding and coping with stress. At the beginning of the course several inventories were administered to the students, who also completed the instruments in a follow-up procedure 10-12 weeks after the end of the seminar. The course focused on recognition of stress signals and the…

Reassessment for reentry has become a popular concept on college campuses as more nontraditional students return to college. A reassessment series, offered at the University of California-Davis from 1973-1977, was evaluated in a one-year follow-up study of the life changes for 234 female and 12 male participants. Data indicated that life change…

This study of handicapped and non-handicapped preschool and early elementary school children and their older normal siblings was designed to determine (1) the intercorrelation of parent and teacher ratings of the child's academic competence and social adjustment, and (2) the correlations of mother, father and teacher ratings with the child's…

This paper presents a study focusing on the use of class time by minority students in junior high school science classrooms. An instrument was developed to assess classroom behaviors and the interactions of students, which was used to obtain information about classroom behaviors that might affect minority student outcomes in science. Students from…

The educational effects of pronutritional programing on kindergarten children were investigated in a pretest-posttest control group design involving 56 children from four kindergarten classes. These children were exposed to a series of five 20-minute videotapes over a period of six class days. The videotapes were compiled from popular children's…