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Structural Effects and Interpersonal Relationships

1965; University of Chicago Press; Volume: 71; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1086/224087

1537-5390

Ernest Q. Campbell, C. Norman Alexander,

Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence

It is proposed that structural effects be analyzed with a two-step model that employs structural variables to predict the relevant characateristics of an indvidual's social environment and then explains his behaviors in terms of a social-psychological theory whose predictions take these conditions of the social environment as given. Data on the educational aspirations of adolescents are consistent with this analytic approach: The average socioeconomic status of high schools is directly related to the college plans of students at each status level and, also, to the status of those they select as friends. However, the relationship between school status and college aspirations virtually disappears when the statuses of the individual and his friends are held constant.