Sociology 726

Interpersonal transactions

Spring 2002

 

Instructor:       Markus Kemmelmeier, Ph.D.
Office:              304 Mack Social Sciences
Phone:             784-1287
Email:               markusk@unr.edu
Times:              Tuesdays 2:15 - 5:00
Location:         Mack Social Sciences, Room 345
Office hours:   Thursdays 11 AM - 1 PM and by appointment

 

Go to Sociology 726 supplemental readings

Course description

This course provides a selective review of research and literature relating to interpersonal behavior.  It surveys a broad range of topics, including interpersonal cognition and perception, causal attribution, interpersonal expectancies, communication, but also relationships, attraction, aggression and helping behavior.  Even though the range of topics is diverse, two theoretical approaches will be present in almost all of the topics covered: Cultural-constructivist approaches as well as evolutionary approaches.

Goals

This course has two main objectives.  The first is to provide an in-depth examination of important theories and findings pertaining to each research area.  The second goal is to develop an appreciation for some of the methodological approaches used in empirical investigations in these areas.  To accomplish these goals, the typical reading assignment for each week consists of four papers.  In the majority of cases, at least one of the papers is a chapter or review paper that surveys relevant literature or present a theory on the topic in question.  The other papers are primarily original research studies published in peer-reviewed journals.

Format

This course will follow a seminar format.  Typically, during the first 30 minutes of class, the instructor will provides some historical context of the readings for the day.  The remainder of class will be open for discussion, and, occasionally, in-class activities.  Your active participant is essential to the quality of the course. 

Course materials

            There will be a course pack available in the lobby of the sociology department, MSS 300.  There is one required book, available for purchase at the ASUN bookstore:

Ross, L., & Nisbett, R. E. (1991). The person and the situation. New York: McGraw-Hill.

 Requirements

            Reaction papers.  Every participant is required to write weekly reaction papers.  The reaction papers provide you with an opportunity to thoughtful elaborate on your ideas, questions, doubts, or concerns concerning the readings.  The preferred format of the reaction paper is a brief essay in which you try to expand on aspects that connect various readings, or in which you critically discuss apparent differences or contradictions between theoretical approaches or empirical findings.  You may also wish to apply various theoretical approaches to the same phenomenon and highlight their strengths and weaknesses.  You are free to write about anything you wish, as long as you integrate at least three of the readings.  The discussion of personal experiences or preferences is perfectly legitimate, as long as you link them to the concepts you wish you discuss.

Keep in mind that I (MK) have read the papers as well; hence there is no need for extant summary of the papers.  Also, it is critical that you argue clearly, support your statements, and present justifications, e.g., for suggested extensions of the present research.

The reaction papers should be around one to two single-spaced pages, and should be turned in no later than 4 PM on Monday, preferably via email.  Given that the reaction papers are a relatively open task, the grading of the content of the reaction paper will be generous.  I will not grade content per se, but rather their thoughtfulness.

            Research proposals.  Over the course of the semester, every participant is required to write two research proposals.  The first research proposal should link up with at least one topic of the first half of the course, whereas the second proposal should focus on a topic covered during the second half.  You are free to pick any topic of interest to you, as long as you can argue convincingly that it is linked to the respective set of topics.  You are required to provide me with at least a brief statement of what you are planning on writing about at least one week before the final proposal deadline (earlier submissions are strongly encouraged).  Alternatively, you have the option of submitting a first draft of your proposal, on which you will receive feedback.  In any case, you are encouraged to meet with me to discuss your topic of interest and strategies of implementing your research question.

            The format of a proposal should resemble the introduction and methods section of an article in the empirical social sciences.  There are no length requirements; yet the assumption is that proposal are usually no shorter than 8 and no longer than 20 pages (double-spaced).  Use APA style (5th ed.) or ASA style (4th ed.)!  (See www.apastyle.org/fifthchanges.html for recent changes in APA style.)

            The research proposals will be graded based on quality of review of relevant literature, quality of your own analysis and integration of that literature, originality/creativity and quality of writing.  (The first two criteria take priority over the second two criteria).

Grading          

In-class participation

15%

Weekly reaction papers

15%

Research proposal #1

35%

Research proposal #2

35%

Total

100%

 

Course schedule and readings

January 22      Organizational meeting

 

January 29      Interaction & communication

 

Ambady, N., Koo, J., Lee, F., & Rosenthal, R. (1996). More than words: Linguistic and nonlinguistic politeness in two cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 996-1011.

Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday. (“Introduction” & “Performances” sections, pp. 1-76 of original).

Keating, C. F., & Heltman, K. R. (1994). Dominance and deception in children and adults: Are leaders the best misleaders? Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 20, 312-321.

Keltner, D., Young, R. C., Heerey, E. A., Oemig, C., & Monarch, N. D. (1998). Teasing in hierarchical and intimate relations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 1231-1247.

 

 

February 5      The person and the situation

 

Ross, L., & Nisbett, R. E. (1991). The person and the situation. McGraw-Hill. Chapters 1+2+4

Darley, J. M., & Batson, C. D. (1973). "From Jerusalem to Jericho": A study of situational and dispositional variables in helping behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 27, 100-108.

Shweder, R. A., & Bourne, E. J. (1982). Does the concept of the person vary cross-culturally? A. J. Marsella & G. M. White (Eds.), Cultural conceptions of mental health and therapy (pp. 97-137). New York: Reidel. [reprinted in Shweder, R. (1991). Thinking through cultures: Expeditions in cultural psychology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.]

Carlo, G., Eisenberg, N., Troyer, D., Switzer, G., & Speer, A. L. (1991). The altruistic personality: In what contexts is it apparent? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 450-458.

 

 

February 12    Causal Attribution

 

Ross, L., & Nisbett, R. E. (1991). The person and the situation. McGraw-Hill. Chapter 3+5+6

Jones, E. E., & Nisbett, R. E. (1971/1987). The actor and the observer: Divergent perceptions of the causes of behavior. In E. E. Jones, D. E. Kanouse, H. H. Kelley, R. E. Nisbett, S. Valins, & B. Weiner (Eds.), Attribution: Perceiving the causes of behavior (pp. 79-94). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Malle, B. F. (1999). How people explain behavior: A new theoretical framework. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3, 23-48.

Morris, M. W., & Peng, K. (1994). Culture and cause: American and Chinese attributions for social and physical events. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 949-971.

 

 

February 19    Explanations in context

 

Hilton, D. (1990). Conversational processes and causal explanation. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 65-81.

Edwards, D., & Potter, J. (1993). Language and causation: A discursive action model of description and attribution. Psychological Review, 100, 23-41.

Scott, M. B., & Lyman, S. M. (1968). Accounts. American Sociological Review, 33, 46-61. [available via www.library.unr.edu]

Schlenker, B. R., Pontari, B. A., & Christopher, A. N. (2001). Excuses and character: Personal and social implications of excuses. Personality and Social Psychological Review, 5, 15-32.

 

 

February 26    Interpersonal expectancies & their confirmation

 

Darley, J. M., & Fazio, R. H. (1980). Expectancy confirmation processes arising in the social interaction sequence. American Psychologist, 35, 867-881.

Word, C. O., Zanna, M. P., & Cooper, J. (1974). The nonverbal mediation of self-fulfilling prophecies in interracial interaction. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10, 109-120.

Swann, W. B., Jr., & Ely, R. J. (1984). A battle of wills: Self-verification versus behavioral confirmation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 1287-1302.

Snyder, M., & Haugen, J. A. (1994). Why does behavioral confirmation occur? A functional perspective on the role of the perceiver. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 30, 218-246. [available via www.library.unr.edu]

 

 

March 5          Interpersonal influence and power

 

Cialdini, R. B., & Trost, M. R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity and compliance. In D. T. Gilbert, & S. T. Fiske (Eds.), Handbook of social psychology (Vol. 2, 4th ed., pp. 151-192). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. [de-emphasize section on CONFORMITY].

Snyder, M., & Kiviniemi, M. T. (2001). Getting what they came for: How power influences the dynamics and outcomes of interpersonal interaction. In A. Y. Lee-Chai, & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), The use and abuse of power: Multiple perspectives on the causes of corruption (pp. 133-155). Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press/Taylor & Francis.

Friedkin, N. E. (1993). Structural bases of interpersonal influence in groups: A longitudinal case study. American Sociological Review, 58, 861-872. [available via www.library.unr.edu]

Raven, B. H. (1990). Political applications of the psychology of interpersonal influence and social power. Political Psychology, 11, 493-520. 

 

 

March 12        Perspectives on intersubjectivity

 

Hardin, C. D., & Higgins, E. T. (1996). Shared reality: How social verification makes the subjective objective. In R. M. Sorrentino, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of motivation and cognition, Vol. 3: The interpersonal context (pp. 28-84). New York: Guilford.

Caporael, L. R. (1997). The evolution of truly social cognition: The core configurations model. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 1, 276-298.

Condor, S., & Antaki, C. (1997). Social cognition and discourse. In T. van Dijk (Ed), Discourse as structure and process: Discourse studies: A multidisciplinary introduction (Vol. 1, pp. 320-347). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Schegloff, E. A. (1992). Repair after next turn: The last structurally provided defense of intersubjectivity in conversation. American Journal of Sociology, 97, 1295-1345. [available via www.library.unr.edu]

 

 

March 15          ****** Deadline for draft of research paper #1 ******

 

 

March 19        Interpersonal transmission of information

 

Kashima, Y. (2000). Maintaining cultural stereotypes in the serial reproduction of narratives. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 594-604.

Heath, C., Bell, C., & Sternberg, E. (2001). Emotional selection in memes: The case of urban legends. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 1028-1041.

Sperber, D. (1990). The epidemiology of beliefs. In C. Fraser, & G. Gaskell (Eds.), The social psychological study of widespread beliefs (pp. 25-44). New York, NY: Clarendon Press/Oxford University Press. [reprinted in Sperber, D. (1996). Explaining culture (pp. 77-97). Blackwell.]

Bordia, P., & Rosnow, R. L. (1998). Rumor rest stops on the information highway: Transmission patterns in a computer-mediated rumor chain. Human Communication Research, 25, 163-179. [available via www.library.unr.edu]

 

 

March 22          ****** Deadline Research paper #1 ******

 

 

March 26        Conflict and negotiation

 

Ross, L., & Ward. A. (1995). Psychological barriers to dispute resolution. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology (Vol. 27, pp. 255-304). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

Markus, H. R., & Lin, L. R. (1999). Conflictways: Cultural diversity in the meanings and practices of conflict. In D. A. Prentice & D. T. Miller (Eds.), Cultural divides: Understanding and overcoming group conflict (pp. 302-333). New York, NY: Russell Sage Foundation.

Thompson, L. L., Nadler, J., & Kim, P. H. (1999). Some like it hot: The case for the emotional negotiator. In L. L. Thompson, J. M. Levine, & D. M. Messick (Eds.), Shared cognition in organizations: The management of knowledge (pp. 139-161). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Peterson, D. R. (1983). Conflict. In H. H. Kelley, E. Berscheid, A. Christensen, J. H. Harvey, T. L. Huston, G. Levinger, E. McClintock, L. A. Peplau, & D. R. Peterson (Eds.), Close relationships (pp. 360-396). New York: Freeman & Co.

 

 

April 2        **************** Spring Break – no class meeting ****************

 

April 9 Interpersonal attraction

 

Kalick, S. M., & Hamilton, T. E. (1986). The matching hypothesis reexamined Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 673-682.

Aron, A. (1988). The matching hypothesis reconsidered again: Comment on Kalick and Hamilton. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 441-446.

Kalick, S. M., & Hamilton, T. E. (1988). Closer look at a matching simulation: Reply to Aron. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 447-451.

Foster, C. A., Witcher, B. S., Campbell, W. K., & Green, J. D. (1998). Arousal and attraction: Evidence for automatic and controlled processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 86-101.

Pilkington, N. W., & Lydon, J. E. (1997). The relative effect of attitude similarity and attitude dissimilarity on interpersonal attraction: Investigating the moderating roles of prejudice and group membership. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 107-122. [available via www.library.unr.edu]

 

 

April 17 WEDNESDAY 10:15 - 1:00            Love and sex

 

Beall, A. E., & Sternberg, R. J. (1995). The social construction of love. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 12, 417-438.

Shaver, P. R., & Morgan, H. J., & Wu, S. (1996). Is love a "basic" emotion. Personal Relationships, 3, 81-96.

Buss, D. M., & Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual Strategies Theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100, 204-232.

Laumann, E. O., & Gagnon, J. H. (1995). A sociological perspective on sexual action. In R. G. Parker & J. H. Gagnon (Eds.), Conceiving sexuality: Approaches to sex research in a postmodern world (pp. 183-213). Florence, KY: Taylor & Francis.

Aron, A., & Aron, E. N. (1991). Love and sexuality. In K. McKinney & S. Sprecher (Eds.), Sexuality in close relationships (pp. 25-48). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum

 

 

April 23           Processes in interpersonal relationships

 

Holmes, J. G. (2000). Social relationships: The nature and function of relational schemas. European Journal of Social Psychology, 30, 447-495.

Rusbult, C. E., & Martz, J. M. (1995). Remaining in an abusive relationship: An investment model analysis of nonvoluntary dependence. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 558-571.

Murray, S. L., Holmes, J. G., & Griffin, D. W. (1996). The benefits of positive illusions: Idealization and the construction of satisfaction in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 79-98.

Burke, P. J., & Stets, J. E. (1999). Trust and commitment through self-verification. Social Psychology Quarterly, 62, 347-366. [available via www.library.unr.edu]

Baumeister, R. F., & Leary, M. R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497-529.

 

April 30           Aggression

 

Cohen, D., Nisbett, R. E., Bowdle, B. F., & Schwarz, N. (1996). Insult, aggression, and the southern culture of honor: An "experimental ethnography." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 945-960.

Pedersen, W. C., Gonzales, C., & Miller, N. (2000). The moderating effect of trivial triggering provocation on displaced aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 913-927.

Smuts, B. (1996). Male aggression against women: An evolutionary perspective. In D. M. Buss & N. M. Malamuth (Eds.), Sex, power, conflict: Evolutionary and feminist perspectives (pp. 231-268). New York: Oxford University Press. [reprinted from Human Nature, 3, 1-44.]

Twenge, J. M., Baumeister, R. F., Tice, D. M., & Stucke, T. S. (2001). If you can't join them, beat them: Effects of social exclusion on aggressive behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 1058-1069.

 

 

May 4               ****** Deadline for draft of research paper #1 ******

 

 

May 7 Helping behavior

 

Cialdini, R. B., Brown, S. L., Lewis, B. P., Luce, C. & Neuberg, S. L. (1997). Reinterpreting the empathy-altruism relationship: When one into one equals oneness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 481-494.

Batson, C. D., Sager, K., Garst, E., Kang, M., Rubchinsky, K., & Dawson, K. (1997). Is empathy-induced helping due to self-other merging? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 495-509.

Neuberg, S. L., Cialdini, R. B., Brown, S. L., Luce, C., Sagarin, B. J., & Lewis, B. P. (1997). Does empathy lead to anything more than superficial helping? Comment on Batson et al. (1997). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 510-516.

Batson, C. D. (1997). Self-other merging and the empathy-altruism hypothesis: Reply to Neuberg et al.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 517-522.

Burnstein, E., Crandall, C., & Kitayama, S. (1994). Some neo-Darwinian decision rules for altruism: Weighing cues for inclusive fitness as a function of the biological importance of the decision. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 67, 773-789.

 

 

May 11             ****** Deadline Research paper #2 ******