Structure and process in interpersonal “distancing”

The present paper focuses on awho-why-where-when-how-what-whom structural model of interpersonal distancing. The term distancing denotes either approach or avoidance movement along an intimacy-immediacy dimension. This dimension itself is defined as an integration across proxemic, kinesic, paralinguistic, and linguistic interpersonal modalities. Parallels are drawn between the concepts of intimacy disequilibrium and cognitive dissonance; the latter deals with attitude-behavior discrepancies and the former with attraction-approach discrepancies. A compensatory model is expanded acrosswho's partners as well as across his sensory modalities, and the concept of intimacy overload is offered as a clarifying tool for the social refractoriness and information overload explanations appearing in various aspects of the literature.Paper presented at the Symposium on Some New Approaches for Studying and Measuring Interpersonal Communication, 82d Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, September 1974.The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Department 1229, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, in the writing of this paper. Much of the work was supported by NSF Grant 2852A at Wayne State University.     

EMPIRICAL INVENTORY SIMULATION: A CASE STUDY*

An empirical simulation was used to investigate the economics of minimum-buy policies in the U.S. Army management of spare-parts inventory. An empirical simulation makes use of historical data as direct input to the simulation rather than randomly generated data based on a characterization of the historical data. Empirical simulation alleviates the drawbacks of characterizing historical data with a theoretical distribution; however, because steady-state conditions are not reached, a methodological problem arises in the evaluation of inventory assets at the end of the simulation. Our solution was to minimize this problem by use of a cyclic approach.     

The effect of data collection mode on smoking attitudes and behavior in young African American and Latina women. Face-to-face interview versus self-administered questionnaires

Evaluating smoking prevention and cessation programs requires valid data collection. This study examined two survey modes--face-to-face (FTF) interview and self-administered questionnaire (SAQ)--comparing response rates, sample characteristics, data quality, and response effects. From two family planning clinics, 601 female Latina and African American clients ages 12 to 21 were recruited and randomized to either group. Results reveal that neither mode is superior to the other. The SAQ may therefore be preferable for this population, despite its higher rate of incompletes, because it yields results similar to the FTF yet is more cost effective and less disruptive to clinic routines.     

The mystical hue in clinical practice

The notion of the mystical hue in clinical practice, viewed essentially as therapist tendency to formulate understandings and interventions from a known frame of reference, is considered from the dimensions of theoretical commitment, technical style, and similarity to psychic processes. Consideration is given to reification, the projective fallacy, and the developmental tilt, for their potential reverberations in practice. Emphasis is placed on the need to formulate experience-near interventions related to the patient's subjective state consistent with the reality that existing well reasoned theory is continually subject to revision. A case is presented in which the patient's subjective experience, imbued with a mystical flavor, was best approached from a mystical perspective familiar to both patient and therapist.