The theory of social comparison processes suggests that individuals are attracted to each other on the basis of similarity in opinions, abilities, and emotional state. Generalizing further in the present investigation, attraction was hypothesized to be a function of similarity-dissimilarity in economic status. A total of 84 Ss was divided into high and low economic status on the basis of their responses to items dealing with spending money. 3 experimental conditions were devised in which Ss evaluated a stranger on the basis of his or her responses to the economic items and some attitudinal items. In 1 condition, low-status Ss responded to a high-status stranger, in a 2nd condition, highstatus Ss responded to a low-status stranger, and in a 3rd condition, highand low-status Ss responded to strangers similar to themselves. As hypothesized, attraction was significantly (p < .001) affected by similarity-dissimilarity of economic status. It was found that the specific responses of Ss could be predicted on the basis of a law of attraction formula derived in earlier work on attitude similarity-dissimilarity. An attempt was made to account for the findings in reinforcement terms.

No abstract

The role of visualization in the ability of the blind to perceive and manipulate spatial relations factually and to orient themselves spatially was investigated in the present series of three experiments. In the first experiment we employed the methods of reproduction, verbal report, and recognition in testing the tactual perception of simple geometric forms. The second experiment dealt with problems of imaginaly constructing a total form from the tactual perception of two parts of the form. Space orientation was studied in the third series of experiments. Two groups of 33 totally blind and 33 sighted Ss matched on the basis of sex and chronological age were used. in the investigation. It was concluded that the sighted Ss are superior to the blind in tactual form perception measured by reproduction and verbal report, in the imaginal manipulation of space relations, and in space orientation. The blind do as well as the sighted in the recognition of tactual form. Sex differences are in favor of the males, but the differences were not significant in any of the tests. The ability to translate tactile kinesthetic impressions into visual imagery gives significantly better scores in all of the tests of form perception except recognition and space orientation. In the space orientation tests, visual imagery is important in directional orientation, but the estimation of time is fundamental in distance orientation for both the blind and the sighted Ss.

No abstract

The generality of the frustration-aggression hypothesis as set forth by Dollard, Doob, Miller, Mowrer, and Sears (1939) has been challenged by such findings as those of Pastore (1952), Cohen (1955), and Rothaus and Worchel (1960 These investigations have shown that frustrations which are perceived to be reasonable or nonarbitrary are accepted with much less overt aggression than those which are perceived to be arbitrary or unreasonable This reduction in overt aggression may be due to a decrease in the instigation to aggression or to the arousal of inhibitory forces Rothaus and Worchel (1960) found evidence supporting the latter alternative of response inhibition under nonarbitrary frustrations All of the above studies, however, utilized questionnaires m presenting frustrations to Ss With this method, the reduction m the frequency of aggressive responses under nonarbitrary frustration could result from factors other than the nature of the frustration (eg, response sets, social desirability considerations, etc) Hypothetical frustrations are not likely to attain the intensity of real frustrations and therefore the social pressures to respond with impunity to reasonable (nonarbitrary) frustrations may far outweigh any hypothetically aroused aggressive tensions It was considered necessary, therefore, to replicate the studies of Pastore (1952) and Rothaus and Worchel (1960) under experimental conditions, and to determine whether, given such conditions, the reduction of aggression under nonarbitrary frustration is due to * Frustration and aggression New Haven Yale Univer Press, 1939 KREGARMAN, J J , & WoRCHEL, P Arbitrariness of frustration and agg^rcssion. J abnorm soc Psychol, 1961. 13, 183-187 MiiXER, N E Theory and experiment relating psychoanalytic displacement to stimulus response generalization J abnorm soc Psychol, 1948, 43, 155-178 PASTORE, N The role of arbitrariness in the frustration-aggression hypothesis J abnorm soc Psychol, 1952, 47, 728-731 RoTHAUS, P, &: WoRCHEL, P The inhibition of aggression under nonarbitrary frustration / Pers, 1960, 21, 108-117 WoRCHEL, P Hostility Theory and experimental lnvestigabon In D Willner (Ed ), Decisions, values, and groups, Vol I New York Pergamon Press, 1960Manuscript inttuilly