General Utility and Relative Efficacy of Methods for Clustering Situations in Terms of Situational Expectancies

Abstract

While modern social learning theory has suggested the importance of situational expectancies in determining behavior, attempts to analyze or classify situations in terms of these variables have been lacking. To test the efficacy of clustering situations in terms of expectancies, 41 male inmates were administered one questionnaire which measured general situational expectancies and a second which measured response-specific situational expectancies. Factor analyses of questionnaire responses indicated two situational factors for the general measure and one factor for the response-specific measure. It is concluded that the measurement of situational expectancies may be useful for clustering situations and that the general measure of expectancies seemed more effective than the response-specific measure. Results are discussed in terms of their theoretical implications and suggestions for future research are provided.