Energy Conservation—A Case Study in Campaign Evaluation

This study demonstrates the considerations involved in evaluation research into the effectiveness of campaigns designed to influence social change. It is an examination of the results of applying aspects of the attitude change studies to the subject of environmental issues. A case study was made of the Smallternatives energy conservation campaign which originated in 1976 in Brisbane, at a time of little recognition of an energy 'crisis' for Australia or the need for energy conservation. Results indicated that levels of concern for environmental issues were present throughout the sample; that one group (who requested Smallternatives information) were more concerned about energy and environmental issues than groups who had not requested it; and that the booklet, when issued without request, had little or no effect on desired attitudes towards energy conservation. These results are discussed with respect to the dilemma of attitude-behaviour consistency, and the impact of information input when it is sent to, rather than requested by, the individual.     

The Role of Child Emotionality in Child Behavior and Maternal Instruction on Planning Tasks

This study explored the relation of children's emotional functioning to children's behavior during individual planning and mother's and children's behaviors during joint planning. Participants were 118 mothers and their second‐grade children. Mothers rated children on their emotional intensity and children rated themselves on their use of emotion regulation strategies. Children and mother–child dyads were videotaped during planning tasks and independent observers rated their behavior. Child emotional intensity was directly related to children being less engaged in the task and to an emphasis in maternal instruction on regulatory behaviors. Some types of emotion regulation strategies modified these relations. Findings suggest that child emotionality may play an important role in the early school years in children's opportunities to learn during social‐cognitive activity.     

Tempered Regrets Under Total Ignorance

Several decision rules, including the minimax regret rule, have been posited to suggest optimizing strategies for an individual when neither objective nor subjective probabilities can be associated to the various states of the world. These all share the shortcoming of focusing only on extreme outcomes. This paper suggests an alternative approach of tempered regrets which may more closely replicate the decision process of individuals in those situations in which avoiding the worst outcome tempers the loss from not achieving the best outcome. The assumption of total ignorance of the probabilities associated with the various states is maintained. Applications and illustrations from standard neoclassical theory are discussed.     

Consumer Privacy: Balancing Economic and Justice Considerations

Consumer privacy is at the center of an ongoing debate among business leaders, privacy activists, and government officials. Although corporations face competitive pressures to collect and use personal information about their customers, many consumers find some methods of collection and use of their personal information unfair. We present a justice theory framework that illustrates how consumer privacy concerns are shaped by the perceived fairness of corporate information practices. We describe a set of global principles, fair information practices, which were developed to balance consumer privacy concerns with an organization's need to use personal information. We conclude by discussing three alternatives for implementing fair information practices with particular attention to the Internet: government regulation, industry self-regulation, and technological solutions .     

Social skills and responses in simulated contraceptive problem situations

A behavioral‐analytic assessment strategy (Goldfried & D'Zurilla, 1969) was used to construct contraceptive problem situations representative of social interaction tasks which were postulated by Byrne (1983) as antecedent to the use of birth control. This study tested the hypothesis that differences in social skills (of rights assertion and expression of positive thoughts and feelings) are related to the effectiveness of participants' role‐play responses in contraceptive problem situations. A sample of 87 students (45 females and 42 males), all active daters, served as anonymous participants. Partial correlation procedures, in which variance due to knowledge of birth control was controlled, revealed that the positive self‐expression skill related to effectiveness for both sexes in initiating conversations about contraception topics. The rights assertion skill related to ability for both sexes to inquire about and request contraceptive materials from a druggist. Although both types of social skills were expected to relate to effectiveness in discussing birth control issues with a dating partner, results were less consistent for these situations. Both conceptual and methodological limitations are discussed as well as implications for the application of social skills training in human sexuality programs.     

Intercultural qualitative research and Ph.D. students

The educational environment for postgraduate health professionals from developing countries in contemporary western universities is an intermediate zone between home and host culture. In this zone, knowledge is shaped through the development of concepts within the limitations of (often) pre‐fluent language capacity. It is characterized by the mutual exchange of knowledge between western teachers and their developing‐country students, who will return home to leadership roles working with marginalized individuals, communities and populations. This qualitative research aims to improve health education for global health professionals from developing countries, and in so doing it illustrates many of the difficulties and benefits involved in intercultural qualitative research for Ph.D. students.     

The value of the second income to two-earner families with children

An increasing number and percentage of families in the United States endeavor to improve family income by placing two adults in the paid work force. This study examines the impact of the second earner on family income for 1,624 married-couple families with children, including 871 one-earner and 753 two-earner families. After-tax income is regressed on one- or two-earner status as well as covariates which confound the income-earner relationship for families of various income levels. The actual after-tax income differential of $7,172 is reduced to $6,076 in the regression analysis. Further, income for each family type is estimated by applying the regression coefficients from one-earner households to the characteristics of two-earner households and the regression coefficients from two-earner households to one-earner household characteristics. Actual incomes for two-earner families are found to be higher than those of one-earner families. However, income differences are reduced from 34% higher actual before-tax income to an estimated 14% lower after-tax income. The findings have important implications for families selecting two earners solely for the purpose of increasing after-tax income.This study received funding from the Graduate School Fund at Northern Illinois University. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Family Economics/Home Management Conference, Indianapolis, IN, June 1987.Mary Pritchard is an Assistant Professor, Department of Human and Family Resources, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115. She received her Ph.D. from Purdue University and includes family economic well-being, family income and expenditures, and spending patterns of adolescents among her research interests.     

Engaging the Process of Transformation

The contributions included in this issue demonstrate the variety of ways in which participatory and interpretive methods are transforming the field of psychology and clarify the integration of the personal and political commitments of the authors within their research. A number of issues remain to be negotiated, however, before these methods take their full place in the field. This conclusion considers a few of these issues, including an examination of how these approaches demand a fundamental reassessment of validity in psychological research. It also considers the critical issue of the ownership of knowledge, and proposes a reframing of the ethical guidelines for research in the field. Finally, it invites further discussion and debate around the issues raised in this issue.