Richard F. Rakos

The social perception of assertive behavior as a function of response class and gender

Seven distinct response classes of assertiveness were identified through a literature search and the factor structure of assertiveness inventories. Male and female subjects evaluated vignettes of males and females behaving assertively as defined by the seven response classes. Factor analysis of the ratings identified an Evaluative factor and a Perceived Assertiveness factor. Analyses of variance on the factor scores revealed that the potency and social evaluation of the assertive behaviors varied among the response classes and, further, that labeling assertive behavior and the social evaluation of the asserter are independent judgments. Although the response classes closest to dictionary definitions of assertiveness were labeled more assertive, these received mixed social evaluations with some giving approval and others not. Male and female observers perceived assertiveness similarly for both male and female assertion. Unexpectedly, male asserters were consistently devalued by both male and female observers.

CONTENT CONSIDERATION IN THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN ASSERTIVE AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR

Attempts to distinguish assertive behavior from aggressive behavior independently of the consequences seem hindered by a limited conceptualization of assertiveness. Assertiveness is usually thought of as a right, but a behavioral analysis of rights behavior indicates the emission of functionally related obligation behaviors both prior to and after the emission of the rights behavior. When assertiveness is defined as a behavioral chain consisting of obligations and rights, the obligation behavioral components distinguish it from aggressiveness. The rights behavioral component, currently called “assertiveness,” is better termed “expressiveness” or “expressive behavior” to indicate that the entire assertive response includes more than the simple expression of rights.

Intervention for relapse to smoking : The Lung Health Study restart programs

The Lung Health Study enrolled 3,923 participants in a smoking cessation intervention program, and followed them for 5 years. The study provided intensive group interventions for participants who had relapsed. The purpose of this analysis was to describe and evaluate these Restart programs. Among 1,004 relapsed participants, the percent not smoking at 5th year was higher for men who had used Restart (47) compared to those who had not (28), but not for women (42 vs. 33). Overall, there was equivocal evidence of the impact of the Restart programs due to limitations in the evaluation design. Because relapse is a common feature of efforts to quit smoking, relapse intervention programs need further study and more rigorous evaluation.

The Belief in Free Will as a Biological Adaptation: Thinking Inside and Outside the Behavior Analytic Box

In general, people tenaciously believe they possess free will despite the overwhelming scientific consensus that all human behavior is determined by environmental stimuli. Skinner in particular has consistently, forcefully, and persuasively argued that the belief in free will is an artifact of human behavior – in his view, a now-dysfunctional product of the “literature of freedom and dignity.” Drawing on both scientific and nonscientific sources, I examine this paradox between subjective experience and objective analysis and suggest that the almost-universal “belief in free will” is a product of evolution and thereby an adaptive human characteristic. From this perspective, I discuss the wisdom of adhering to the dominant behavior analytic understanding of free will; contrary to Skinner’s contention, the pervasive human belief in free will, even if scientifically “wrong,” may well contribute to social progress rather than impede it.

An Empirical Evaluation of a Behavioral Self-Management Course in a College Setting.

1. A brief version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology (COGDOP) in New Orleans on February 11, 1984. Appreciation is expressed to R. Ciottone, J. Demick, A Pacheco and M. Wiener for their helpful comments on an early version of this paper 2. Students enter the Graduate Program only at the beginning of the Fall semester of the academic year 3. The responses, although somewhat informal, provide very useful qualitative data for a formative process evaluation. It will take a number of years to accumulate data that can be quantified. Moreover, perhaps most valuable will be information about the Seminar obtained one or more years after the students have obtained their PhDs. Such evaluations, which deal with the long-term value of a course, are perhaps of greater significance than information obtained immediately after its completion. 4. Address requests for reprints to Seymour Wapner, Department of Psychology, Clark University, 950 Main St., Worcester, MA 01610.

The influence of race in the social evaluation of assertion in conflict situations

In two separate experiments, black and white college students evaluated standard and empathic assertion emitted in black-to-white, black-to-black, white-to-white, and white-to-black conflict interactions. Overall, both black and white subjects perceived empathic assertion to be more socially desirable than standard assertion, but their judgments were affected by the race of the participants. Whites evaluated empathic assertion more favorably than standard assertion when the asserter was white, but made no such distinction when he was black. Blacks perceived empathic assertion to a black to be more positive than standard assertion when the asserter was black, but reversed their judgment of the two styles when the asserter was white. Both blacks and whites evidenced discomfort with assertion by individuals of the other race. The clinical implications of these findings and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Review of Living Walden Two: B. F. Skinner’s behaviorist utopia and experimental communities

Kuhlmann’s Living Walden Two (2005) offers a social history of the actual experimental communities that were inspired by Skinner’s (1948) utopian novel. In the course of her examination, the author presents a reasonably accurate overview of the key cultural design elements described in the novel, of behavioral philosophy applied to cultural design, and of the academic reaction to the behavioral philosophy embodied in the fictional community. She is critical of several key behavioral tenets, but generally remains analytical rather than emotional. Kuhlmann concludes that contextual and individual factors undermined the capacity of most of the experimental communities inspired by Walden Two to sustain themselves.

Dying slowly with compassion and dignity: A commentary.

Fraley offers a provocative behavior-analytic perspective on the process of slow death. I argue that the value of his insightful analysis is severely compromised by his insistence on equating behavioral competence with personal worth. Fraley errs by proclaiming that his philosophy is science, that existing social practices are essential human attributes, and that idiosyncratic reinforcing stimuli are universally functional. Further, his philosophical tenet is fundamentally inconsistent with his genuinely humane goal of understanding and promoting protracted dying as a behavioral rather than metaphysical phenomenon.

Bereavement: Preliminary Behavior Analytic Hypotheses

Dillenburger and Keenan’s (1994) initial behavior analytic exploration of bereavement provides the prompt for the present discussion. I suggest that the antecedent stimuli to grieving behavior include several “types of death” categories in addition to the three they proposed in the original article and, further, that the death of a valued person may exert its influence as one or more establishing operations. While the authors discussed extinction in detail, I suggest that the death of a loved one also typically introduces other relationships with consequent stimuli that influence the behavior of the survivor, such as noncontingent aversive stimuli, response-contingent aversive stimuli, and negative behavior contrast effects. I conclude with several suggestions meant to stimulate further behavior analysis of the topic while also indicating the need to build on data acquired through non-behavioral investigations.

BEHAVIOR AND PERESTROIKA

Three metacontingencies in the Soviet Union and some of their attendant problems are described. The metacontengencies are: (1) centralized control of the economy, (2) increased production as the primary goal, (3) maintenance of power and privilege by the nomenklatura