A Content-Analytic Method for Studying Interpersonal Behavior and a Study of Verbal and Nonverbal Behaviors Associated with Social Roles

摘要

In the first study, a method of content analysis suitable for handling complex social interaction encountered in short stories was developed. The interactions were analyzed in terms of a motivational organizing principle. The manifest content was translated on the basis of the inferred intention or purpose of the Actor with respect to the Object. The unit of analysis is ACO (ActorConnector-Object) where the Actor is the source of the interaction; the Object is the person toward whom the action is directed; and the Connector is the literal material (manifest content) on which the interaction is based, defined as a verb form which involves actions or fellings. Each Actor was coded according to his social role relationship to the Object. This permitted the classification of persons in terms of interpersonal situations, with a minimum regard for personal attributes. The purpose of the second study in the report was to develop measurement instruments which could be applied to the study of perceived cultural differences in role behaviors. Role behaviors for the American culture were derived from a content analysis of short stories, which analyzed social interactions according to role-pairs. The results of the content analysis were analyzed to yield the most frequent behaviors and the most frequent role-pairs.