In order to test hypotheses derived from Lerner's theoretical model, Grade 4 children were either employed to test a toy at either a "proper-pay" rate, or they were "overpaid." They were later allowed to donate money to a poor orphan. Either no one, their teacher and the experimenter, or future younger subjects knew how much they donated. A separate measure of each child's tolerance for delayed gratification was taken. It was found, as expected, that overpaid children donated more money; but, unexpectedly, the donation did not vary as a function of audience. Children with a relatively high tolerance for delayed gratification were more affected by the deserving manipulation, as they gave away both more when they were overpaid and less when they were properly paid. Children with a lower tolerance for delayed gratification were more affected by the audience, giving less when their donation was anonymous.1 This report is based on part of a dissertation submitted to the Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the doctoral degree.

A program designed to facilitate newly admitted female immates' adjustment to prison is outlined. The supportive and psychodidactic components of the program are described, and the use of inmate cofacilitators is discussed.

No abstract

The prediction that people prefer greater distance between themselves and others when they anticipate a stressful situation was tested. The sex of the "other" was expected to have an interactive effect on distance preference. Written descriptions of settings in which people anticipated future situations of high and low stress were presented and Ss indicated seating preference. When anticipating more stressful situations, more distance from another person was preferred. Males preferred to sit closer to the opposite sex while females preferred to sit closer to the same sex. These findings are consistent with an interpretation of interpersonal distance as a moderator of stress. The sex of the Ss and of their interaction partners must be considered in studies of interpersonal distance preference.

The prediction that increased tension would lead to a preference for greater distance from others was tested on 40 male and 40 female Ss approached in eight natural settings of high or low tension and their distance preference measured. Ss in the four higher-tension situations indicated a preference for significantly more distance. Self-reported tension was correlated significantly and positively with the distance preferred across all eight situations. There was no effect of sex.

Two studies of the relationships between environmental events, personal style variables and reaction states were described. In study one the correlations between life events, state anxiety, trait anxiety, and voice stress were measured in 32 male and 32 female subjects. For males there was a significant correlation between life stress scores and state anxiety (r = .43, p < .05). For females there was a significant correlation between voice stress scores and state anxiety (r=.37, p < .05). The implications of these findings for a model of the human stress paradigm were discussed, and improvements in measures were proposed. A second study employed improved measures of life events and voice stress and adding the variables of Type A/ B personal style and depression was done with 24 female and 21 male subjects. More than a dozen significant correlations were found and discussed. Regression analyses indicated that the best predictor of voice stress was negative life events (r = .29, p < .06). The best predictor of depression was trait anxiety (r = .80, p < .001) with gender adding significantly to the prediction equation (Simple r =.37, p < .01). The best predictor of state anxiety was negative life events (r = .58, p < .001) with trait anxiety adding significantly to the equation (Simple r =.57, p < .001). The implications of these findings were discussed.

The present study investigated the effects of the age of a victim on social reactions to a rape incident. The findings indicated limited but reliable effects of age on the way respondents reacted to the rape episode. There was a greater tendency for the characteristics and the behavior of the victim to be viewed as factors in causing the rape when the victim was in the middle age ranges than when she was in the extreme age range (six‐years‐old or 76‐years‐old). Respondents also favored more severe punishment for the assailant when the victim was at the extremes of the age distribution.

Explored the relation of personality dimensions to cross-situational consistency in interpersonal distance. Sixty-five male and 52 female undergraduates were given the Personality Research Form A and the Maudsley Personality Inventory as well as four forms of a measure of interpersonal distance preference which covered 10 different situations. The relationship between the personality dimensions and the consistency of interpersonal distance choice was measured by multiple regression. Neuroticism emerged as having the most reliable relation to consistency, confirming previous data in this area. Multiple Rs ranging from .36 to .53 indicated that consistency may be reliably related to personality dimensions and that conceptualizing consistency as an individual difference or moderating variable may partially explain the difficulty in predicting directly from personality dimensions as the situation varies.