The Self-Concept

Role theory in Foreign Policy Analysis (FPA) is grounded in concepts derived from role theory and symbolic interactionism in sociology and social psychology. It represents the earliest effort to take the agent-structure problem seriously. The first generation of role theory in FPA tended to emphasize structural constraints, whereas the second generation has focused on the agency of decision makers. The chapter describes how the two generations differ, as well as the developments that facilitated the shift – the rediscovery of the individual in International Relations (IR) and the rise of constructivism. As role theory in FPA moved from its first to its second generation, there was a corresponding shift in empirical strategies. The chapter familiarizes readers with role theory concepts and methodologies, as well as the most prevalent empirical strategies – content analysis, narrative analysis, and case studies. Each of these three empirical strategies is illustrated in the chapter.

The aim of this study was to examine to what extent Social Structure and Social Learning Theory (SSSL) explains delinquent behaviors among Turkish adolescents. While Social Structure and Social Learning (SSSL) Theory have been examined quite frequently in the criminology and sociology literature, the present study is unique as it tests the theory in Turkey, a context with a mixed Islamic and Secular cultural structure. The data originates from a survey conducted in Istanbul in 2008 by the Icelandic Centre for Social Research and Analysis (ICSRA) under the auspices of their Youth in Europe project. The sample includes 2,445 Turkish high school students. The dependent variable includes a 13-item delinquency scale, and the independent variables consist of differential association, costs and rewards of differential reinforcement, definitions, imitation, differential location in the social structure, and differential social location of groups. The statistical analyses were conducted using a negative binomial regression approach. Results demonstrated that differential association (peer delinquency) is positively associated with delinquent behaviors among Turkish adolescents. In addition, there is a significant and positive relationship between norms/beliefs that favor delinquency and delinquent behaviors. Moreover, parental reaction, a measure of differential reinforcement, has a negative impact on delinquency. Imitation variables, which include witnessing an argument and witnessing violence in the family, also appear as significant predictors for delinquency. Gender is the only social structure variable significantly related to delinquent behaviors. Furthermore, results indicated that social learning variables mediated the relationship between social structure and delinquent behaviors. Policy implications and suggestions for further studies are also provided at the end of the dissertation.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of Akers’ social learning theory including its theoretical foundations and four central explanatory concepts of differential association, definitions, differential reinforcement, and imitation. Akers (Social learning and social structure: a general theory of crime and deviance. Northeastern University Press, Boston, 1998) has extended social learning theory to the macro-level, and thus we provide a look at the assumptions, concepts, and propositions of his social structure social learning model (SSSL). This discussion is followed by an examination of empirical research that has investigated the ability of social learning theory to account for variation in criminal and deviant behavior and a review of the evidence on the SSSL model pointing toward future directions for social learning and social structure. The chapter concludes with a look at the applications of social learning theory to programs and policies.

When errors occur in clinical settings, it is important that they are recognised without defensiveness so that prompt corrective action can be taken and learning can occur. Cognitive dissonance - the uncomfortable tension we experience when we hold two or more inconsistent beliefs - can hinder our ability to respond optimally to error. The aim of this paper is to describe the effects of cognitive dissonance, a construct developed and tested in social psychology. We discuss the circumstances under which dissonance is most likely to occur, provide examples of how it may influence clinical practice, discuss potential remedies and suggest future research to test these remedies in the clinical context. We apply research on cognitive dissonance from social psychology to clinical settings. We examine the factors that make dissonance most likely to occur. We illustrate the power of cognitive dissonance through two medical examples: one from history and one that is ongoing. Finally, we explore moderators at various stages of the dissonance process to identify potential remedies. We show that there is great opportunity for cognitive dissonance to distort judgements, delay optimal responses and hinder learning in clinical settings. We present a model of the phases of cognitive dissonance, and suggestions for preventing dissonance, reducing the distortions that can arise from dissonance and inhibiting dissonance-induced escalation of commitment. Cognitive dissonance has been studied for decades in social psychology but has not had much influence on medical education research. We argue that the construct of cognitive dissonance is very relevant to the clinical context and to medical education. Dissonance has the potential to interfere with learning, to hinder the process of coping effectively with error, and to make the accepting of change difficult. Fortunately, there is the potential to reduce the negative impact of cognitive dissonance in clinical practice.

Ever since Thomas and Znaniecki (1918) first suggested that the study of attitudes should be the central problem of social psychology, researchers in the area have placed a great deal of emphasis on the theory and measurement of attitude and attitude change. This concentration on attitudes was especially facilitated by a rapid development of methods for measuring attitudes and attitude change. As a result of the availability of measurement techniques and this concentration of emphasis and effort, social psychologists have provided, and are continuing to provide, a large body of literature concerning both attitudes and opinions.

Because inequality is one of the central concerns of sociologists, it has been addressed, in various ways, by virtually all of the major traditions of sociological social psychology—social structure and personality, symbolic interactionism, and group processes (Cook, Fine, and House 1995). For those who work in the social structure and personality tradition, inequality refers to inequalities in power, privilege, and resources among sets of actors defined by the major social categories on which society is stratified, including gender, race, and social class. Survey work in this tradition examines how actors’ locations on these dimensions affect a variety of individual-level outcomes, ranging from mental health to self-esteem to attitudes. Symbolic interactionists have also studied aspects of inequality, typically by examining the social construction of identities related to inequality (e.g., the identity of a homeless person) and the implications of inequality for self, emotions, and affect. Finally, work in the group processes tradition addresses inequality at a more abstract level, by developing formal theories that examine how structures of power and status produce inequalities in interaction, influence, and benefits. They also consider how actors respond to inequality, including actors’ perceptions of injustice and responses to injustice. This tradition, and more specifically exchange theories of power and inequality, is the primary focus of the sociological perspective presented here. Social psychologists in psychology departments do not typically work in an area called inequality—there are no courses by that name, for instance—but they work on related topics of prejudice (closest to the social structure and personality approach in sociology), stigmatized identity (closest to symbolic interactionism in sociology), and power relations (closest to group processes in sociology). Of these topics, social psychologists have focused most frequently on prejudice, so the psychology part of this article focuses on the unique insights offered by these analyses. Others in this special issue address identity more generally (Deaux and Burke). And the psychology of power relations will appear here in psychological commentary on the sociology of exchange theories of power and inequality.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE CHALLENGES A POSSIBILITY OF HUMAN EVOLUTION Cognitive dissonance (CD) is a discomfort caused by holding conflicting elements of knowledge. CD is among “the most influential and extensively studied theories in social psychology” (e.g., Alfnes et al., 2010, p. 147). It is well known that this discomfort is usually resolved by devaluing and discarding a conflicting piece of knowledge (Festinger, 1957; Cooper, 2007; HarmonJones et al., 2009); we discuss it in detail below. It is also known that awareness of CD is not necessary for actions to reduce the conflict, and these actions are often fast and momentary (Jarcho et al., 2011). CD is particularly evident when a new scientific theory is developed. It takes a while to accept the new knowledge. However, I would like to emphasize that even a mundane element of knowledge to be useful it must differ from innate knowledge supplied by evolution or from existing knowledge acquired through experience. Otherwise the new knowledge would not be needed. For new knowledge to be useful it must contradict existing knowledge to some extent. Can new knowledge be complementary rather than contradicting? New knowledge does not come from nowhere, knowledge grows by analogy, by differentiation of previous knowledge, by using what already exists. This is the reason for several empirical laws: Zipf ’s law, the power law, Pareto laws. All of these laws essentially express equivalent statistical properties of systems, in which new entities (or usage) evolve from pre-existing ones (Simonton, 2000; Newman, 2005; Novak, 2010). For example, according to Zipf ’s law the frequency of a word is inversely proportional to its statistical rank; this empirical relation is observed in most languages and in many other similar systems (this was theoretically proven in the given references). Since new knowledge emerges by modifying previous knowledge, there must always be conflict between the two. Because of this conflict between new and previous knowledge CD theory suggests that new knowledge should be discarded. This process of resolving CD by discarding contradictions is usually fast, “momentary” and according to CD theory new knowledge is discarded before its usefulness is established. This is the paradoxical conclusion of CD theory. To summarize, according to CD theory knowledge has to be devalued and discarded. But accumulation of knowledge is the hallmark of human evolution. It follows that the fact of human cultural evolution contradicts this well established theory. This paradoxical aspect of CD has not received appropriate attention during more than 50 years of the development of CD theory.

A PSYCHO-CULTURAL INTERPRETATION OF JUVENILE MALADJUSTMENT IN MASS SOCIETY Juvenile maladjustment in the post-industrial societies has not only augmented alarmingly but has also taken on a new dimension. The number and seriousness of offences as well as their obvious wantonness are increasing. This article is an attempt to understand the forces which engender this phenomenon. A first experiment in measuring some of the elements which constitute the moral fact is also described here. A culture conflict Maladjustment of the young in the mass society can be looked at in the perspective of a culture conflict, that is, the confrontation of morals between adult and youth in a society undergoing an historical acceleration not only of its technology but also of its institutions and culture. The dialectic, youth versus adult, is due to the fact that each group has a particular position in society which, therefore, implies different morals or different normative systems. The credo of the adult is founded upon a numerous variety of experiences marked by success or failure. This traditional morality will shift in direct proportion to the degree of evolution within the existing society. The morals of youth are founded upon its involvement in new experiences. Youth uses the technology of its era, rebels against old-fashioned morals and reformulates its ethical needs. This type of questioning leads the adult to ambiguity of values, to uncertainty of moral judgment and to a wavering in fundamental choices; it leads the young into contesting adult order, truth and conviction. The integration of youth into mass society has to be made in the light of « neotenistic » mechanisms of adjustment to innovation. It must also be examined in the light of « misoneism » — resistance to change .— as well as of stability of social relationships and institutions. The young, new citizens of a mass society and trustees of mass culture, have to cope with the institutions, ideologies, controls and rules forged by a society of production. Psycho-cultural pressures Recent social transformations have generated a new type of society known as the « mass society » which in turn has generated a « mass culture ». The interaction between culture and society creates, for the individual, new problems of adjustment which merit careful study. The relative freedom from the pressures of mechanization coincides with the increase of psycho-cultural pressures due to the means of mass communication. We require a new conceptual plan of analysis adapted to a different type of society. The theories based on culture conflicts, the concepts of subcultures and contracultures have attempted to explain these new phenomena. Today, external pressure has increased the possibility of choice for the individual. We might suggest therefore, that if the maladjustments of the past were due to the hide-bound socio-economic laws, those which characterize the mass society would be due to an extreme degree of freedom to make these numberless choices. Obligation: first foundation of morals Psycho-cultural analysis achieves its entire meaning when we study morals or the moral fact. In other words, the obligation to accomplish one act or another constitutes the main springboard for interaction within a social system. The moral fact, in its objective and subjective aspects, constitutes the core of the problem: how to explain that the very foundation of moral order is being radically and universally questioned ? To answer this, we must use an analysis of mechanisms and procedures which take precedence in internalizing moral values in different cultures. The questions asked are as follows : a) What is the content and meaning of obligation to the youth of today ? b) What is the relationship between its aspirations and those of the preceding generations ? c) Are these aspirations the same for the youth of different classes ? d) Do they then engender cultures, subcultures and contracultures ? Psycho-cultural analysis is the meeting point of questions asked by the sociology of knowledge and of socialization and by contemporary social psychology. The moral fact seems to be an integral part of the problem of man's maladjustment to the civilization he has created, and its study becomes necessary in order to find the key to certain paradoxes in the human condition. Measurement of the moral fact Psycho-cultural interpretation seeks to isolate maladjustment, regarding it essentially as a type of moral behaviour. If we accept the following postulate — adjustment or deviance results at the limit of conformity or non-conformity to values .— how do we measure this obligation ? What are the variables necessary to isolate this idea of obligation ? What are the instruments capable of measuring them ? In the context of our work, obligation is envisaged, on the one hand, as a normative system related to the position of an individual, of a collectivity or of a category of individuals, in the social structure. On the other hand, it is regarded as a physical function, representing the internal controls of the subject, who is submitted to a system of impulses and motivations. Two theories seem pertinent in explaining obligation: the theory of « moral conscience », related to subjective motivations, and the theory of « social character », related to substantive or group motivations. According to Erick Fromm (1949), every society and every social structure within the society forms the type of man it needs and transmits values, attitudes and motivations necessary for the individual to act out the role it expects him to. It accomplishes this by giving the individual a « social character » adapted to its demands and which enables the subject to behave in the manner called for by the social system. The hypothesis showing that the social character is formed by the role the individual plays in his own culture and that he reflects collective obligations individually, enables us to connect this problem of adjustment with socio-cultural controls. Thus we can suppose that the normative aspects of adolescent subcultures and contracultures, where they exist, form a social character in these young people, and so constitute a different source of orientation or obligation from that of the adult culture. This article gives an account of the construction and validity of scales of moral attitudes and of an implement capable of measuring certain aspects of the moral conscience. Their function is to isolate this idea of obligation. Five scales of moral attitudes were established and verified with the help of factoral analysis .— moral attitudes of authority, of conformity to peers, of aspiration, of hedonist anxiety and of self-evaluation. This scale discriminates between the socio-economic milieux of the working class and the leisure class and weighs the variables .— age and delinquency. If social character is the cultural counterpart of obligation, then moral conscience is the psychological counterpart. Whereas social character depends on the position of a group in the social structure, moral conscience is conditioned by interprofessional relationships. Seen in this light, moral conscience becomes a psychic function, the fruit of identification within a succession of values presented by parents, teachers and peers. Since it is almost impossible to measure moral conscience directly and experimentally by objective tests, we thought it best to measure the psychological procedures of transmission and internalization of moral values, that is, by perception and identification. The Role Construction Repertory Test of George A. Kelly (1955) seems to answer this problem because it is based on these two psychological mechanisms as well as on « role playing ». This test enables us to find out with which persons and what values adolescents identify, whether or not they are well adjusted to life in society. It also enables us, with the help of the construction analysis, to pin-point the image young people have of themselves and of those who make up their phenomenal or experimental universe. These instruments, tested on adjusted or maladjusted adolescents from different socio-economic milieux, will enable us to verify certain hypothesis resulting from psycho-cultural analysis.

Suggestions for population policy strategies have ranged from “do nothing” to “use inescapable force.” In practice, however, persuasion and positive incentives are the two strategies that are most widely employed in contemporary population planning programs. Other means for lowering the birth rate tend to be rejected by policymakers as ethically unacceptable, ineffective, or infeasible. In both social psychological theory and population policy practice there is a growing skepticism about the efficacy of communication and persuasion as means for producing behavior change. This paper challenges that estimate. Recent advances in attitude theory and measurement may provide a useful set of guidelines for family planning communication programs.

This chapter discusses some of the most popular theories in use today such as: symbolic interaction theory, social exchange theory, sexual strategies theory, feminist theory, cognitive developmental theory, social learning theory and so on. It also discusses some of the most popular expansive and abstract theories and perspectives used in human development and family studies (HDFS). Theories are especially useful in HDFS because theories help us understand why researchers explored certain ideas and why individuals or programs used a particular educational or clinical approach. Bioecological systems theory proposes that an individual is embedded within a number of interactive systems known as the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Symbolic interaction theory focuses on how our social rules are created through human interactions. Social exchange theory argues individuals behave based on perceptions of rewards and costs with a goal of maximizing our rewards while minimizing costs. Social learning theory is unique in its emphasis on modeling and observational learning.

MIHO HOTTA THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY IN JAPAN AND ITS POUTICAL CONTEXT Various social changes, and in particular the evolving political situation, influenced the development of social psychology in Japan. The early popularity of studies of collective behaviour and ethnic characteristics reflect the political tendencies of the Japanese government of that time. As well, the strong American influence on contemporary social psychology in Japan can be attributed to the political context following the defeat in World War П ; this was characterized by social reform under the direction of the American government. Problems for the future development of Japanese social psychology are considered.

This paper presents an assessment of the current state of social psychology in the light of its historical and social context. The discipline is viewed as a social system, and an attempt is made to show how the properties of this system have influenced the research techniques, substantive content, and theories of contemporary social psychology. It is suggested that the field's basic mission should be defined as the attempt to understand how society influences the cognition, motivation, development, and behavior of individuals and, in turn, is influenced by them. It is proposed that this definition provides a basis for integrating all of social psychology, including its two main subdivisions and several areas of specialization. The entire history of social psychology as a field of empirical research extends over a period of only approximately eighty years. And since most of its growth has occurred within the past four decades, it is largely the product of scholars who are still active in the field. In this paper, I would like to draw upon my own experience as a social psychologist over the past

Reviewed by: Family Theories Leslie Miller (bio) James M. White and David M. Klein, Family Theories, 2nd edition. Thousand Oaks, California, Sage Publications, 2002, 271 pp. This text is an updated and revised version of one that appeared slightly more than six years ago. The introductory chapter, titled "What is a Theory?", has been somewhat reorganized. The seven chapters that follow provide clear and standardized descriptions of the frameworks deemed to have made substantial contributions to family theory. They are "social exchange and choice", "symbolic interaction", "family life course development", "systems", "conflict", "feminist", and "ecological" frameworks. The chapter on feminism is entirely new, and the last in the list, on ecology, has been expanded and revised. The book ends with a summary chapter, also revised, titled "The Current State and Future Course of Family Theory". Thanks in part to a uniform treatment of each of the theoretical frameworks, Family Theories accomplishes a lot in a relatively short space. Each chapter treats its subject matter through the same set of subheadings, starting with brief but excellent reviews of the framework's intellectual traditions, and moving on through its scope assumptions, basic concepts, and main empirical applications. I especially appreciated the inclusion of subsections called "variations" and "implications for intervention" — nice additions in what must inevitably be a compressed treatment. Each chapter also includes a section called "propositions". I have to say that I cringed to see this filter applied to symbolic interactionist and feminist frameworks, where it clearly seems inappropriate. The template works well enough in the excellent chapters on social exchange and the life course, partly because its assumptions seem to violate these two the least. The imposition of such a relentlessly standardized approach on very different theoretical frameworks is bound to produce mixed results. On the plus side, [End Page 133] comparison becomes easy, and students will quickly be able to grasp the distinctive features of each perspective and get a feel for its special take on the social world. There are plenty of engaging, everyday-life examples to help this comparative project along. Every teacher of theory knows how satisfying it is for students to be able to see how the world looks from this perspective and then that one, and a format that promotes comparison, as this one does, is surely one reason for the popularity of the first edition of Family Theories. On the negative side, the authors' commitment to a narrow positivism which retains an outmoded emphasis on formalization (hence "propositions") mars otherwise strong and informative chapters on symbolic interaction and feminist frameworks, and works to obscure their distinctive contributions and insights. In particular, the authors fail to develop adequately the alternative approaches to research and theorizing that have emerged in interpretive and feminist scholarship on families over the last two decades and more. The chapter on symbolic interaction, for example, includes a very useful summary of the interactionist tradition and its emphasis on language and meaning. There is also a lucid discussion of SI's many variants. The chapter goes on, however, to focus myopically on role theory, applauding it for its relatively high degree of formalization, while neglecting the newer forms of language-based scholarship that have emerged under the SI umbrella: discourse analysis, autoethnography, and narrative analysis (also employed in life course studies), to name just three. All of these approaches have figured prominently in SI conferences over the last decade. All have contributed to our substantive knowledge of life in families. They have not, perhaps, contributed "a theory about family" — the authors' stated criterion for inclusion in this book (p. xvii). But they have reopened the question "How should we study families?" and in so doing have widened our understanding of the research process, and what it means to theorize. Autoethnographical work, especially, has attracted passionate practitioners and apoplectic critics, both likely to pique student interest. But there is no mention here of these newer forms of research (though phenomenology is discussed), and little exploration of the debates that have led many family scholars in the SI tradition to reject the very version of theory that is consistently enforced in this book. In light of these field-changing innovations, the focus...

Given the corporate pursuit of discontinuous and breakthrough change, we work to deconstruct and shed understanding on managers' failure to formally allocate resources to entrepreneurial activities that seek to deliver disruptive innovations. Using an interpretivist approach with field data from two primary and four secondary cases, we show that managers' failure to recognise the restrictive impact of their mental models---their implicitly held images and beliefs---regarding the goals of innovation and organisational development will lead them to reject opportunities with disruptive potential. We design and implement a graphical Portfolio Management intervention to expose and overcome these maladaptive behaviours and find that managers employ up to five different 'disruptive innovation rejection strategies' when innovation opportunities are incongruent with dominant mental models. The rejection strategies are observed to be driven by the psychologically uncomfortable emergence of 'cognitive dissonance'. We further ground the data in the often neglected literature from social psychology's cognitive dissonance theory to generate implications for business leaders, instigating an innovative stream of research for those interested in further enhancing our understanding of the entrepreneurial pursuit of disruptive innovations.

Predictions concerning the effects of participation in protest activity stimulated by conflict and resentment are derived from two theories of attitude change, sociotherapy and dissonance reduction...