Test performance as an involuntary function of interpersonal relationships.

The hypothesis that tension aroused by making a new acquaintance might adversely affect test performance is here investigated. Two person teams of subjects are given the Vigotsky Blocks Tests. In the control group, the subjects knew each other before the experiment and knew the experimenter. In the experimental group, the subjects were unacquainted before the experimental session. Analysis of the results shows that the experimental groups took significantly longer to complete the test. Although this result tends to support the hypothesis, several alternate explanations are proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

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)     

Changes in the perception of interpersonal relationships in successfully treated adolescent delinquent boys.

Successful psychotherapy with adolescent delinquent boys revealed significant improvement in the perception of interpersonal relationships on thematic stories to pictures selected to measure 3 areas of personality functioning (self-image, control of aggression, and attitude toward authority). People in the stories were seen as having more highly differentiated roles and relationships. These changes were highly correlated with improved academic performance (revealed on achievement tests) and improvement in overt behavior (reduction in antisocial behavior and better employment history). The results are consistent with many views regarding the nature of personality change in psychotherapy and strongly indicate that improvement in the perception of interpersonal relationships is associated with higher levels of overall performance and integration. Exactly how these changes are brought about during psychotherapy still remains to be explored. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subjective probabilities of interpersonal relationships.

"Subjective probabilities of the existence of various interpersonal relationships under various conditions were obtained with a questionnaire given male college students. Positive affective relationships were regarded as generally most probable, and negative affective relationships as least probable." Various aspects of the interpersonal relationship, e.g., "likes," "trusts," "confides in," "feels superior to," etc., were discussed. (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)     

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)     

Some situational and psychological determinants of the desire for structured interpersonal relations.

"The sales personnel of a life insurance company district were intensively interviewed about the kind of social interaction preferred." It was shown that "the desire for structured personal interaction is… a defense mechanism which attempts to control the behavior of those individuals in the system who have the authority to initiate negative sanctions." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Punitiveness, authoritarianism, and parental discipline of grade school children.

"The purpose of this study was to investigate the interrelationships among ethnocentrism-authoritarianism in children, the child's willingness to be punitive, and the punitiveness of the parent as the child sees it. Three hypotheses postulating positive correlations among the three variables were set up… . It is concluded that the three hypotheses of the study are supported by the data, and that this evidence is in accord with, and reflects favorably upon, the theory of the origin of ethnocentrism-authoritarianism proposed by Frenkel-Brunswik and her associates." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Broadening student experience in mental hygiene and abnormal psychology.

"At Whittier college an attempt is made to relate closely the student's experience in the mental hygiene and abnormal psychology courses." "In mental hygiene, emphasis is placed upon the practical problems of community mental health, and an attempt is made to stimulate the student's interest… ." "In the abnormal psychology course… trips are arranged to an institution for the mentally defective, a hospital for the care of the physically handicapped, a school for delinquents, and a state mental hospital. Other procedures and possibilities for provoking student interest and enriching class experience are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of conditioning upon preexperimentally acquired verbal habit in psychiatric patients.

20 adult females, hospitalized for psychiatric disorders, 7 displaying initial negative verbal habit and 13 displaying initial positive verbal habit were matched for diagnostic category, age, education, and number of hospitalizations, and divided into 2 groups. Experimental Ss reinforced for displaying a verbal habit opposite to their initial habit significantly increased their tendency to display the reinforced habit. When the initial verbal habit was then reinforced, Ss significantly increased their tendency to display this habit. Control Ss never received reinforcement, and showed no change in initial verbal habit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)