Effect of weekend encounter group experience upon interpersonal orientations.

20 college students and 20 21-55 yr. old working adults completed the Fundamental Interpersonal Relations Orientations-Behavior (FIRO-B) scale before, after, and 2 mo. following participation in a weekend encounter group. 20 control college students also completed the test 3 times but did not attend a group. Predictions were generally upheld in comparisons of experimental and control college students, but working adults did not show their predicted convergence of high and low scores. Analysis of change scores revealed that low-scoring Ss increased significantly on 3 of 4 inclusion and affection scales, but high-scoring Ss in each group did not change relative to controls. It is concluded that Ss preferring low rates of social interchange show greater change following a weekend encounter group than initially high participators, possibly because the behavior of the former is more discrepant from encounter group norms and thus is confronted more. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of physical contact in an encounter group context.

120 male and 120 female undergraduates participated in brief encounter group experiences that varied the amount of physical contact in the structured exercises: (no-touch, moderate-touch, and high-touch). Ss were assigned to 4-person same- or opposite-sex groups for the structured activities. The study was a 2 * 2 * 3 analysis of variance design (sex, group composition, and touch). Analysis of the Comfortable Interpersonal Distance Scale, the semantic differential, and the Risk-Taking Behavior Questionnaire was consistent with behavioral data in showing the positive effects of increased physical contact. Group composition yielded parallel results, with heterosexually balanced groups reporting more favorable outcomes. (19 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dimensions of experience in encounter groups. Empirical studies on client-centered group activities

The experiencing of participants of client-centered encounter groups served to demonstrate possibilities and limits of current models of the group process. This was done by analyzing the correlations between 5 dimensions of experiencing and aims of group participation, personality variables, modus of participation i.e. patient, student, therapist, time of participation, and group setting. The experiencing dimensions included 1. sympathy, trust, understanding, and help between members, 2. freedom from anxiety and stress, 3. openness, controversy and feedback, 4. momentary strong and basic feelings in one's self and others, 5. understanding, help and closeness of the group facilitator. The results show: Successful group participation was to the extent of maximal 50% determined by the experiences immanent in the client centered group process concept. Personality variables measured by tests determined the experiencing in the group to an extent of maximal 10%, supposedly less than the group experiencing was influenced by special characteristics of the group development for example the initial phase of group formation, member characteristics like age, attitudes concerning group work, and conventions of social behaviour. Even less relevant as determinants of group experiencing were differences of group setting and social pressure in the direction of uniform experiences at least within the first 20 hours of group participation.     

A brief encounter group experience and social relationships in a dormitory.

Examined the effects of a brief encounter group experience upon 500 residents in a university dormitory. Women living on 3 separate floors were designated experimental Ss and provided with a group experience designed to encourage personal interaction, while women on 2 other floors were assigned to a control group. 6 preexperimental and follow-up measures (e.g., semantic differential ratings of floor atmosphere, a modified Self-Disclosure Questionnaire, and frequency of conversations with peers) administered to both groups showed that experimental Ss evidenced greater improvement in their attitudes toward the importance of "floor spirit" in their ratings of the social atmosphere of their floor and in the number of peers they subsequently identified as acquaintances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Rorschach investigation of defensiveness, self-perception, interpersonal relations, and affective states in incarcerated pedophiles

Rorschach protocols of 60 incarcerated men who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. [DSM-IV]; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for Pedophilia were compared to those of 60 incarcerated men with no history of sex offenses (matched for age, education, and race). Comprehensive System Rorschach variables (Exner, 1991) were selected based on both psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral models of pedophilia. Pedophiles' Rorschachs (a) contained significantly more responses and were more likely to reveal signs of (b) anxiety and helplessness, (c) painful introspection, (d) distorted views of others, and (e) primitive dependency needs than the comparison group's Rorschachs. Like other incarcerated men, the pedophiles exhibited disturbances in self-worth (either poor self-esteem or excessive self-focus), tendencies to abuse fantasy and avoid emotionally tinged stimuli, and chronic oppositionality and hostility. Pedophiles possess many core personality features associated with Narcissistic Personality Disorders, but are less well defended against feelings of vulnerability and painful introspection than other incarcerated men. Like Antisocial Personality Disorder patients (Gacono & Meloy, 1994), our pedophiles and nonpedophile offenders showed signs of impaired attachment and, in the context of incarceration, failed narcissism.     

Experimental effects of ego-defense preference on interpersonal relations.

The hypothesis that a connection exists between the personality personality defenses of interacting individuals and their attitudes toward and perceptions of their interaction is explored by assessing the defense mechanisms of a group of Ss to psychosexual stimuli, the Blacky Pictures, and evaluating their interaction when pairs of Ss are engaged in a task which arouses a specific psychosexual disturbance. The results indicate that the interaction of two people who project the same psychosexual impulse is more negative than pairs of people who use other defenses. Dissimilar defenses do not seem to adversely affect the interaction; however, when both partners have high conflict, more negative interaction tends to result than when only one is disturbed. The relative hierarchies of defense mechanisms and psychosexual dimensions, with regard to their effect on interpersonal relations are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Pretesting as a confounding variable in evaluating an encounter group.

Evaluated the effectiveness of an encounter group designed to enhance relationships between 3 groups of 68 15-21 yr old black inner-city males and 3 groups of 38 white and 2 black policemen and the interaction between pretesting and treatment and its effects on outcome. There were 3 experimental and 3 control groups which either did or did not participate in the pretest and treatment portions of the study; all groups completed the posttest. The 2 evaluation measures were the Alienation Index Inventory and a specially developed projective device; these were administered by white and black Es to same-race groups. Results indicate that the proportion of variance contributed by pretesting is influenced by group membership, treatment, and outcome criterion and is largely unpredictable. It is suggested that such variance be controlled in each experiment. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of procedural fairness and leader support on interpersonal relationships among group members.

In this article, the authors examine the impact of fair treatment by a group leader on people's relationships with and feelings toward other individual group members. Previous studies neglected procedural fairness effects on interpersonal relationships between group members. The authors hypothesized that fairness affects interpersonal relationships and feelings toward another group member only when the leader is regarded as representative and supported by the other group members. In three studies, the authors manipulated procedural fairness (no voice vs. voice) and other group member's support for the leader (full vs. mixed support for the leader). Two vignette studies supported the hypothesis. In addition, an experimental laboratory study showed that this interaction effect between procedural fairness and leader support was most pronounced among those with high belongingness needs. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of interpersonal group composition on the problem-solving behavior of middle managers.

Examined the effects of compatible and incompatible group composition on the problem-solving behavior of middle managers who had spent time together in work-management conferences. 22 groups (n = 10-12 per group) were administered the Fundamental Interpersonal Relationship Orientation-Behavior at the start of their conference. The Lego Man, a problem-solving exercise, was administered the 2nd day. Groups that were more compatible on the interpersonal dimensions of control and affection completed the task more rapidly than more incompatible groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-perception and interpersonal behavior changes in marathon and time-extended encounter groups.

Assigned 27 undergraduates to a time-extended, a marathon group, or a control condition to evaluate the effects of encounter experiences on self-perception and interpersonal behavior. The Personal Orientation Inventory and the Interpersonal Check List were administered before the group experience, the day after, and again 8 wks later. Both experimental groups showed significantly greater changes in self-perceptions from pretest to posttest than the control group. No between-group differences were found on follow-up. Ratings made by each S's "significant other" indicated no between-group differences. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The influence of perceived mental illness on interpersonal relations.

This study was carried out to measure the influence of general attitudes toward mental illness on 2 aspects of interpersonal interaction: an S's performance on a motor task requiring cooperative effort and the perception of another after having interacted with him on the task. Ss were undergraduates who were induced to believe their coworker was either "normal" or had been mentally ill. The results indicate that perceiving the coworker as mentally ill is associated with better task performance, possibly because of the greater threat posed by a successful peer in comparison to that posed by a person believed to be maladjusted and inadequate. It was also found that when a coworker is viewed as mentally ill, Ss prefer to work alone rather than with him and blame him for inadequacies in the joint performance even though objective measures do not justify these responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intergroup relations and group solidarity: Effects of group identification and social beliefs on depersonalized attraction.

An intergroup extension of M. A. Hogg's (1992, 1993) social attraction hypothesis is proposed. Netball teams were investigated with measures assessing the relationship between (a) objective status; (b) "social beliefs" about intergroup status, stability, legitimacy, and permeability; (c) group identification, self-categorization, and prototypicality; (d) interpersonal relations and similarity; (e) depersonalized social attraction; and (f) true personal attraction. As predicted, group-membership based social attraction was directly influenced by self-categorization; indirectly influenced, through self-categorization, by intergroup status and stability beliefs; and uninfluenced by interpersonal relations. Social attraction (related to prototypicality and group identification) was relatively independent of personal attraction (related to similarity and interpersonal variables). Legitimacy, permeability, and the empirical co-occurrence of social and personal attraction in cohesive groups are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality trait correlates of verbal interaction levels in an encounter group context.

Examined the relationships between personality traits individuals attributed to themselves and their subsequent levels of verbal interaction in ongoing encounter groups. Ss were 31 undergraduates. Based on R. F. Bales's (1970) work on the conceptualization of personality as an interpersonal process, it was predicted that Ss with high levels of verbal interaction would score significantly higher than less active Ss on Adjective Check List (ACL) measures of Self-Confidence, Dominance, and Exhibition. This hypothesis was confirmed. As predicted, Ss with low levels of interaction scored significantly higher on the ACL Abasement scale. Results are discussed in relation to their implications for the area of implicit theories of personality. (French summary) (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An interpersonal relations scale for occupational groups.

In this study Roe's hypothesized ranking of occupational groups on an interpersonal relations dimension was compared with their ordering on an empirical scale. The normalized-rank method was used to construct a scale from the judgments of 100 Ss. The results indicated that 3 occupational groups (Outdoor, Science, and Technology) had almost identical scale values and that the relationship between Roe's theoretical scale and the empirical one was low (rho = .48). Consideration of the findings suggested that (a) the clustering of the 3 occupations was partly a function of the ranking instructions and scaling procedure but was mostly attributable to their intrinsic similarity and that (b) although the empirical scale was inconsistent with Roe's proposed continuum, it agreed with her theory of family factors in occupational choice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social perception and the motivational structure of interpersonal relations.

An extension of a previous research (see 28: 673). The introduction of another variable, viz., the knowledge of the result of cooperative or competitive ventures, affected the perception of the partner. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of an explicit group contract on self-disclosure and group cohesiveness.

Assigned 96 male undergraduates to small groups based on their scores on a 40-item self-report survey derived from the Self-Disclosure Questionnaire. Half the groups received an explicit self-disclosure contract while the other half received no contract. Findings show that (a) the contract served to increase significantly both the frequency and depth of self-disclosure but did not affect the level of intimacy of topics discussed; and (b) the contract significantly enhanced the cohesiveness of the groups (i.e., attraction to the group) but had the opposite effect on members' mutual liking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality changes with a group therapeutic experience in a human relations seminar.

"This study is concerned with the changes in behavior and attitude of a group of school administrators following a group experience. It attempts to investigate the hypothesis that given a permissive setting, the individuals within the group will move in a direction of greater warmth and understanding of themselves and others." The results appear to support the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of interpersonal trust on work group performance.

This study explored 2 questions: Does the level of trust within a group affect group performance? If so, how does this relationship operate? An experimental method was used to examine 2 roles through which interpersonal trust could affect group performance: a main effect and a moderating effect. The data do not support the main effect that has dominated the literature on interpersonal trust. The data do support the moderating role: Trust seems to influence how motivation is converted into work group processes and performance. On the basis of these findings, it is suggested that trust may be best understood as a construct that influences group performance indirectly by channeling group members' energy toward reaching alternative goals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A pregroup training technique for encounter group stress.

Determined the efficacy of induced affect as a pregroup training experience for coping with stress related to participation in an encounter group. 26 undergraduates who volunteered to participate in an encounter group randomly were assigned to 3 treatment groups, induced-affect training plus the encounter group, induced-affect training only, and encounter group only. The following hypotheses were supported: (a) group participants who did not receive the induced-affect pregroup training would demonstrate significant increases on the Neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory and (b) group members who did receive such training would not manifest such increases. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Time orientation and interpersonal relations of emotionally disturbed and normal children.

5 hypotheses about time-orientation and interpersonal relations were tested using 11-year-old boys in a residential psychiatric treatment center, summer camp, and public school. To investigate time-orientation a story-completion method was used, and to measure interpersonal relations assessments of fluctuations in friendship patterns were made. The emotionally disturbed children showed more unstable friendship patterns, although their story completions were not more present-oriented. In the disturbed group, the more present-oriented a child was on the fantasy measure, the more stable were his friendships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)