Harold H. Kelley

An Atlas of Interpersonal Situations

Introducing a new hobby for other people may inspire them to join with you. Reading, as one of mutual hobby, is considered as the very easy hobby to do. But, many people are not interested in this hobby. Why? Boring is the reason of why. However, this feel actually can deal with the book and time of you reading. Yeah, one that we will refer to break the boredom in reading is choosing an atlas of interpersonal situations as the reading material.

Negotiating the division of a reward under incomplete information

Abstract A mixed-motive bargaining game involving division of a joint reward by two negotiators was used in three experiments. For each bargaining problem each negotiator was privately assigned a minimum necessary share (MNS) which he had to exceed if agreement was to be profitable to him. Since each person had no direct knowledge of the others MNS, conditions of incomplete information existed. The pattern of offers, concession rates, threats, lies, terminal actions, and time were analyzed to show overall data trends. The special problems involving unequal MNS values showed a consistent “low mans advantage” in profit gained and, as compared with equal-MNS problems, greater difficulty in reaching agreements. A nonparametric model of the bargaining process was constructed which postulated a resistance, R, to making successive concessions. This model was based on two sets of assumptions: coordinating assumptions, which link R to various observations of the process and its outcome, and distribution assumptions, which express the distribution of R over the various positions in which a person can be located during the course of negotiation. Defining the domain of positions only in terms of information directly available to each party (his own MNS and offer level), nonparametric assumptions about the distribution of R were found successfully to reproduce various aspects of the experimental data. The implications of the model for the mechanisms underlying the bargaining process are discussed.

Errors in perception of intentions in a mixed-motive game ☆

Subjects were instructed in playing a version of the Prisoners Dilemma Game. Then, faced with the prospect of interaction with an unspecified partner, each subject expressed her intention about how the PDG relationship should develop. An experimental design was formed by placing together pairs of subjects having similar or different intentions. Unaware of each others expressed intentions, the subjects were asked to judge them at several points during their interaction. Their behavior in the game and parallel judgments made by observers of the game provided the context for interpreting errors in their judgments. The results indicate that the degree of cooperativeness of intention of noncooperative players is usually judged more accurately than that of cooperative ones. Judgments of the latter vary as a function of the cooperativeness of the person with whom they are playing, and the errors tend to be assimilative, i.e., the cooperative person is judged to have the same intention as his opponent. Of two possible interpretations of these errors, projection versus influence, the evidence favors the latter. Cooperators are found to exhibit behavior similar to that of the persons with whom they are interacting. Consistent with these judgmental and behavioral data are reports from the cooperative members of mixed pairs (Coop-Non-coop) indicating that they have greater difficulty maintaining their intentions than do their partners and that they are aware of the lesser responsibility they have for the course of the relationship. Results are also reported for trends over blocks of trials.

Collective behavior in a simulated panic situation

Abstract Three experimental studies of interdependent escape, based on a laboratory simulation of one type of panic situation, have been reported. Each collection of subjects was given a limited amount of time to escape from an imminent danger, but they were able to escape only one at a time. The major findings from the experiments are: 1. (1) As threatened penalty for failure to escape increases, the percentage of persons who succeed in doing so declines. 2. (2) As size of the collection increases, the percentage escaping declines. This may also be stated as an increase in the time required per escape with increasing size. There remains considerable ambiguity about the shape of this function. 3. (3) If members of the collection are oriented toward taking their behavioral cues from each other, as compared with an orientation toward making their behavioral decisions independently of one another, the effect upon escape may be either a deleterious one (When at the outset there is generally little optimism about escape) or a salutary one (when the general level of initial optimism is high.) 4. (4) The availability of a distinctive response for the public expression of confidence greatly increases the percentage of persons who succeed in escaping. The results are taken as indicating the fruitfulness of analyzing the interdependent escape situation in terms of present-day concepts and principles of social influence.

The inference of intentions from moves in the Prisoner's Dilemma game

Abstract After learning the PDG, subjects were presented with short sequences of interaction between players A and B. For each one, they judged its information value as to As intention for the relationship, what intention it indicated, etc. These judgments provided the evidence for testing a series of hypotheses suggested by attribution theory. Support was obtained for the hypothesis that consistent behavior by A yields more information and consensus than does inconsistent behavior. Partial support was found for the hypotheses that (1) consistent disagreement with B yields greater information than consistent agreement, and (2) inconsistency that constitutes an “initiative” or shift away from B yields greater information than inconsistency that constitutes an “imitative” shift toward B. Both were found to be true when As final action in the sequence was competitive but not when it was cooperative. No support was found for the hypothesis that competitive behavior, being regarded as less socially desirable and more uncommon, will yield more information than cooperative behavior. Further results are reported on judgments of “acting on principle” and inferences as to As expectations about Bs later moves. Evidence on individual differences in attribution is consistent with the proposition that attributions are made according to the persons experience with internal and external causes of his own behavior.

Sex differences in comments made during conflict within close heterosexual pairs

Questionnaires were used to investigate (1) stereotypes about what young couples do and say during their conflicts and (2) reports (by actual young couples) of what each one is likely to do or say. The two sets of data yielded much the same pattern of results. The female is expected and reported to cry and sulk and to criticize the male for lack of consideration of her feelings and for insensitivity to his effect on her. The male is expected and reported to show anger, to reject the females tears, to call for a logical and less emotional approach to the problem, and to give reasons for delaying the discussion. The Study I expectations for sex differences during conflict are held to about the same degree by the female and male respondents. In both studies, the differences were found to depend primarily on sex of the person and not on the particular problem involved in the conflict. The results are interpreted in terms of the interaction between a conflict-avoidant person (the male) and his partner (the female), who is frustrated by the avoidance and asks that the problem and the feelings associated with it be confronted.

Care, need, and conceptions of love

Determined the relative representativeness, as exemplars of love, of caring and needing, which are subclasses of love. In 5 studies with 322 undergraduates, Ss examined different items on the Love Scale, were instructed differently on how to interpret response patterns, and rated the response patterns on how much love the individual felt for the partner, how friendly he or she felt toward the partner, how much he or she liked the partner, and how attracted he or she was to the partner. It was predicted that (a) care plays a more important role than need in judgments of love and (b) need plays a more important role than care in judgments of attraction. Results support these predictions and also indicate that trust plays a more important role in judgments of friendship than in those of any other attitude. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved)

Effects of different types of interdependence and response conditions in the minimal social situation

Abstract Two experiments are conducted on pairs of persons who are interdependent but interacting without awareness of their interdependence. The purpose of the studies is to determine the conditions under which the development of a mutually advantageous interchange can occur despite the limitations of these “minimal social” conditions. Two types of interdependence are compared (mutual fate control vs. a combination of fate control and behavior control) as are two conditions of response elicitation (simultaneous vs. ad lib responding). The results show that the evolution of a mutual adjustment depends jointly on these two factors. Under conditions of simultaneous responding, two persons related in the mutual fate control manner establish the desired interchange more frequently than those related in the fate control-behavior control manner. In contrast, under conditions of ad lib responding, the latter pairs make the mutual adjustment more dependably. The bases of these mutual adjustment processes are considered and some possible implications of the work are discussed.

Expanding the analysis of social orientations by reference to the sequential–temporal structure of situations

The purpose of this paper is to identify logically the types of choice points that people encounter in their interpersonal relationships. It is assumed that associated with each type of choice point is a special class of choice criterion or decision rule. Therefore, identifying the types of choice points provides a basis for distinguishing the various decision criteria that are required by interdependent life and that should be assessed in order to predict patterns of interpersonal interaction. This paper explains how these distinctions will serve to expand our thinking about social orientations.

Correlational and discrepancy indices of understanding and their relation to marital satisfaction.

The relation between the understanding of desires for change and marital satisfaction was investigated. Subjects consisted of two samples, 77 married couples from Houston and 75 cohabiting and married couples from Los Angeles. Marital satisfaction was assessed by the LockeWallace Marital Adjustment Test. Understanding was measured by both correlational and discrepancy indices derived from the Areas of Change Questionnaire. In both samples the discrepancy index indicated that understanding was significantly positively correlated with marital satisfaction. Surprisingly, the correlational index suggested that understanding was significantly negatively correlated with marital satisfaction. This led to the investigation of a possible confounding factor that affects the relation between indices of understanding and marital satisfaction. When correction was made for this factor, the unexpected negative correlation was eliminated and the discrepancy index continued to suggest that understanding is positively associated with marital satisfaction.