The remedial value of blushing in the context of transgressions and mishaps.

This study investigated the remedial value of blushing in the context of clear-cut predicaments. Besides testing the effects of displaying a blush on a neutral expression, we investigated whether blushing increased the remedial properties of shameful and embarrassed expressions. After reading a vignette describing either a transgression (Experiment 1; N = 66) or a mishap (Experiment 2; N = 62), participants saw pictures of people with or without a blush and rated them on several dimensions (e.g., sympathy, trustworthiness). The results of both experiments supported the hypothesis that blushing has remedial properties. In most instances, blushing actors were evaluated more favorably than their nonblushing counterparts. Although people often consider blushing to be an undesirable response, our results showed that, in the context of transgressions and mishaps, blushing is a helpful bodily signal with face-saving properties. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Crisis.

I am bewildered at the fact that the pages of the American Psychologist reflect almost no awareness of the tragic social upheaval which is accompanying the efforts of the American Negro to win his political, economic, and no less important, his psychological integration with the remainder of American society. This crisis will not disappear because we ignore it. It will be resolved one way or another. The Negro has apparently turned his face from acceptance of his unhappy circumstances and is determined to fight for his human and Constitutional rights. I think it is time that we, as a profession, give recognition to what is occurring around us, that we discuss what our role can and should be, and that each of us, in our own communities volunteer our services and our knowledge to work towards a just and peaceful integration of the American Negro into the American society of the twentieth century. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social traps.

Uses the term "social trap" to describe situations like a fish trap, where individuals, organizations, and societies get started in a direction that later proves unpleasant or lethal but difficult to back out of; actions or inactions prompted by self-interest create long-range effects that are to almost no one's interest. Skinnerian mechanisms of reinforcement of behavior are applied to this concept. Examples of 3 types of trap are given: the 1-person trap, which may be caused by delay, ignorance, or sliding reinforcers; the group trap, or "missing-hero" type; and the collective trap, caused by too many individuals seeking the same good. Locked-in patterns of collective behavior, characteristic of social traps, are described as the "invisible hand," "the invisible fist," and the "invisible chain." Ways out of the social trap are suggested. "Nested traps"-the most difficult to escape from-are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social schemas.

"Unit forming principles in social perception can be regarded as social schemas or response sets to the extent that they function to structure ambiguous situations involving human objects… .. The present investigation is concerned with those social schemas that determine whether or not objects are thought of as belonging together." Ss grouped 9 different objects on a neutral ground, in any way they wanted. The results indicated that response sets determined the grouping, so much so, that in a 2nd phase of the experiment the set was strong enough to cause S to deviate from reconstructing E's sorts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social disability.

Considers social disability as a form of deviance which refers to a broad class of social adaptations based on failures in the development of competence. The concept is related to R. White's biological conceptualization of effectance and competence motivation and to L. Phillips's developmental view of the origins of symptomatology. Empirical evidence is summarized in support of the position that the developmental failures of social disability in all their forms are linked to identifiable, broad, noninterpersonal dimensions of the physical as well as the social environment. Implications are discussed in terms of a reconceptualization of views of a variety of forms of deviance and related consequences for the present system of classification. Suggestions are made for a complex, multidimensional theoretical model which would accommodate the testing of etiological hypotheses linking the development of competence to the environment. It is also shown that the concept is useful as a unifying rationale for specifications of therapeutic and preventive environments and for providing a conceptual and organizing framework for training in the community mental health fields. (114 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social responsibility.

Urges psychology to form fairly specific guidelines related to the social responsibility of behavioral scientists. Three examples of irresponsible behaviors are cited: the use of science to control others, the inadequate extrapolation of animal research to humans, and recommendation of interventions for infants or children based on time- and sample-limited studies. (0 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social technology.

Discusses problems that relate to the differences between research and application and presents a systems approach to solving problems in the social area—that is, social technology. In the systems approach, solutions are generated by combining findings from widely different specializations in basic research in the social sciences. Three cases of such applications are described in which students, after receiving adequate training in this social technology, were able to solve problems. Other areas in which social technology has proved useful are mentioned, among which are the problems found in organizations, such as eliminating or reducing the aftermath of discontent following a promotion on the part of those not promoted, friction between computer programers and other members of the team, and sales. The need is stressed for social science to move out from the area of pure research and into the practical application of the findings already discovered. (28 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Treatment of facial blushing with endoscopic thoracal sympathicotomy. 85 per cent of patients are satisfied, but there are adverse effects

Endoscopic transthoracic sympathicotomy, otherwise an established treatment for palmar hyperhidrosis, was used to treat patients troubled by facial blushing, one of the commonest symptoms of social phobia. The results were evaluated by means of a questionnaire answered by 90 per cent (219/244) of the patients, who rated their symptoms on a visual analogue scale (0-10) after a mean follow-up of eight months. According to the ratings, blushing was significantly reduced from a mean (+/- SEM) of 8.7 +/- 0.1 to 2.2 +/- 0.2 (p < 0.0001). Of the series as a whole, 85 per cent declared themselves satisfied with the outcome.     

Social reference points.

Conducted 2 experiments in which a total of 324 undergraduates were asked to make similarity judgments about social concepts, varying the direction of the comparison specified by the question. Asymmetries in rated similarity were used to diagnose concepts that function as habitual reference points. In Exp I, after completing the Self-Monitoring Scale, Ss were asked to make directional judgments about themselves vs a friend along various dimensions (social and physical). Ss were found to rate a friend as more similar to themselves than vice versa along both social and physical dimensions, suggesting that the self served as a reference point. In Exp II Ss made global similarity comparisons between themselves and typical examples of various social stereotypes. Directional asymmetries were inversely related to the extent of Ss' knowledge about the stereotypes: The self acted as a reference point with respect to stereotypes with few known attributes but not with respect to those with many attributes. The relation between level of self-monitoring and asymmetry effects was weak and inconsistent in both experiments. Results suggest that concepts serving as social reference points vary across judgment contexts in accord with general cognitive models of similarity comparisons. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social postural coordination.

The goal of the current study was to investigate whether a visual coupling between two people can produce spontaneous interpersonal postural coordination and change their intrapersonal postural coordination involved in the control of stance. We examined the front-to-back head displacements of participants and the angular motion of their hip and ankle during a visual tracking task performed alone and paired. Our results showed that visually paired participants exhibited spontaneous coordination between the movements of their head, hip, and ankle. Moreover, the visual coupling modified the spontaneous intrapersonal ankle-hip coordination dynamics of participants and their performance during visual tracking. Generally, our findings demonstrated reciprocal relations between intrapersonal and interpersonal coordination during social interaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Social Architect.

A recent report of the APA Ad Hoc Committee on the role of the APA in Mental Health Programs and Research (Amer. Psychologist, 1959, 14, 820-825) carries the assertion that "The most recently recognized task of mental health is to bring about individual well being by modifying communities and larger units of society". Still more recently, E. Lowell Kelly (Division 12 Newsletter, 1961, 14) has discussed most provocatively the "image" (and, to me at least, sad future) of clinical psychology. In the course of his presentation he has advanced his personal view that clinical psychology, in order to realize its unique professional potential, might well adopt the Architect rather than the Physician as its model. Psychological "Consultants on Living," in addition to their efforts in relation to psychopathology, would make themselves available "to assist normal people to lead more fulsome lives". While Kelly's general remarks suggest that his Consultants on Living would find their prospective clients among individuals and possible family groups, I see his position as quite compatible with the position taken by the ad hoc committee if we conceive of the "Social Architect" role as including the possibility of assisting people to lead more satisfying lives through their spontaneous association with other people, that is, in the context of their natural groupings in ordinary community life. While I personally believe that the Consultant on Living role calls for broader perspectives than are usually encompassed by the single discipline of psychology, I am unreservedly with Kelly in his ideal. Kelly offered his suggestion of the Architect image for clinical psychology as an expression of a minority view, and my guess is that his appraisal is correct. However, I suspect that there may be among psychologists generally, and even among clinicians, an appreciable number to whom this concept--with its implied direction of evolution--is appealing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Motives and Strategic Misrepresentation in Social Decision Making.

In 4 experiments, the authors studied the influence of social motives on deception and strategic misrepresentation. In a newly developed information provision game, individuals faced a decision maker whose decision would affect both own and other's outcomes. By withholding information or by giving (in)accurate information about payoffs, participants could try to influence other's decision making. Less accurate and more inaccurate information was given when the decision maker was competitive rather than cooperative (Experiment 1), especially when participants had a prosocial rather than selfish value orientation (Experiments 3 and 4). Accurate information was withheld because of fear of exploitation and greed, and inaccurate information was given because of greed (Experiment 2). Finally, participants engaged in strategic misrepresentation that may trick competitive others into damaging their own and increasing the participant's outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social change and law.

Comments on D. R. Fox's (see record 1993-27200-001) call for reexamination of legal efforts made on behalf of organized psychology to accomplish social change. The author disagrees with the claim made by Fox that organized psychology's advocacy efforts are misdirected because they promote values consistent with those found in the law. It is argued here that the law remains the primary and most powerful mechanism through which social change is accomplished. Further, until it can be empirically shown otherwise, law is a proper venue for efforts directed by organized psychology toward social change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social rewards and personality.

Proposes a classification of social incentives. Truly social rewards are distinguished from economic rewards, and the latter are omitted. One set of social rewards, called process, involves social stimulation (arousal), and each reward consists of a unipolar dimension, only the middle of which is reinforcing. Another set of social rewards, called content, involves varying degrees of intimacy or relationship, and each reward consists of a bipolar dimension, the opposite end of which is aversive. Content rewards differ from process rewards in the types of personality traits that are associated with them and whether there are developmental trends and gender differences. Social rewards are distinguished from social opportunities, which have their own associated traits. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social separation in monkeys.

Reviews phenomena associated with social separation from attachment objects in nonhuman primates. A biphasic protest–despair reaction to social separation is often seen in monkeys, as in human children. However, upon reunion there is generally a temporary increase in attachment behaviors rather than a temporary phase of detachment, as has been reported in the human literature. Gross factors such as age and sex do not appear to influence the responses to separation or reunion substantially. Rather, behavioral repertoires prior to separation and the nature of the separation and reunion environments appear to be more important determinants of the severity of separation reactions. These findings are consistent with the human literature. Possible long-term consequences of early separations are also discussed. Four theoretical treatments of separation phenomena are presented and evaluated: J. Bowlby's attachment-object-loss theory, I. C. Kaufman's conservation–withdrawal theory, M. E. P. Seligman's learned helplessness theory, and R. L. Solomon and J. D. Corbit's opponent-process theory. (95 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social status of industries.

A sample of students (68 male, 52 female) ranked a list of 29 industries in order of social status, a second sample ranked the status of an executive in each industry, a third sample ranked the status of a laborer in each. Men and women agreed markedly in their status rankings (rho of .9) regardless of method, and the influence of occupational level stereotypes was negligible (rho of .8-.9 between rankings for pairs of stereotypes). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social and Industrial Psychology.

From time to time, there is presented evidence on who did what first in psychology. In this column, I should like to submit five entries dating back from 2000 B.C. to 400 B.C. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychology and Social Work.

The comments concerning social work and psychology which have appeared in the American Psychologist in recent years (Andriola, December 1951; Singer, December 1952; Joyce, January 1957; Andriola, January 1957) have been both heartening and disturbing: heartening in that they reflect an increasing awareness of the need for greater mutual understanding and disturbing in that the implication is conveyed that the other profession should assume primary responsibility for interpreting itself. The present concern with understanding the role of the other profession, and the desire to be understood ourselves, reflects in part, I think, the current struggle each profession is going through in defining its own role, responsibilities, and limitations. The goal, it would seem, is to develop an understanding and awareness of the related profession which enables one to work harmoniously and effectively with members of that profession and utilize their special services to the benefit of the client. How can this best be accomplished? I would suggest by each profession taking an increasing responsibility for providing adequate opportunities for their aspirants to come into interactive relationship with members of the related profession, and at a graduate training level. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Social Workers and Psychotherapy.

The three papers, by Ausubel, Brody, and Kelly (February, 1956, American Psychologist) were both refreshing and illuminating. They brought to mind an incident of a number of years ago while I was taking graduate work in psychology. I was talking to one of my professors (a well-known and distinguished psychologist) about the American Orthopsychiatric Association. Toward the end of our discussion he commented more philosophically than bitterly, "Ortho is like a car with the psychiatrist in the driver's seat, the social worker next to him, and the poor psychologist in the back seat." Perhaps this may not have been a fair appraisal at that time (and I certainly do not believe that it applies today). However, I am inclined to think that outside of ortho, even among some of the more "mature" members of these disciplines, there may be considerable jockeying for position in the game known as, "Who Should Do Psychotherapy?" Although, as indicated by the authors, there are many indications of competitiveness between psychologists and psychiatrists, this phenomenon is further complicated by the feelings and attitudes of social workers, particularly those on clinic and hospital "teams" employing all three disciplines. It should be pointed out that in the usual mental hygiene clinic the bulk of the "treatment" is carried out by the social workers, probably for no more sinister reason than that there are more social workers than the total of both other disciplines in such clinics. One cannot help but wonder if in the next decade or two a plodding and less articulate dark horse called social work may not emerge as the leading contender in the scramble to corner the "psychotherapy market" while the more spirited fillies--psychology and psychiatry--knock themselves out in the race. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)