Personality, Roles, and Social Behavior

372 Pages·1982·23.21 MB·English

by  William Ickes, Eric S. Knowles (auth.), Eric S. Knowles (eds.)

SSSP
Springer
Series in
Social
Psychology
Advisory Editor:
Robert F. Kidd
Springer Series in Social Psychology
Advisory Editor: Robert F. Kidd
Attention and Self-Regulation:
A Control-Theory Approach to Human Behavior
Charles S. Carver/Michael F. Scheier
Gender and Nonverbal Behavior
Clara Mayo/Nancy M. Henley (Editors)
Personality, Roles, and Social Behavior
William Ickes/Eric S. Knowles (Editors)
Toward Transformation in Social Knowledge
Kenneth J. Gergen
The Ethics of Social Research:
Surveys and Experiments
Joan E. Sieber (Editor)
The Ethics of Social Research:
Fieldwork, Regulation, and Publication
Joan E. Sieber (Editor)
SSSP
Personality, Roles,
and
Social Behavior
Edited by
William I ekes
and
Erie S. Knowles
[$] Springer-Verlag New York Heidelberg Berlin
William Ickes Eric S. Knowles
Department of Psychology Psychology and Human Development
University of Missouri-St. Louis University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
St. Louis, Missouri 63121 U.S.A. Green Bay, Wisconsin 54302 U.S.A.
Robert F. Kidd, Advisory Editor
Department of Psychology
Boston University
Boston, Massachusetts 02215 U.S.A.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Personality, roles, and social behavior.
(Springer series in social psychology)
Bibliography: p.
Includes indexes.
Contents: From individuals to group members: a
dialectic for the social sciences / Eric S. Knowles
-The origin and maintenance of social roles : the
case of sex roles / Paul F. Secord-Roles and
interaction competencies / Michael Athay and
John Darley - [etc.]
1. Social psychology-Addresses, essays, lectures.
2. Social role-Addresses, essays, lectures. 3. Social interaction-Addresses, essays,
lectures.
1. Ickes, William John. 1947- . II. Knowles, Eric S. III. Title. IV. Series.
HM251. P4256 302 81-18238
AACR2
© 1982 by Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1982
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form without
written permission from Springer-Verlag, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010,
U.S.A.
The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, etc. in this publication, even
if the former are not especially identified, is not to be taken as a sign that such names, as
understood by the Trade Marks and Merchandise Marks Act, may accordingly be used freely
by anyone.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-9471-6 e-ISBN-13: 978-1-4613-9469-3
DOl: 10.1007/978-1-4613-9469-3
Foreword
Personality and Roles: Sources of Regularities in Social Behavior
For behavioral scientists, whether they identify primarily with the science of
psychology or with that of sociology, there may be no challenge greater than that of
discovering regularities and consistencies in social behavior. After all, it is such
regularities and consistencies that lend predictability to the behavior of individuals
in social contexts-in particular, to those events that constitute dyadic interactions
and group processes. In the search for behavioral consistencies, two theoretical
constructs have emerged as guiding principles: personality and roles.
The theoretical construct of personality seeks to understand regularities and
consistencies in social behavior in terms of relatively stable traits, enduring
dispositions, and other propensities (for example, needs, motives, and attitudes)
that are thought to reside within individuals. Because it focuses primarily on the
features of individuals, the construct of personality is fundamentally psychological
in nature. By contrast, the theoretical construct of roles seeks to understand
regularities and consistencies in social behavior in terms of the directive influence of
coherent sets of rules and prescriptions that are provided by the interpersonal,
occupational, and societal categories of which individuals are continuing members.
Because it focuses primarily on features of social structures, the construct of roles is
fundamentally sociological in nature.
The fact of their differing disciplinary origins provides some sense as to why
psychologists more so than sociologists seem to be relatively familiar with the
concept of personality, and why sociologists more so than psychologists seem to be
relatively conversant with the notion of roles. But, although the differing intellec-
tual parentages of personality and roles may constitute an explanation for the
disciplinary isolation of scholars working within the traditions associated with each
construct, it hardly constitutes a justification for continuing that state of affairs.
Prompted by their concerns about the solitudes within which psychologists and
sociologists have worked, William Ickes and Eric Knowles have invited
psychologists and sociologists to contribute chapters to this volume.
vi Foreword
A dialogue between psychologists and sociologists is the goal of the editors, who
seek "to focus [their edited volume] explicitly on conceptual issues and research at
the interface of a sociological and a psychological understanding of social
behavior" (Preface, p. viii). Clearly, any dialogue between psychologists and
sociologists about the relations among personality, roles, and social behavior is of
considerable intrinsic worth. There are few, if any, among us who do not value (or,
at least, profess to value) interdisciplinary communication and the cross-fertilization
of theoretical perspectives and methodological orientations that it is thought to
generate. However, as satisfying as the activities of that dialogue may prove to be in
and of themselves, there may be benefits for the social sciences over and above the
immediate satisfactions of those individuals engaged in this dialogue. Why?
Because a concerted and a continuing effort by psychologists and sociologists to
understand the mutual interplay of individuals and social structures has the potential
to generate a hybrid social science. That hybrid of psychology and sociology may
be uniquely suited to answering the question, posed originally in 1852 by the
philosopher Comte (who often has been credited with providing the impetus for the
creation of the social sciences): How can the individual be both the cause and the
consequence of society?
If answers to this momentous question are, at long last, forthcoming, some
measure of credit will be due to the editors of and the contributors to Personality,
Roles, and Social Behavior. To a one, they have chosen to direct their efforts to
concerns that appear to be central to a creative synthesis of the theoretical
perspectives and the methodological orientations of psychology and sociology.
And, to a one, they have provided meaningful and provocative analyses of their
chosen subject matters. It very well may be that this collection of essays may tempt
many psychologists and sociologists to emerge from their solitudes and join forces
in the quest to understand the interplay of the individual and society.
Minneapolis, Minnesota Mark Snyder
Preface
Since the 1930s, social psychology has been two fields: one sociological and the
other psychological. The sociological tradition stems from Mead's and Cooley's
emphases on self, roles, and symbolic interaction. In this tradition, social behavior
is understood in terms of its meaning for the person and for the interactions in which
he or she is engaged. The psychological tradition reflects the dual emphases of the
brothers Allport: Floyd Allport's focus on the behavioral and attitudinal conse-
quences of social participation, and Gordon Allport's focus on personal traits and
dispositions. In this tradition, social behavior is understood as a consequence of
personality and social situational determinants.
During the past 50 years, the division between these two traditions has grown too
wide, to the point that it is unsettling, artificial, and unproductive. Many
sociologists and personality/social psychologists are still interested in the same
social psychological phenomena; however, their adherence to the conventions of
their respective disciplines has made it increasingly difficult for them to talk to each
other and share their insights about these common interests. Theories in the two
disciplines employ different sets of constructs (and often different levels of analysis)
in conceptualizing the same phenomena. Methods reveal a similar divergence, with
most sociologists as firmly committed to working in the field as most psychologists
are to working in the lab. And, beyond the more obvious differences in theory and
method, more subtle differences in how sociologists and personality/social
psychologists are trained to perceive, structure, and organize social behavior are
reflected by rather striking differences in the content, style, and format of the
articles written for the major journals in the two disciplines. These differences
impede progress in both disciplines to the extent that each discipline is less able to
learn and profit from the other.
Fortunately, however, within each tradition there are scholars who have
minimized the effects of this division in their training, theoretical orientation, and
research. Indeed, researchers in both fields of social psychology have increasingly
formulated problems in a way that reflects a synthesis of personality, role, and
situational approaches to social behavior. It is therefore somewhat disappointing to
viii Preface
find that although many teachers and researchers are aware of and sympathetic with
this emerging synthesis, few scholarly books or texts currently reflect this trend.
The present volume is intended to focus explicitly on conceptual issues and
research at the interface of a sociological and a psychological understanding of
social behavior. Its general purpose is to provide a forum for the views of several
theorists and researchers in sociology and psychology who have actively worked at
this interface in the attempt to develop more integrated approaches to the study of
certain social psychological phenomena. In each of the chapters in this volume, a
particular issue or area of social psychology is discussed in terms of a theoretical
perspective which considers the combined influences of personality, social roles,
and situational factors. The relative attention given to these three types of factors
varies from chapter to chapter, however, according to the authors' interests and
theoretical orientations.
We have chosen the format of an edited volume of original chapters by several
different authors because we feel that it is the most realistic way of presenting the
current interface between sociological and psychological approaches to social
behavior. It is most realistic, we think, for at least three reasons. First, because the
interface is still emerging, a consensus has not yet developed that could be
summarized by a single author (or pair of authors). For this reason, it seems most
reasonable to present to the reader the range of different perspectives that currently
have emerged. Second, because the contributors to the present volume are among
the major proponents of the synthesis of personality, role, and situational ap-
proaches to the study of social behavior, it seems desirable at this preconsensual
stage to let these scholars individually present their own views, approaches, and
insights. This is the best and most direct way to ensure that the positions espoused
by these individuals are accurately represented. Third, by allowing the contributors
to choose their own "points of application" for an integrated approach to social
behavior, it becomes feasible for us to include a wide range of issues and
phenomena within a single volume. We believe that consideration of these various
issues and phenomena will foster an appreciation of the scope and complexity of
social behavior as well as growth in the understanding and use of an integrated
approach to its study.
In organizing the volume, we have attempted to order the chapters in a way that
would preserve and emphasize certain continuities in theme while making salient
any major differences in theory, method, phenomena of interest, and level of
analysis. Accordingly, the thematic progression across the set of chapters is from
general to specific, from abstract theory to concrete methods and data.
Within this progression, meaningful subgroupings are reflected. The first three
chapters, for example, all address social behavior in a very general and abstract
way. In the first chapter, Knowles introduces the concepts of personality and social
roles and provides a historical perspective on the application of these concepts in
sociology and psychology. Treating individual and group levels of analysis as
dialectical elements in the social sciences, Knowles examines how the tension
between these elements has influenced theoretical development and debate in the
study of roles, personality, and small groups. The theoretical status of the role
Preface IX
concept is further deveioped in Chapters 2 and 3. Using the case of sex roles as a
specific example, Secord (Chapter 2) attempts to account for the origin and
maintenance of social roles. The goal of his paper is to explain why particular role
forms emerge and are maintained at the expense of others, and why, when changes
in norms occur, they take the forms that they do. Athay and Darley (Chapter 3)
argue strongly for a reconceptualization of the role concept "which allows for the
limiting function of structural frameworks but still does not turn the actor into the
automaton traditional sociologists often are accused of making him." Athay and
Darley suggest that social interaction should be viewed as a process of commodity
exchange in which the influences of roles and personality dispositions on social
behavior are mediated by specific interpersonal skills that they call "interaction
competencies. ' ,
The generality and high level of abstraction in the first three chapters are further
evidenced by their internal shifts in level of analysis; in each of them, behavior is
examined on at least two levels (individual, dyad, larger group, or society). In
contrast, Chapters 4 and 5 are concerned almost exclusively with the dyad, focusing
on individuals only to illustrate their independent contributions to the interdepen-
dent processes that characterize their interaction. Davis (Chapter 4) presents a
theoretical analysis of responsiveness in dyadic interaction. Her formulation gives
special emphasis to the personality, role, and situational factors that determine the
quantity and quality of responsiveness which dyad members display. A complemen-
tary perspective on dyadic interaction is offered in Patterson's functional analysis of
nonverbal involvement (Chapter 5). Whereas Davis's model gives primary em-
phasis to conversation within the dyad, Patterson's model concerns the various
nonverbal behaviors by which dyad members reveal their level and mode of
involvement with each other. After delineating the various functions that nonverbal
behavior can serve, Patterson goes on to show how certain personality factors can
be used to predict the type of involvement functions individuals are most likely to
express in their nonverbal behavior.
Wegner and Giuliano's chapter (Chapter 6) must be regarded as somewhat
unique in this collection. Although it resembles the other chapters in presenting a
theoretical perspective that incorporates personality, role, and situational variables,
it differs from the other chapters in its style (alternately serious and tongue-in-
cheek), in its emphasis on social perception (as opposed to self-perception or to
overt behavior), and in its level of analysis (it explicitly incorporates all levels). In
the course of explaining how social behaviors may be partially determined by the
perspectives from which social situations are viewed, Wegner and Giuliano neatly
integrate the symbolic interactionist perspective of sociology with various psycho-
logical theories of social cognition.
Despite its discontinuities with the preceding chapters, Wegner and Giuliano's
chapter provides a good introduction to the themes explored in subsequent ones. In
particular, it sets the stage for Stryker and Serpe's discussion of identity theory, an
outgrowth of symbolic interactionism (Chapter 7). With remarkable economy,
Stryker and Serpe sketch the historical development of symbolic interactionism and
identity theory, and then demonstrate the theory's predictive utility with an
x Preface
empirical research example. Their interest in the processes by which the self-
concept both shapes and is shaped by the individual's interaction with others is also
shared by the authors of Chapters 8 and 9. In Chapter 8, Lofland uses anecdotal,
case history, and literary examples to compile a list of the different types of social
ties that bind the individual to others and help define his or her unique identity. The
severing of these social ties (through death, divorce, etc.) and the consequent
changes in the individual's identity that result from such losses are the central
concerns of Lofland's insightful analysis. The same concerns are apparent in
Chapter 9, in which Chad and Paddy Gordon examine the changes in roles, goals,
and self-conceptions that occur in women who have become "displaced homemak-
ers" through the loss of their spouses. To substantiate the changes hypothesized to
occur as these women acquire a new role as wage earner, the Gordons present
evaluation data from an intervention program they designed to help displaced
homemakers prepare for employment.
The theme of social relevance that emerges in the Gordons' chapter is also
apparent in McCall's discussion of discretionary justice (Chapter 10). Both papers
rely heavily on data collected in "real-world" field settings, but McCall's paper is
somewhat more integrative in its attempt to determine the relative influences of
personality, role, and situational variables on discretionary decision making in the
criminal justice system. McCall proposes a framework for understanding discre-
tionary justice, reviews the research that has related personality, role, and
situational variables to judicial decision making, and discusses the methodological
difficulties of separating these influences in field-observational research. His
suggestion that laboratory studies of interpersonal processes may be particularly
useful "in beginning to sort out the influences of role, personality, and situation"
introduces the theme of the final chapter by Ickes (Chapter 11). Ickes gives an
account of the conception, "birth," and subsequent development of an original
research paradigm that combines many of the best features of laboratory and
field-observational research. After reviewing the various types of studies in which
the paradigm has already been applied, he discusses its potential as a basic paradigm
for the study of personality, roles, an~ social behavior.
In any collection of papers having the range and diversity suggested by this
overview, there will be corresponding diversity in style, readability, and theoretical
depth. Although this diversity is often characterized as "unevenness" and regarded
as a fault, we believe that there is often considerable virtue in allowing respected
scholars to tell their own story in their own way. Accordingly, we have allowed our
contributors a fairly wide latitude of self-expression within the rather loose
constraints of a professional-level, interdisciplinary text. We hope that the result of
this editorial policy is a set of clear and distinguishable voices rather than a single
more "even" monotone.
We are grateful to have worked with a group of contributors who were not only
willing to write for an interdisciplinary audience but were also enthusiastic about
doing so. We also wish to thank Robert Kidd for convincing us that Springer- Verlag
should publish the volume, and the staff of Springer-Verlag for providing the
exemplary editorial and production assistance that we had been led to expect. We
especially thank Connie Rentmaster for her careful proofreading and indexing.