REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL STUDIES WHICH ALLOW THE EFFECTS OF SOCIAL AND NONSOCIAL INDEPENDENT VARIABLES TO BE CONTRASTED AND A RANDOMIZED TWO-FACTOR DESIGN EXPERIMENT OF THE EFFECT OF VARIABLES ON THEFT BEHAVIOR.
A RANDOMIZED TWO-FACTOR DESIGN EXPERIMENT WAS USED, WITH THEFT BEHAVIOR AS THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE, ENCOURAGEMENT FROM A DELINQUENT PEER TO STEAL AS THE SOCIAL INDEPENDENT VARIABLE, AND MONEY AS THE NONSOCIAL INDEPENDENT VARIABLE. ONE HUNDRED THIRTY MALE SUBJECTS WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED FROM A STATE TRAINING SCHOOL POPULATION OF 403 AND WERE ASSIGNED TO FOUR TREATMENT CONDITIONS. COMPARISONS WERE MADE AMONG THE CONDITIONS FOR DIFFERENCES IN TOTAL THEFT BEHAVIOR. THE EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT NONSOCIAL VARIABLES ARE SIGNIFICANT DETERMINANTS OF BEHAVIOR.