Berkeley Dorm Study, 2002-2003

Ninety-four undergraduates (20 males, 74 females, mean age = 18.5 years) were recruited from two co-ed residence halls at the University of California, Berkeley for a 9-month study of prosocial behavior, reputation, and relationships. Seventy-eight students were 1st year (freshman), 12 were 2nd year (sophomores), and 4 were 3rd years (juniors). Forty-one percent were Asian American, 36% European American, 10% Latino American, and 5% African American with five participants not reporting an ethnic background. Eighty-six (16 males, 70 females, mean age = 18.2 years) complete the 9-month study. Participants were three floors took part in the study. At three time points during the academic year (Time 1, August; Time 2, December; Time 3, May), participants completed self-report and sociometric measures. Twice during the year, participants came to the laboratory to engage in semi-structured interactions with a randomly assigned floormate. Through the year, participants kept photojournals of memorable events. Self-report Measures. Times 1, 2 and/or 3 measures include demographics, love scales, relationship satisfaction, power, BFI, attachment, and individualism-collectivism. Photograph Measures. Participants were given a disposable camera every three weeks (more or less as needed by individual participants) and instructed to document the memorable events of their residence hall experience. Participants also kept a journal in which they recorded brief descriptions of the memorable events they photographed. Semi-structured interactions. Participants engaged in videotaped discussion tasks at the beginning of the Fall semester and at the end of the Spring semester. Following each discussion, individuals rated the level of emotion experienced during the discussions. The Fall tasks were: 1) Moral Influence task. 2) Self-disclosure task. 3) Storytelling task. The Spring tasks were: 1) Inspiration task. 2) Cooperation task. 3) Storytelling task. This study was approved by the University of California, Berkeley Institutional Review Board , CPHS #2002-8-106.