Space city revisited: patterns of legal outcomes in Houston homicide

This study re-examines, and updates, that of Lundsgaarde (1977), who found that among homicide offenders in Houston, Texas, in 1969, less than 50% of those who killed intimates or other family members were ever prosecuted for their lethal acts. The general pattern that emerges from our analysis of a random sample of 428 homicide cases during 1985 to 1994 indicates that killers of intimate partners or relatives are somewhat more likely to be prosecuted as offenders who were friends or strangers to their victims. Also during this 1985 to 1994 time period, the relative percent of defendants who were sentenced to a prison term of 20 years of less was smallest for those who killed intimate partners or other family members compared to those convicted of killing friends/acquaintances or strangers. As for sex-specific legal dispositions in cases of lethal violence against intimates or other relatives, we found that sanctions against women were considerably less severe than those against male offenders, in both time periods.     

Adolescents' Prosocial Behavior Toward Family,Friends, and Strangers: A Person‐Centered Approach

This study examined longitudinal change in adolescents' prosocial behavior toward family, friends, and strangers. Participants included 491 mother–child dyads (average age of child at Time 1 = 11.5, 67% European American). Growth mixture modeling suggested that prosocial behavior toward family was generally stable or decreased over time, while prosocial behavior toward friends increased over time. However, findings highlighted unique developmental trajectories within subgroups of adolescents for prosocial behavior toward family and friends and found that maternal warmth and adolescent sympathy, self‐regulation, and gender consistently distinguished between groups. Discussion focuses on the need for a more multidimensional approach to prosocial development.     

The last ten turns: Behavior and sequencing in friends' and strangers' conversational findings

This study examined the verbal and nonverbal behaviors which characterize the ends of two-person face-to-face interactions. It was hypothesized that sequences of both verbal and nonverbal behavior would be present in conversational endings and that nonverbal behaviors would occur with different frequency in the middle and at the end of conversations. It was also predicted that both verbal and nonverbal behavior in conversational endings between friends and between strangers would differ. Ten dyads of friends and ten dyads of strangers, all female, were videotaped while in relatively unconstrained conversation. The content of verbal statements and the occurrence or nonoccurrence of 13 nonverbal behaviors in the ten middlemost and the ten last turns were analyzed. Results indicated that the seven verbal statement types formed a sequence of information, summary, question, verbalization, justification, continuity, and well-wishing. Six clusters of nonverbal behavior distinguished the ending phase from the middle phase; these behaviors were organized into a general sequential pattern, but the positions of several behaviors within the sequence were subject to variation. Finally, three clusters of nonverbal behaviors (more looking away, more grooming, less head nodding) distinguished conversation endings between friends from those between strangers.We are grateful to Helen McKenna and Peter Pamment for their help. We also appreciate the comments given by Dr. Judee, K. Burgoon, and an anonymous reviewer.     

Empathy and Self‐Regulation as Mediators Between Parenting and Adolescents' Prosocial Behavior Toward Strangers,Friends, and Family

The current study examined the role of empathy and self‐regulation as mediators between positive parenting (mothering and fathering) and early adolescents' prosocial behavior toward 3 targets (strangers, friends, and family). Data were taken from Time 1 and Time 2 of the Flourishing Families Project, and included reports from 500 families with an early adolescent child (mean age of child at Time 1=11.29). Analyses suggested that predictors of prosocial behavior toward the 3 targets differed, with empathy (as reported by mothers only) and self‐regulation mediating the relation between positive parenting and prosocial behavior toward strangers and friends, but not toward family. Positive mothering was the only variable that was significantly related to prosocial behavior toward family. The discussion focuses on the need for continued research examining a relational approach to prosocial development.     

The development of adolescents’ friendships and antipathies: A longitudinal multivariate network test of balance theory

We examined the interplay between friendship (best friend) and antipathy (dislike) relationships among adolescents (N = 480; 11–14 years) in two US middle schools over three years (grades 6, 7, and 8). Using longitudinal multivariate network analysis (RSiena), the effects of friendships on antipathies and vice versa were tested, while structural network effects (e.g., density, reciprocity, and transitivity) and individual (age, gender, and ethnicity) and behavioral (prosocial and antisocial behavior) dispositions were controlled for. Based on (structural) balance theory, it was expected that friendships would be formed or maintained when two adolescents disliked the same person (shared enemy hypothesis), that friends would tend to agree on whom they disliked (friends’ agreement hypothesis), that adolescents would tend to dislike the friends of those they disliked (reinforced animosity hypothesis), and, finally, that they would become or stay friends with dislikes of dislikes (enemy's enemy hypothesis). Support was found for the first three hypotheses, and partially for the fourth hypothesis. Results are discussed in light of adolescents’ peer relationships.     

Risky sociability and personal agency-offline meetings with online contacts among European children and adolescents

Meeting online contacts offline can be considered both as a risk-taking behavior and as an opportunity to expand one's social circle. This study distinguishes between specific types of meetings, whether with ‘friends of friends’, ‘complete strangers’ or ‘both’, and examines the role of individual psychological factors (sensation seeking, selfefficacy and psychological difficulties) together with structural societal factors (agentic and communal life strategies - locus of control and importance of friends) while controlling for age, gender and personal Internet use. Data from the Euro Kids Online II project dealing with children and adolescents who reported being in touch via Internet with people whom they didn't know personally and indicated whether or not they had met them offline were compounded with data from the European Values Study for societal factors and analyzed through two-level multinomial logistic regression. The odds of engaging in meeting online contacts offline increase with higher sensation seeking, self-efficacy, psychological difficulties, and age, and decrease with higher importance of friends. Types of meetings were found to vary with age and level of sensation-seeking. The results are discussed with regard to risk-taking in adolescence, safety of meeting types, models of sociability, and personal agency.     

Intimacy-mediators of the proximity-gaze compensation effect: Movement,conversational role,acquaintance, and gender

Reduction of interpersonal gaze in response to close proximity was hypothesized to be affected by four intimacy-related variables: movement (active relocation vs. static location), conversational role (listener vs. speaker), acquaintance (strangers vs. friends), and gender (males vs. females). Hypotheses were tested in a factorial experiment with 72 university students as subjects. In general, the effects of the four variables on compensatory gaze were interactive. Gaze reduction in response to a same-sex confederate's presence in a subject's personal-intimate (vs. social) distance zone was more likely for subjects with less intimate histories—males (vs. females) and strangers to the confederate (vs. friends). Furthermore, these effects were more likely when the close distance was the result of movement by the confederate from an established farther distance than when a consistently close distance condition was compared to a consistently far distance condition, and also when gaze was assessed during the subject's conversational listening periods in contrast to speaking periods. The identification of limiting conditions under which the compensatory response occurs supports a more refined conception of the intimacy-equilibrium and proxemics models of interpersonal behavior.The research reported herein and preparation of this article were supported in part by NIMH postdoctoral grant #PHS T32 MH 14588-04, held by author Breck, and by Biomedical Sciences Support Grant 40827118, to author Rosenfeld. Preliminary results were reported at the 1981 annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association in Chicago. The authors wish to thank Katherine Wu and Sonya Clark for their assistance in data analysis.     

Nonverbal cues to deception among intimates,friends, and strangers

Buller and Burgoon (in press) propose that deceivers attempt to encode strategically nonverbal cues which indicate nonimmediacy and project a positive image. At the same time, deceivers leak arousal and negative affect via their nonverbal display. This experiment tested these predictions, while examining the influence of relational history on deception cues and the stability of deception cues within deceptive conversations. The nonverbal behavior of 130 strangers, friends, and intimates was measured. Results indicated that deceivers signalled nonimmediacy, arousal, and negative affect, but they did not appear to project a positive image. Deception cues were mediated by relational history and showed considerable temporal variation. Strangers leaked more arousal and negative affect than friends and intimates. Further, deceivers, particularly deceiving friends and intimates, seemed to monitor and control their nonverbal behavior during deception by suppressing arousal and negative affect cues and moderating nonimmediate behavior.     

Premarital sexual intercourse: A test of the effects of peer group,religiosity, and sexual guilt

Previous research findings have been inconsistent concerning the influence on a person's sexual behavior of the peer group's sexual behavior and approval. Therefore, in this paper the relative importance of one's closest, friends' sexual behavior, their perceived approval for engaging in premarital coitus. age, sex guilt, and conventional religiosity were examined. Respondents were 467 dormitory students from a large mid‐Atlantic university. Results of separate path analyses for men and women showed that the greater the number of close friends thought to be nonvirgins, the greater the likelihood the man was also nonvirgin. Anticipated approval from close friends was not associated with a man being a nonvirgin. For women, both the sexual behavior and the expected degree of approval from close friends was associated with a woman being a nonvirgin. For both sexes, sex guilt was negatively associated with being a nonvirgin, whereas the respondent's age and degree of conventional religiosity were not associated with the sexual behavior. The findings indicate that researchers should specify whether a peer group's standards, or behavior, is being considered.     

The Effects of Social Interaction and Personal Relationships on Facial Expressions

Previous studies have reported that the expression of smiles is facilitated by social interaction between partners. We examined the effects of social interaction and personal relationships on facial expressions in Japan. Pairs of friends and strangers seated next to each other (the no partition condition) or separated by a partition (the partition condition) were shown film clips aimed to elicit either positive or negative affect. Smiles were facilitated in the no partition condition in which participants interacted with each other. Further, the effect of social interaction on frowns differed depending on whether pairs were friends or strangers.     

Facial expression in the presence of friends and strangers

This study investigated the effect of the physical presence of a friend or of a stranger on facial expressiveness. Pairs of friends and pairs of strangers (all women) were unobtrusively videotaped while they viewed together a number of emotional stimulus slides, and rated their individual emotional responses to them. Judges subsequently attempted to identify from the videotapes the emotions reported by each sender subject. Generally, expressions were more readily identified for women videotaped with friends than for those recorded with strangers. These results support the suggestion that the degree to which emotions are expressed depends on the role of an accompanying person. Altemative interpretations of this view are discussed.We thank Alan Fridlund and an anonymous reviewer for comments on a previous version of this paper.     

Familiarity effects in nonverbal understanding: Recognizing our own facial expressions and our friends'

In this study we explored how individuals' private expressions are interpreted by the self, same-sex friends, and strangers. Videotapes were made of participants as they watched pleasant, unpleasant, and unusual slides. Approximately a year later, the tapes were shown to the participant, a same-sex friend, another participant, and the other participant's friend. Judges were able to read the facial expressions at levels of accuracy that were significantly greater than chance. They were no better at reading familiar targets (themselves or their friends) than unfamiliar ones (strangers), with only one exception (men were better at recognizing the reactions of familiar targets than unfamiliar targets viewing pleasant slides). In their abilities to understand nonverbal cues, female friends showed resemblances to each other on all accuracy measures (pleasant/unpleasant/unusual X familiar/unfamiliar). Male friends resembled each other only in their understanding of the reactions of unfamiliar men viewing unpleasant slides.This research was supported in part by an NSF grant and an NIMH Research Scientist Development Award to the second author. We thank Charles Frohman and Laura Yamhure for their help with this research.     

Giving to Friends,Classmates, and Strangers in Adolescence

This study examined how perspective taking and sensitivity to social rewards predict giving to friends, classmates, and strangers in adolescence. Five hundred and twenty adolescents aged 12–17 years completed questionnaires on perspective taking and social rewards and played three Dictator Games in which they divided coins between themselves and a friend, classmate, and stranger. We found that, irrespective of age, adolescents donated most to a friend, less to their classmate, and least to a stranger, and females donated more than males. Individual differences in perspective taking and social reward sensitivity moderated how much adolescents donated, especially to strangers. These findings suggest that perspective taking and sensitivity to social rewards influence giving behavior in adolescence, especially to unknown others.     

Enlisting friends to reduce sexual victimization risk: There's an app for that… but nobody uses it

ABSTRACT

Objective: The Circle of Six (Co6) phone application (app), winner of the White House's Apps Against Abuse Challenge, seeks to incorporate friends into sexual victimization risk reduction. Despite its growing presence on college campuses, the feasibility/acceptability of the app to college women is unknown. This mixed methods study sought to fill this gap. Participants: College women (n = 44) participated in summer/fall 2015. Methods: Participants completed questionnaires, used the Co6 app for 2 months, and returned to report their experiences. Results: Consistent with the app's aim, women reported greater intentions to help friends versus strangers in sexually aggressive situations. However, app use was low over follow-up. Reasons women gave for not using the app included redundancy with existing smart phone features and discomfort with group messaging. Some saw the app as an emergency only resource. Conclusions: The Co6 app may not meet the real world needs of college women.     

Bystander Apathy and the Territorial Imperative*

This research focuses on the relationship between persons, places, and social control. Specifically, the study examines territoriality and social distance as factors affecting individuals' thoughts concerning the prevention of crime. The data show that both territoriality and social distance are significant predictors of respondents' willingness to prevent criminal behaviors. Consistent with theory in urban sociology and psychology, people report that they are far more likely to extend aid to family members and friends than to strangers. However, people also report that they are more likely to intervene on behalf of a stranger the nearer to home the offense occurs. Hypothetical situations concerning specific crimes against persons and property were used to elicit responses from 835 adolescents who were the subjects of the research. Analysis of variance is used to analyze the data.     

Fickle Families and the Kindness of Strangers: Social Capital in the Lives of Low-Income Single Mothers

This article is a qualitative study that examines the social capital in the lives of 20 formerly homeless and nearly homeless single mothers with children in their care. The findings for this study indicate that the mothers' close social ties simultaneously served as a resource and a hindrance to their progress into sustainable work or education. Findings also show that nearly all of the women in this study benefited from “weak” ties by receiving information or other kinds of resources from strangers or friends of friends. Implications for policy and practice are also discussed.     

The Organization and Dynamics of Adolescent Conflict with Parents and Friends

In telephone interviews, 212 adolescents described all disagreements arising the preceding day that involved parents or friends. Conflicts were organized in a similar manner in both relationships: Topics, resolutions, and outcomes were linked together and were usually tied to affect afterward. The specific dynamics of conflict, however, varied in a manner that reflects differences in relationship power and stability. Relative to those with friends, parent‐child conflicts more often involved a combination of daily hassle topics, neutral or angry affect afterward, power‐assertive resolutions, and win‐lose outcomes. Relative to those with parents, friend conflicts more often involved a combination of relationship topics, friendly affect afterward, disengaged resolutions, and equal or no outcomes. Most differences in disagreement dynamics were not a function of differences in the rate at which topics of conflict arose in each relationship: Across topics, parents usually reported more coercion than friends, and friends usually reported more mitigation than parents.     

Ethnic ingroup friendships in schools: Testing the by-product hypothesis in England,Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden

This study set out to examine to what extent ethnic ingroup friendship in secondary school classes are a by-product of cultural and socioeconomic ingroup friendship. Based on homophily theory, we expected similar opinions, leisure activities, religion, risk behaviour and socioeconomic factors to (partly) explain ethnic ingroup preferences. Multilevel p₂ models on 13,272 pupils in 625 secondary school classes in England, Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden showed that adolescents tend to have friends similar in ethnicity, cultural and socioeconomic characteristics. We find no evidence, however, that ethnic homophily is explained by cultural and socioeconomic homophily.     

Do infants express discrete emotions? Adult judgments of facial,vocal, and body actions

Adult judges were presented with videotape segments showing an infant displaying facial configurations hypothesized to express discomfort/pain, anger, or sadness according to differential emotions theory (Izard, Dougherty, & Hembree, 1983). The segments also included the infant's nonfacial behavior and aspects of the situational context. Judges rated the segments using a set of emotion terms or a set of activity terms. Results showed that judges perceived the discomfort/pain and anger segments as involving one or more negative emotions not predicted by differential emotions theory. The sadness segments were perceived as involving relatively little emotion overall. Body activity accompanying the discomfort/pain and anger configurations was judged to be more jerky and active than body activity accompanying the sadness configurations. The sadness segments were accompanied by relatively little body movement overall. The results thus fail to conform to the predictions of differential emotions theory but provide information that may contribute to the development of a theory of infant expressive behavior.This article is based on the second author's master's thesis. The authors thank Dennis Ross for his expert assistance in the data analyses.     

Relational Sacrifices about Intimate Behavior and Relationship Quality for Expectant Cohabitors

ABSTRACT

Using interdependence theory, we examined how relational sacrifices specific to intimacy were associated with positive (commitment, satisfaction, love, and maintenance) and negative (ambivalence and conflict) relationship quality among expectant, unmarried cohabitors (n = 69 individuals), because this group may struggle relationally. We examined how often individuals made sacrifices for their partners and their partners’ perceived awareness of their sacrifices (i.e., individuals’ perceptions that their partners are aware that intimate sacrifices had been made for them) for both members of the couple using Actor Partner Independence Models. We controlled for children from previous relationships, unplanned pregnancy, gender, education, and race/ethnicity. Results showed that frequency of intimate sacrifices was not associated with any aspects of relationship quality. Instead, as expected, perceived partner awareness of intimate sacrifice was associated with greater commitment, satisfaction, love, and maintenance for individuals; lower ambivalence for individuals; and lower conflict for both individuals and their partners. These results suggest that for expectant cohabitors, perceived partner awareness of intimate sacrifices is central to achieving more positive, and less negative, relationship quality.