Showing papers on "Conceptualization published in 1970"

Conceptual and methodological considerations in the study of trust and suspicion

Abstract: Trust and suspicion appear to underlie many social interactions Thus it is not surprising that they occupy an important role in various efforts to account for the stability or instability of a wide variety of human relationships One of the earliest systematic formulations of these concepts appeared in this journal over a decade ago (cf Deutsch, 1958) Yet little progress has been made since then toward a more satisfactory conceptualization of trust and suspicion This paper is devoted to the examination of both the theoretical and the methodological considerations relevant to the empirical study of trust and suspicion

Whatever Happened to Action Research

Abstract: Lewin’s (1947b) model of action research is composed of repeated cycles of analysis, fact-finding, conceptualization, planning, implementation of action, and evaluation. The guiding idea is that a process can be studied by introducing changes and observing their effects on it. (Marrow, 1969). Despite the title of this chapter, action research is still very much alive. It has strong advocates in high places. Deutsch has said that the need for knowledge of the effects of experiences upon development, as a basis for changes in policies and organizations, “clearly points to an emphasis on action programs and action research as fundamental tools of the social scientist” (Deutsch, 1969, pp. 14–15).

Personality and Politics: Problems of Evidence, inference, and Conceptualization

Abstract: It is widely recognized that politics often is profoundly shaped by the personalities of the actors in the political process. Yet the scholarly literature on "personality and politics" is one of the most vexed, controversial, and methodologically gnarled bodies of inquiry in the social sciences. The author of this book, an acknowledged authority in the field, attempts to lay out conceptual and methodological standards for carrying out personality-and-politics inquiries-ranging from psychological case studies of single actors, through multi-case analyses of types of political actors, to aggregative analyses of the impact of individuals and types of individuals on political systems and processes. For the Norton Library edition, Professor Greenstein has written an introduction dealing with current issues and examples.

Family Systems: Morphostasis and Morphogenesis, or “Is Homeostasis Enough?”

Abstract: The role of family homeostasis in Conjoint Family Therapy is reviewed and examined from the standpoint of the Sociocultural Systems framework as presented by Buckley. Sociocultural Systems concepts are presented, and an attempt is made to relate them to a view of the family. It is concluded that the concept of homeostasis by itself is insufficient as a basic explanatory principle for family systems and that it may limit both our expectations for families and our approaches to helping families. The concepts viability, positive feedback processes, morphogenesis, and “variety” are presented and emphasized as important for a more tenable conceptualization of the family system in our society today. An attempt is made to relate these concepts to some of the clinical family literature and to examine the implications of these concepts for mental health and educational approaches to the family.

Personality and Politics: Problems of Evidence, Inference, and Conceptualization

Abstract: Fred Greenstein, an acknowledged authority in this field, lays out conceptual and methodological standards for carrying out personality-and politics inquiries, ranging from psychological case studies of single actors, through multi-case analyses of types of political actors, to aggregative analyses of the impact of individuals and types of individuals on political systems and processes.Originally published in 1987.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Concepts and terminology in interreligious marriage

Abstract: I NTRODUCTION. Interreligious marriage has been a matter of concern to religious leaders seemingly since the origin of different religions. Rules and their modification, polemics, and, much more recently, research have kept the subject alive. Research of any kind rests on conceptualization and precision of terminology; theories may follow later. Research on interreligious marriage has scarcely gone beyond limited surveys of rates of intermarriage; discussions tend to be partisan in nature by proponents of one religion or another. These approaches are more or less at a standstill; little that is new is being uncovered. The time is at hand for placing interreligious marriage in a conceptual framework and for developing greater precision in terminology, both for the sake of clarity and to break away from some of the inadequacies of present research. This article makes a start in that direction. It is not intended to be global; except for occasional illustrations, it is limited to the United States.

Theory in the Humanities and Sociology.

Abstract: As A nonrmmanist in a discipline?sociology?that stands relatively close to the humanities, I shall make bold to carry out my assignment by essaying a conception of the humanities that seems to me to be consonant with my conceptualization of both the behavioral-social sciences and the natural sciences. All of them, I think, should be treated as intellectual disciplines concerned with gaining rational knowledge of the human condition and of its products and environ ment. I include in the concept "environment" the cultural or sym bolic systems which, like artifacts, are at one level clearly human creations or products of human action, whatever their sources in other respects may be interpreted to be. The concept of rational knowledge in this sense involves the two basic methodological standards of science?namely logical clarity and coherence?and empirical validity. The disciplines in this sense vary not with respect to the relevance of these standards, but with respect to the nature of the objects they study, and consequently the more specific standards and methods appropriate in implement ing the general standards. Another way of putting this point is to say that as modes of action oriented to valid knowledge, the disciplines (German Wissenschaften) share the primacy of the values of cogni tive rationality, but the modes of implementation of these values vary as a function of the type of object studied, the type of interest manifested, the variety of data available, and the method appropri ate for such study. Knowledge, in the sense of this discussion, is what I should call a cultural object, or set of such objects. It consists of entities which at one level are physical, for example, black marks on white paper, but the significance of which derives from the fact that they are 495

Intragenerational Versus Intergenerational Mobility in Relation to Sociopolitical Attitudes

Abstract: Recent work in stratification has suggested that the extent to which vertical mobility influences sociopolitical attitudes depends on whether the mobility is intergenerational or intragenerational. In an effort to clarify previous statements of the issue, we suggest that (1) the validity of the proposition depends in turn on the manner in which mobility is conceptualized, and (2) any differences between the two types of mobility can be interpreted in terms of differential resistance to resocialization into the political perspectives of the class of destination. Using survey data from Italy, and focusing on upward mobility, according to one specific conceptualization of mobility, the intragenerational achievers are found to be more resistant to resocialization into middle-class political perspectives than intergenerational achievers. Explanation of this finding makes reference to the selection processes of formal education and to the obstacles encountered in career ascent. R ecent work in social stratification has pointed to the question of whether vertical social mobility, when measured intragenerationally, has different attitudinal "consequences" than when it is measured intergenerationally. In the absence of systematic data, the temptation has been to predict that a person's political perspectives and evaluations are changed less by his experiences of intrageneratio;nal or "career" mobility than by those of intergenerational mobility (Wilensky and Edwards, 1959; Wilensky, 1966; Janowitz and Curtis, 1957; Dahrendorf, 1959; Westoff et al., 1960). The issue is of importance for a number of reasons, including the opportunity to study from different vantage points such crucial gauges of social stress and integration as sociopolitical attitudes. This paper reports an attempt to test the tenability of the suggested difference between the two forms of vertical mobility with respect to such attitudes. The strategy is, first, to review several theoretical statements of the problem with a view toward This content downloaded from 157.55.39.243 on Tue, 04 Oct 2016 05:44:54 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms GENERATIONAL MOBILITY AND ATTITUDES 201 some clarifications of it, and second, to present survey data that bear upon it. MAJOR STATEMENTS OF THE ISSUE Following Durkheim's (1951:242-254; cf. also Sorokin, 1959:522-526; Ellis and Lane, 1967) analysis of the anomic effects of social mobility, Janowitz and Curtis (1957) suggest that the disruptions attending mobility are greatest with respect to the individual's primary-group affiliations. To the extent that other members of a person's family and circle of close friends do not experience similar transitions in status, at least two of his major sources of normative support are fragmented, and in consequence he suffers some degree of personal strain. Since adult primary-group bonds tend to be anchored in generational agegroups, intragenerational mobility should produce greater strains than status change across generational lines (cf. Blau, 1956:293-294). As a means of resolving such strain, the intragenerationally mobile may, in effect, partially deny judgments of mobility by rejecting critical aspects of culture in the class of destination and retaining those of his origin culture. Wilensky and Edwards (1959), in their examination of ideological adjustments to downward mobility, report some evidence that bears upon this line of argument. They find that, among manual workers 30 years of age and older, career skidding is more closely related to ideologically conservative attitudes than is skidding between generations. For the younger workers the relationship is reversed. Thus the authors conclude (somewhat ambiguously) that career mobility is "much more influential than intergenerational mobility in shaping the adult perspectives of all but very young workers and older educated workers;" Wilensky (1966:103) has recently elaborated on this conclusion by suggesting that "where mobility rates are high and a success ideology prevails," the referents used in the evaluation of class situations vary by age, "and the comparison with the father may be relevant only for young men." For older men the important comparisons of success and failure are likely to be made within the career context, not with their fathers' positions in the status hierarchy (cf. also Wilensky, 1960). A third statement of the issue is given by Dahrendorf. In his (1959:219-223) treatment of the "classless society," he observes that where "the personnel of classes changes between generations only, there is a sufficient degree of stability to permit the formation of conflicting interest groups." Where, on the other hand, a high rate of mobility within generations prevails, such stability is precluded and class interests and consciousness do not coalesce. But, Dahrendorf (1959:59) argues, the barriers to a person's social ascent "are sure to be . . . higher . . . for intragenerational mobility than for mobility between generations." Thus, his theory for class conflict in industrial society is safeguarded. Although Dahrendorf does not spell out the reasoning or implications of his position, these can be easily extracted from his contextual remarks. In industrial society, barriers to intergenerational mobility are both less frequently encountered and less insurmountable because of the institutionalization of education as a "transmission belt" from social-origin status to entry into the labor market. To be sure, educational attainments are still in significant measure tied to social-origin status, such that children of working-class parentage have poorer chances of completing college, say, than middle-class or elite offspring. Nonetheless, while critical inequities remain, the movement toward equal opportunity has been substantial when viewed in historical perspective.' Aside from the differential consequences of social-origin status itself, educational attainment-either simply the number of years of schooling or, oftentimes, additional and more incisive measures of ability-has become the single greatest determinant of occupational achievement. For intragenerational mobility, conversely, there is no comparably effective institutionalized avenue of occupational advancement. Indeed, many scholars (cf. Sjoberg, 1960:191192; Chow, 1966:38-40; Schumpeter, 1951: I On the role of education in institutionalized recruitment processes, compare Lipset and Bendix (1959:189-191); Sjoberg (1960:191,239-244); Floud et al. (1956); Chow (1966); Foster (1965: 255-259, 297ff); Goldthorpe (1966); Coleman (1965); Blau and Duncan (1967). This content downloaded from 157.55.39.243 on Tue, 04 Oct 2016 05:44:54 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Components of and Neutralizing Factors in the Effects of Closed-Mindedness on the Learning of Controversial Material

Abstract: This study deals with the general problem of whether, to what extent, and how closed-mindedness affects the meaningful learning of controversial material contrary to belief. It particularly seeks to identify various logically discriminable aspects of closed-mindedness, to determine their respective effects on learning controversial material, and to test the efficacy of proposed neutralizing factors in counteracting the effects of closed-mindedness on such learning. In Rokeach's (1960) pioneering conceptualization of closed-mindedness, both the structure of the trait and the relationship between closed-mindedness and dogmatism are left unresolved. Our view of the dogmatism-closed-mindedness relationship is that dogmatism is only one aspect of closed-mindedness-that aspect which is reflective of a generalized personality trait or characteristic of cognitive style that an individual brings into any learning situation when he is confronted by controversial views contrary to his belief system, irrespective of the topic or issue in question. Rokeach, in our opinion, neglects two other crucial aspects of closed-mindedness both of which are specific to a particular issue, namely, an affective component (attitudinal bias) and a cognitive component (informational bias). To understand adequately how any given individual will respond to a controversial learning task contrary to his beliefs, one must consider all three components of closed-mindedness. Bearing these three components in mind, one can readily appreciate why persons who are

Continuities and Discontinuities between Studies of National and International Political Integration: Some Implications for Future Research Efforts

Abstract: The literature on integration has expanded tremendously during the last decade. This growing interest in the problems and processes of integration is particularly marked in two areas, studies of international regional integration and studies of national integration. On the whole, these efforts have been carried out with very little reference to each other. What is striking, nonetheless, is the similarity of much of the material and the relevance of work in one area for conceptualization and theory building in the other. As one who has been concerned primarily with national political integration I would like to delineate some of the major similarities and differences between the foci of national and regional integration studies, to suggest the utility of thinking in terms of a common conceptualization of political integration, and to discuss the relevance of some aspects of the work on national integration for regional theory and research.

Toward a Cross — Cultural Conceptualization of Family Modernity*

Abstract: Family modernity is conceptualized as the degree to which a multipicity of equally acceptable models of familiar behavior co-exist so that individuals have a wide range of options as to what type o...

Topological Aspects of Biosemiotics

Abstract: According to recent work of Bounias and Bonaly (2000), there is a close relationship between the conceptualization of biological life and mathematical conceptualization such that both of them co-depend on each other when discussing preliminary conditions for properties of biosystems. More precisely, such properties can be realized only, if the space of orbits of members of some topological space X by the set of functions governing the interactions of these members is compact and complete. This result has important consequences for the maximization of complementarity in habitat occupation as well as for the reciprocal contributions of sub(eco)systems with respect to their structural mutualism. In this present paper it will be shown what this more technical result means in philosophical terms with a view to the biosemiotic consequences. As this approach fits naturally into the Kassel programme of investigat-ing the relationship between the cognitive perceiving of the world and its communicative modeling (Zimmermann 2004a, 2005b), it is found that topology as formal nucleus of spatial modeling is more than relevant for the understanding of repre-senting and co-creating the world as it is cognitively perceived and communicated in its design. Also, its implications may well serve the theoretical (top-down) foundation of biosemiotics itself.

Issue Elasticity in Political Systems

Abstract: As the formalization of political science goes forward, more and more care is being given to precise conceptualization. At the most general level, political analysis has been related in recent years to systems theory (Deutsch 1963; Easton 1965). The logic of "rational" decision, the ordering of preferences, and the aggregation of preferences and decisionstopics bearing heavily on political analysis-have been explored rigorously and at a high level of abstraction (von Neumann and Morgenstern 1944; Arrow 1951 ; Downs 1957; Luce and Raiffa 1957; Schelling 1960; Buchanan and Tullock 1962; Riker 1962; Rosenau 1966; MacRae 1967; Mitchell 1967; Curry and Wade 1968). The purpose of this paper is to contribute something to the enterprise of empirical theory by formalizing the notion (here called "issue elasticity") that different issues and sets of issues elicit variable responses from the people in any political system. There are several things that this paper does not attempt to do. It does not attempt to determine what political issues really are, since different parties-at-interest always define the issues in their own ways to increase the likelihood of getting their own way (Llewellyn 1960; Schattschneider 1960; Coleman 1967); nor shall we attempt to map out issue areas or sets (Rosenau 1964). Indeed, recent empirical work suggests that (in the American political system at least) people are only minimally aware of connections between issues, and that the only coherent set of issues found throughout the general public relates to what one might call "populism" or latent fascism (Axelrod 1967).

The Supreme Court's Impact: Some Problems of Conceptualization and Measurement

Abstract: The impact of what judges decide is a crucial part of what is studied by those sharing a political rather than only a legal perspective on the United States Supreme Court. It has become important as we have shifted our attention from "output, which is the decision of the Court including its orders and statement of policy" to consideration of "outcome, which is the final results or impact of output" (Barth, 1968: 315, note). This development is much more recent than the beginnings of the political perspective on the courts. Explicit attention to impact, backed by studies of impacts of particular decisions, is less than twenty years old, dating from the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which made political scientists aware that compliance with decisions of the Supreme Court was neither automatic, immediate, nor uniform. As Krislov (1963: 7) has remarked, from the standpoint of Court process, the decision in Brown v. Board of Education has had its greatest effect in educating "students as to the limits and operations of the court system generally."

A Perceptual Model of the Whorfian Thesis.

Abstract: For several decades, proponents of linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity have identified themselves with Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, as their separate relativity theses are called, has found many supporters from a variety of disciplines; in spite of the interest displayed in the hypothesis, however, it has remained a vague and ambiguously articulated collection of knowledge, and a "higher reality" reflected by language patterns. Both the verbal and experimental support of the hypothesis have shared in its general vagueness.It may well be the case that Sapir's inclusion in the "Whorfian" context is erroneous. It is not simply that Sapir was more cautious in his speculation than Whorf: Sapir was vigorously speculative but at the same time far more circumspect than Whorf in his estimate of the rule of language in the formation of ideas.For Sapir the relation between perception, thought, language, and speech appears to be as follows: upon reaching the mental level where the collation is possible, the data of sensation are classified into categories which are implicit in the language system. The process of classification is also the process of conceptualization; these conceptualizations are set into mutual relations at least in part by the structure of the language system. The single significant elements of speech are symbolic of the concepts; the flow of speech represents a record of the established mutual relations of the concepts. From this process, man moves to the formation of a worldview.Sapir considered concepts to be abstractions from the world of experience: our real world is constructed from these concepts. If language classes either correspond to or symbolize concepts, then articulations within a language system are vocal descriptions of the real world. If our collection of concepts depends upon language for its existence, then we might conclude that for Sapir the real world is an abstraction from the experiential world, made possible by language; further, since languages differ, a corresponding difference is to be found in the real worlds of the participants of the various languages.Whorf, on the other hand, hypothesized a radical, illogical, and ultimately untestable version of linguistic relativity. It is the purpose of this paper to examine the Whorfian thesis as it exists apart from the work of Sapir.For Whorf, the existence of a mind before the existence of language is a simple and self-evident truth. However, he seems to look upon the products of the mind as of little value without language. The mind thus seems to be some sort of producer of a malleable substance (speaking metaphorically), which is shaped into the various elements of our world-view. Whorf seems to conceive of linguistic symbolism as the prime cause of the arrangement of sensory data. In 1936, he wrote:... It is possible to have descriptions of the universe, all equally valid, that do not contain our familiar contrasts of time and space. The relativity viewpoint of modern physics is one such view, conceived in mathematical terms, and the Hopi Weltanschauung is another and quite different one, nonmathematical and linguistic.Thus, the Hopi language and culture conceals a METAPHYSICS [upper case letters are Whorfs], such as our so-called naive view of space and time does; yet it is a different metaphysics from either.1Whorf appears to be saying: (1) any world-view conceals a metaphysics (perhaps is a product of a concealed metaphysics would be an accurate interpretation). (2) Both the metaphysics and the resultant world-view are linguistic in origin: they are a product of the classificatory action of language on the stream of sensory experience. Thus for Whorf an individual's metaphysics is made up of the basic conceptions which he possesses about the world of experience, and which he uses to build his world-view. Whorf concludes that the thoughts of individuals in different language groups are themselves different in the sense that they constitute different conceptions of the world about us. …

A TST Based Technique for the Study of Self‐Disclosure

Abstract: THE self concept occupies a major place in the theoretical and research orientations of contemporary sociologists. The work of Cooley and Mead have stimulated the theory and research focusing on a view of the social self, which can be generally defined as: ". . . that organization of qualities that the individual attributes to himself" (Kinch, 1963). This conceptualization of the self has been effectively examined through the use of the Twenty Statements Test (TST), one of the most frequently used instruments for the study of the self (Spitzer, 1969). Since the TST elicits spontaneous self definitions, it may prove particularly useful in the study of disclosure to others of those aspects of the self which an individual views as more personally meaningful. This approach may well prove of value in furthering the study of those patterns of self-disclosure which appear to be particularly relevant to the understanding of the nature of primary relationships (Babchuk and Bates, 1963; Jaffee and Polansky, 1962; Jourard, 1959), a concept of particular importance to symbolic interactionists and sociologists in general. Much of the previous work in self-disclosure has been done through the use of structured instruments which ask a respondent to indicate whether or not he has disclosed certain categories of information concerning himself (e.g. favorite foods, views on religion, confidential information, etc.) to specific others, who are designated as "target persons" (Babehuk and Bates, 1963; Jaffee and Polansky, 1962; Jourard, 1958, 1959). However, it may well be that structured objective tests are characterized by preselected dimensions which may not have direct relevance to a particular respondent's cognitions (Spitzer, 1966:280). The TST differs from most previous instruments in that it is relatively unstructured and is directly based upon an individual's description of himself. Therefore, the disclosure revealed by this instrument can be considered quite literally as "self"disclosure.

Cognitive innovation and stimulus-seeking: a study of the correlates of the Obscure Figures Test.

Abstract: Summary.-A series of four studies was conducted examining a variety ok correlates of the Obscure Figures Test. Using hospitalized alcoholic patients as Ss, the OFT was found to be positively related to education, intelligence, and numerical aptimde, manual and finger dexterity, sensation-seeking, scientific and computational interests, and to the K, Ma, and Es scales of the MMPI. Negative relationships were found with Social Introversion and Welsh's R scale of the MMPI. The results were felt to support an analysis of "cognitive innovation" in terms of capaciry to innovate and interest in stimulational variety. ' Pearson and Maddi (1966) have made a theoretical analysis of the tendency to seek stimulational variety. They discriminate two active forms of this stimulus-seeking tendency, the "exteroceptive" and the "interoceptive." In the former, the organism seeks external sources of stimulational variety, while in the latter, it seeks stimulational variety on the cognitive level by showing an interest in novel ideas and novel interpretations of the familiar. The Obscure Figures Test (OFT) is an instrument invented by Acker and McReynolds ( 1965) to measure "cognitive innovation." The instrument (Form I) consists of a series of 40 ambiguous line drawings which are presented to S with instructions to give the most "clever and unusual" interpretation he can think of for each drawing. S's interpretations are scored on a 3-point scale of originality (with zero for an omission), and the ratings for all 40 items are summed to give the OFT sc0re.l The OFT appears to be measuring the capacity to produce innovation and as such should constinite a measure of creativity. However, it could also consticute a measure of the interest in or motivation toward cognitive innovation (interoceptive variety-seeking). Theoretically, these two factors, the capacity and the motivation to innovate, should interact to produce innovative performance. Assuming the validity of such a conceptualization of OFT performance, certain testable predictions follow. Most generally, the OFT should have correlates which are similar to the correlates of other tests which measure interest in stimulational and cognitive variety, such as the Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS) (Zuckerman, Kolin, Price, & Zoob, 1964) and the Similes Preference Inventory (SPI) ( Pearson & Maddi, 1966). Furthermore, the OFT should be found to be positively related to such variables as intellectual capacity and educational level, in so far as they relate to the capacity to innovate.

The Role of Psychic Distance in Internationalization Strategy Evaluations and Strategic Choices

Abstract: This analysis examines views of the term "psychic distance" and its application to the strategic choice process and managerial arrangements in international operations. It offers a background and conceptual framework of psychic distance, which stresses individual experience as part of the process. Individual experience is explored in terms of its components and through the use of information processing models that appear in the marketing literature. Next, applications to strategic management are made with regard to the choice to enter specific international markets, modes of entry selected, and the managerial structures that will be established. INTRODUCTION One major decision facing executives in many companies is in regard to conducting business with or in another country. Such a choice affects activities throughout the organization, while the actual judgements regarding whether to internationalize and how to do so boil down to the conclusions drawn by individual managers. The concept of psychic distance, which appears frequently in the international business literature, applies to a variety of theoretical models that relate to this strategic management concern, especially with regard to internationalization strategies and strategic choice processes. The international business literature suggests that psychic distance influences strategic decision makers as they consider expansion into international markets. It may play a role in strategic decisions about whether or not to pursue international expansion, the choice of entry mode (exporting, licensing, franchising, joint ventures, strategic alliances, wholly owned subsidiaries, acquisitions (minority, majority, total), and greenfield ventures), as well as subsequent levels of international affiliate performance. Although the concept has been in use for many years (Beckermann, 1956) some complain that applications of the concept are unclear (see Shenkar 2001) and the construct has been criticized (Stottinger & Schlegelmilch, 1998). This analysis examines views of the term "psychic distance" and its application to the strategic choice process and managerial arrangements in international operations. The first section provides a background explaining how the psychic distance concept emerged, primarily within the field of the international business, and to a lesser degree, international marketing. A conceptual framework of psychic distance is then offered. The framework stresses individual perceptual processing of psychic distance, both at the national and business levels, through individual experience. Individual experience is explored in terms of its components and through the use of information processing models that appear in the marketing literature. Next, applications to strategic management are made. The final section offers some basic conclusions. BACKGROUND AND CONCEPTUALIZATION OF PSYCHIC DISTANCE Welch and Luostarinen (1988) defined psychic distance "as the sum of factors preventing the flow of information from and to the market" (in Johanson & Vahlne, 1977, p. 23; revised 2009). Another definition of psychic distance suggests it represents "the mind's processing, in terms of perception and understanding, of cultural and business differences" (Evans, Treadgold, & Mavondo, 2000, p.375). Conceptually, psychic distance may be divided into three components: cultural affinity, trust, and individual experience. Cultural affinity includes national level differences, including cultural differences, language, and the legal environment. Trust is a business level (rather than national level) consideration that represents the level of confidence between members of companies in an international business relationship. Personal experience is strongly linked to the initial discussions of psychic distance and becomes an individual, rather than national or business-level consideration. These components led Baack and Baack (2006) to describe the construct in the following manner: Psychic distance may be viewed as the aggregate of national distance and business distance being processed through individual experience. …

Industrialization and Labor Response: Notes Toward the Construction of a Multi-Level Data Structure

Abstract: This paper is a broad attempt at a multi-level conceptualization of social change. It proceeds by taking a concrete research problem (the relationship between industrialization and the response of labor) and following it through successive stages of conceptualization, model-building, and the construction of an integrated structure for operationalization. The purpose of the paper is thus twofold; specifically, it presents a theory, model and data-gathering approach for the concrete problem at hand and, generally, it outlines possible theoretical and causal links among three distinct levels of social phenomena.It begins by depicting selected concepts from five different theorists in a conglomerate model which shows posited conceptual links within a causal range. It then proceeds to build up a multi-level framework around the three levels of ecological aggregate, organizational structure, and the individual actor. The theoretical nature of human ecology is presented as especially appropriate for analysis of ...

Religion and Conceptual Models of Behaviour

Abstract: A sample of 170 undergraduate university students was used to study the relationships between a number of religious variables (specifically, denominational affiliation, devoutness and ‘intrinsicness’) and the ways in which people tend to perceive, think about and respond to the behaviour of others. The latter variable was measured by use of the Beliefs About Behaviour Inventory (BABI) which assesses the relative extent to which a person uses each of three ‘conceptual models’ of behaviour: theological, illness and psychological. These models were selected for measurement because of their significance historically and in contemporary debates. The results indicated that subjects who are Fundamentalist, devout of ‘indiscriminately pro-religious’ are significantly lower in the use of a ‘psychological’ approach to conceptualizing behaviour and, conversely, subjects who are not characterized by these religious dimensions are more prone to use a psychological approach and to reject a theological conceptualization of human behaviour.

The Group Life of a State Delegation in the House of Representatives

Abstract: THE INFORMAL structuring of interactions and influence within formal organizations is generally recognized as having profound consequences for institutional integration and functioning. Manifestly or latently, informal structures serve as supplements to and sometimes substitutes for formally prescribed role interactions, sometimes facilitating, sometimes impeding the realization of organizational goals. Students of legislatures have seriously begun to incorporate systematically the relevant concepts and data into their attempts at explanation. David Truman, probably more than anyone else, stimulated conceptualization and research on legislatures using this orientation. In 1951, he articulated the general perspective as follows:

The Domain of Politics

Abstract: THIS PAPER has three aims. First, it will briefly consider some implications of recent trends in economic theory for political science. Second, and based thereon, it will develop an approach to the definition, analysis and formal measurement of "power." Though using economic concepts, the proposed definition will be consistent with that advanced in leading works of political theory associated with the names of Easton, Lasswell and Dahl. It will, moreover, treat power as a more complex phenomenon than are those represented by most variables in economic theory (e.g., "utility"), and hence as requiring a somewhat more elaborate theoretical conceptualization. Third, the paper will suggest some significant propositions which logically follow from the proposed definition of power. In particular, the proposed definition's usefulness in demarcating the "domain of politics" from other fields of study will be considered.

Teacher Education in Foreign Languages: An Overview

Abstract: T HE profession is entitled to consider with pride the giant strides taken in the last decade to upgrade the effectiveness of teachers through systematic training programs. Whether considered in absolute terms or in comparison with comparable progress in other disciplines the major steps taken to improve teacher training in foreign languages are impressive in scope and have been so widely accepted and publicized as to require little additional elaboration. We refer to such milestones as the establishment of "guidelines" provided by THE MODERN LANGUAGE ASSOCIATION,' the development of a seven section instrument designed to measure teacher competence2 and the conceptualization of new patterns for certification of teachers based on effectiveness in the

Toward a Conceptualization of Leadership for Change.

Abstract: This paper concerns a conceptualization of leadership for change in adult education, i.e., how change can be effected and who brings it about. The change process, itself, is delineated in terms of research on the subject. Personal influence and opinion leader ship, as these affect the change process, are examined as well as resistance forces, adoption, diffusion, and perpetuation of change. The change leader's helping and leadership roles are detailed. The author advises that this research cannot provide all the answers needed for adult education change leadership. More research re garding communication barriers between social classes, class value difference affecting group participation versus spectatorship, effec tive learning approaches to the lower socio-economic adult, im poverishment barriers to learning, and instruments for measuring these is needed before a definitive, reliable methodology can be provided to leaders of change in adult education.