Social Utility in Ultimatum Bargaining

In this article we will provide an overview of factors that influence the weight that self-interest and equity related motives receive in ultimatum bargaining. These factors are grouped into three main categories: factors relating to the context of the game, factors relating to the parties involved, and factors related to characteristics of the game. Results of the studies are discussed in relation to the concept of social utility. The authors point out possible omissions in the literature—especially the lack of interest for the behavior of recipients—and recommend directions for future research.     

Modeling psychiatric patients' treatment decision making

Decision-making processes of psychiatric inpatients were assessed at admission and prior to discharge, and compared to hospital staff members using a paired comparison paradigm in which subjects chose between hypothetical antipsychotic medications. Multidimensional analyses of binary choice matrices revealed that all subjects based decisions on the risks and benefits of medication, and weighted risks and benefits in roughly equal proportions. Hospital staff demonstrated greater internal consistency in their decisions than the inpatient sample at both time points. For newly admitted inpatients, severity of psychiatric symptoms and nonverbal intelligence were related to internal consistency of decision making, and behavioral indices of medication compliance predicted relative weighting of risks and benefits. For predischarge and comparison samples, verbal intelligence and treatment preferences predicted both outcome measures. Reliance on verbal reports of decision making may be misleading when assessing competence in acutely impaired psychiatric patients.     

A Comparison of Chinese and US College Students’ Crime and Crime Control Views

While there is a growing trend to look at criminal justice issues from an international perspective, there has been little literature examining differences in views of crime, criminals, punishment, and treatment between the citizens of the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America. Using data from 524 students at a large university in China and 484 students from a large public university in the USA this study found that, while US respondents were more likely to agree that crime was high in their country, Chinese respondents were more likely to feel that crime was the most serious social problem facing their society. Chinese respondents were more supportive of the death penalty for serious crimes but also were more supportive of rehabilitation of offenders in general. In addition, the study found similarities between students from the two countries in their views. The reasons behind the differences and similarities were explored.

Patterns of influence and response in abusing and nonabusing families

Behaviors of influence and response during a conflict negotiation task were examined in eight physically child abusing, substance abusing families in which the father was the primary abuser and eight demographically matched nonabusing families. Abusing fathers displayed more coercive patterns of influencing behavior and more negative patterns of response to other family members, including both mothers and children. Fewer differences were observed between mothers in the abusing and nonabusing families or in the children's behavior; however, mothers in the abusing families criticized their husbands more and abused children exhibited less agreement and more criticism toward their fathers. In support of Patterson's theory, abusing families exhibited relatively more reciprocated sequences of criticism and relatively fewer reciprocated sequences of agreement as compared to nonabusing families. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for understanding interaction in child abusing families.