No abstract

The relationship between self-judged physical attractiveness and opposite-sex behavior was examined as part of a large survey on the interaction patterns of 963 college students. The findings suggest that a self-rated negative physical image is related to significantly high levels of heterosexual difficulties.

This experiment studied the relationship between anxiety and the next-inline effect in recall. Within each of two groups of 24 male and female university students, half the group took turns in reading a single word until an entire list of words had been read, and the other half merely listened. On a second list of words the role of subjects was reversed. Compared to the listen control condition, the recall of subjects in the read condition was poorest for words read a short time before their own performance. This next-in-line effect was no greater for subjects classified on the basis of the Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale as being highly anxious than for low-anxiety subjects.Requests for reprints should be sent to B.

Milgram's “small world” method was modified to trace interpersonal bonds among members of a university International House containing 154 male and female, graduate and undergraduate, and Australian and Overseas students. Sixteen residents, balanced for race, academic status and sex, served as starters for chain booklets circulating through the House from friend to friend. Social networks were inferred from the circulation pattern of the booklets. It was predicted that both race similarity and academic status congruence would contribute to affiliation, but that academic status would be a more salient determinant in the undergraduate condition, whereas race would be more salient in the graduate group. Fifteen chains progressed beyond their respective starters, and 111 transactions generated by 77 different individuals (or 50% of all the residents) were recorded. The data were in accord with all theoretical expectations.

Slcmmary.-Data from traditional and short-term desensitization procedures (ns = 7, 8 ) showed decreased anxiery associated with paper-and-pencil measures of heterosexual interactions but the two desensitization groups were not significandy different nor did a relaxation and a no-treatment group (ns = 9, 5 ) differ in reports.In educational settings, there is frequently a need to treat socially inadequate students for heterosexual anxiety, i.e., anxiety generated by the thought of, or actual involvement with, members of the opposite sex. Few, however, have recognized the importance of sirnational specific anxiety as a treatment target.Ten opposite-sex situations were initially developed as part of a 3-yr.longitudinal social-interaction survey of 988 college students. The situationswere presented as open-ended interaction problems to which students were to imagine how they would respond. Based upon the imagined behavioral responses, self-report measures were obtained on anxiety, avoidance tendencies, self-perceived and other perceived social interaction competencies. A more general measure of social anxiety was obtained by asking respondents to complete the state anxiety scale (Spielberger, Gorsuch, & Lushene, 1970) with reference to their feelings when they are imagining, encountering, or actually interacting with the opposite sex. The mean anxiety response for males on the 10 opposite-sex situations was 29.6 (SD = 6.6) and mean anxiety responses from the state anxiety scale was 39.0 (SD = 9.3).Twenty-nine males who reported having difficulties in social siruations and who scored one standard deviation above the mean for males on the o p posite-sex situation-anxiety measure were randomly assigned to either traditional desensitizacion ( N = 7 ) , shorc-term desensitization (N = 8 ) , relaxation training ( N = 9 ) or no treatment (N = 5). All Ss received two 90-min. relaxation training sessions. Traditional desensitization Ss were then given four l-hr., and short-term desensitizacion Ss two 2-hr. desensitization sessions over 2 w k During the same period the relaxation uaining Ss were given two 2-hr. relaxation uaining sessions. Measures of heterosexual anxiety and avoidance were taken following the last treatment session and at a 4-wk. follow-up (see Table 1).The findings, from two-factor repeated-measures analyses of variance for unequal groups, showed that, while there were no significant differences between 'Student Counseling and Research Unit, P. 0. Box 1, Kensington N.S.W. 2033, Australia.