Doctoral Dissertation Research: Attribution and Commitment in Different Types of Exchange

博士论文研究：不同类型交换中的归因与承诺

• 批准号: 0503156
• 负责人: Karen Cook
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2005
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2005-03-15 至 2007-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0503156&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Attribution; Commitment

Social scientists have observed that individuals often repeatedly choose to interact with the same partners even at some cost; this behavior is known to sociologists as commitment formation. The source of commitment formation has been debated among the many disciplines of the social sciences. In large part, the research has been primarily concerned with behavioral commitment, described as individuals repeatedly interacting with the same partner. Although, the rational choice perspective would indicate behavioral commitments should not form, unless there are high search costs, experimental and field studies indicate that behavioral commitment happens much more frequently than the rational choice perspective would predict. Recent work has pointed to uncertainty reduction as one of the key reasons why individuals form behavioral commitments, but does not pose a mechanism by which this occurs. By elaborating on the role of attributions (what individuals perceive as the cause of another individual's behavior), I explore a cognitive mechanism by which actors reduce uncertainty and commitments form. I develop a theoretical argument that specifies how actors form commitments in response to different levels of uncertainty inherent in different types of exchange. I argue that the level of uncertainty and the behavior of a partner condition the attribution of the cause of the partner's behavior, which in turn has a direct impact on the level of trustworthiness the actor perceives in her partner. This level of perceived trustworthiness directly affects the level and type of behavioral commitment formed. Specifically, this dissertation tests four hypotheses: 1) type of exchange and partner behavior condition the attribution made 2) the attribution and the behavior of the partner affect the perceived level of trustworthiness 3) the normative nature of the behavior directly affects the type and level of commitment (measured as repeat exchange) and 4) the perceived level of trustworthiness directly affects the level of commitment (measured as investment in a new type of exchange). I will test these four predictions in an experimental setting. Approximately 150 subjects will be recruited to participate in one of five conditions. Subjects will make decisions using a computerized exchange program that is being developed specifically for this research at Stanford University. Behavioral measures of commitment will be collected during each exchange. Attitudinal measures (including attributions, perceptions of trustworthiness, and uncertainty) will be measured at three time points through out the experiment.The intellectual merit of this dissertation project is that it extends current theories and research on commitment formation, uncertainty reduction and trustworthiness in multiple types of exchange settings (binding negotiated, non-binding negotiated and reciprocal exchange). Through this research we can gain an understanding of the micro processes specifying how exchange relationships go from being distant, arm's-length ties, characterized by contracts, distrust, high uncertainty and risk, to embedded relationships, characterized by trust, extensive repeat exchanges in a variety of settings with reduced uncertainty. Currently a majority of the work on embedded relationships (the concept that economic transactions are situated in social relationships) focuses on the implications of embeddedness, rarely addressing how these relationships actually emerge. Considering the importance of embeddedness in the day-to-day functioning of organizations and the economy it is critical to understand how these relationships form and how they are maintained. Such an understanding may have a significant impact on how scholars investigate organizational relationships (especially long-term partnerships, joint ventures and other collaborative tasks) as well as how practitioners advise organizations and individuals on how to maintain and improve relationships both within their organizations (such as employee loyalty, and cohesion) and with other organizations

社会科学家观察到，人们经常反复选择与相同的伴侣互动，甚至不惜付出一定的代价；这种行为被社会学家称为承诺形成。 承诺形成的来源在社会科学的许多学科中一直存在争议。 在很大程度上，该研究主要关注行为承诺，即个体与同一伴侣反复互动。 尽管理性选择观点认为不应形成行为承诺，除非搜索成本很高，但实验和实地研究表明行为承诺的发生频率比理性选择观点预测的要高得多。 最近的研究指出，不确定性减少是个人形成行为承诺的关键原因之一，但没有提出这种情况发生的机制。 通过详细阐述归因的作用（个体将其视为另一个人行为的原因），我探索了一种认知机制，参与者可以通过该机制减少不确定性并形成承诺。 我提出了一个理论论证，详细说明了参与者如何针对不同类型的交换中固有的不同程度的不确定性做出承诺。 我认为，不确定性水平和伴侣的行为决定了伴侣行为原因的归因，这反过来又直接影响了行为者对伴侣的信任程度。 这种感知的可信度水平直接影响所形成的行为承诺的水平和类型。 具体来说，本文测试了四个假设：1）交换类型和合作伙伴行为决定归因；2）合作伙伴的归因和行为影响可信度感知水平；3）行为的规范性直接影响类型和水平。承诺的程度（以重复交换来衡量）和 4）感知的可信度水平直接影响承诺水平（以对新型交换的投资来衡量）。 我将在实验环境中测试这四个预测。 将招募大约 150 名受试者来参与五种条件之一。 受试者将使用斯坦福大学专门为这项研究开发的计算机化交换程序做出决定。 每次交换期间都会收集承诺的行为衡量标准。 在整个实验过程中，将在三个时间点测量态度测量（包括归因、可信度感知和不确定性）。本论文项目的智力价值在于，它扩展了当前关于承诺形成、不确定性减少和可信度的理论和研究。交换设置的类型（有约束力的协商、无约束力的协商和互惠交换）。 通过这项研究，我们可以了解具体的微观过程，具体说明交换关系如何从以合同、不信任、高度不确定性和风险为特征的疏远、疏远关系，转变为以信任、广泛重复交换为特征的嵌入式关系。减少不确定性的各种设置。 目前，大多数关于嵌入关系（经济交易位于社会关系中的概念）的工作都集中在嵌入性的含义上，很少讨论这些关系实际上是如何出现的。 考虑到嵌入组织和经济日常运作的重要性，了解这些关系如何形成以及如何维持至关重要。这种理解可能会对学者如何研究组织关系（特别是长期合作伙伴关系、合资企业和其他协作任务）以及从业者如何建议组织和个人如何维持和改善组织内的关系（例如员工忠诚度和凝聚力）以及与其他组织的关系