Doctoral Dissertation Research: Social Exchange and Attributions

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This is an award under the Grants for Improving Doctoral Dissertation Research Program. The study will examine the relations between attributions about exchange partners and behavior in exchange relations. It ties together attribution theory with social exchange theory in new and previously unexamined ways. The research uses existing experimental data to test the effects of structure and behavior on attributions and designs a fresh experiment to test the effects of attributions on exchange behavior. %%% This research contributes to the sociological understanding of social psychology by linking the subfields of cognition, concerned with how people develop beliefs about behavior, with social exchange, concerned with how people use resources to obtain the behavioral outcomes they desire. In addition to the scientific gains to be achieved by the research, this award will materially assist a highly promising student in completing research for the Ph.D. dissertation. Thus it contributes to the future scientific manpower of the nation and the thorough training of the next generation of social scientists.