Interact Help: Handling Equations

Change windows on your browser to return to the program.

This Help document is about examining Interact equations
with the form that appears when you select
View Equations in the Forms menu.

Equation Format for Impressions of Action
Amalgamation Equations
Selection of Equation Sets
Editing Equations
Using Equations From Different Cultures

The View equations screen shows sets of equations used in Interact. Select the set of equations that you want to examine with the Equations subset menu that initially reads "Select a subset of equations".

Impression-formation equations describe how events change feelings about participants and about other components of the event. Interact includes the following sets of impression-formation equations relating to events.

	Male Actor-Behavior-Object (Male ABO)
	Female Actor-Behavior-Object (Female ABO)
	Male Actor-Behavior-Object-Setting (Male ABOS)
	Female Actor-Behavior-Object-Setting (Female ABOS)
	Male Self-Directed Action (Male AB)
	Female Self-Directed Action (Female AB)

As of 2011, the last four kinds of equations have been estimated only in the U.S.A.

Equation Format for Impressions of Action

Each line displayed on the View-equations screen begins with a letter "Z". A zero/one pattern is attached to the "Z", and the rest of the line consists of a series of decimal numbers. The zero/one pattern identifies a term in the equations, and the decimal numbers are coefficients for that term in different equations.

The zero/one string in each row indicates whether the term includes the pre-event variables:

Ae, Ap, Aa, Be, Bp, Ba, Oe, Op, Oa, Se, Sp, Sa

in that order. Capital A stands for actor, capital B stands for behavior, capital O stands for object, and capital S stands for setting. Lower-case EPA stand for evaluation, potency, and activity.

A variable is in the term if there is a 1 in the corresponding pattern position. A variable is not in the term if there is a 0 in the corresponding pattern position. Multiple 1s in a pattern indicate multiplicative terms. For example: "000100000000" stands for Be; "000000000010" stands for Sp; "000100100000" stands for BeOe. "000000000000" stands for the equation constant.

Each column defines an equation. There are up to twelve different equations, for predicting post-event values of:

Ae, Ap, Aa, Be, Bp, Ba, Oe, Op, Oa, Se, Sp, Sa

in that order. For example, the first column of decimal numbers shows the coefficients for predicting the outcome evaluation of the actor, Ae'.

Amalgamation Equations

Amalgamation equations predict impressions created by modifier-identity (MI) combinations. Interact works with four sets of amalgamation equations.

	Male Trait-Identity
	Female Trait-Identity
	Male Emotion-Identity
	Female Emotion-Identity

The Trait-Identity and Emotion-Identity equations are identical, except for Japan and China.

With amalgamation equations, the zero/one string identifies modifier and identity variables as follows: Me, Mp, Ma, Ie, Ip, Ia. Thus, for example, the string "100100" stands for a modifier-identity interaction on the evaluation dimension, MeIe. Columns list the coefficients for predicting the EPA profile of the combination, Ce', Cp', Ca'.

How Interact Selects Equation Sets

Use of male or female equations depends on how the sex of the experiencer of the event was defined on the Define interactants screen.

ABO equations are used when actor differs from object and no setting is specified for the experiencer. ABOS equations are used when actor differs from object and a setting is specified. Self-directed equations are used when the object person in the event is the same as the actor.

The Amalgamation equations are applied whenever a modifier and identity have to be combined, or whenever a modifier has to be derived in order to predict an emotion or a person characteristic. Sex of experiencer determines whether male or female equations are used. Trait-Identity equations are used when dealing with traits, Emotion-Identity equations are used when dealing with emotions.

Editing Equations

You may change the equations that are used in Interact's analyses, as follows.

Click in the box showing the numbers, and edit patterns or coefficients to obtain the values you want. After editing:

Each line must begin with Z.
Each line must have a zero/one pattern with the correct number of terms. Moreover, only a single 1 is permitted in each sequential set of three terms; e.g., 110000000 is an error; so is 000101000.
Each line must have the correct number of coefficients, each with a decimal point. The coefficients must be separated by spaces, but alignment in columns is not important. Lines may be added or deleted.

Click the button labeled Import the coefficients below to incorporate your changes in the equations used by Interact. The edited equations take the place of the equations designated on the Equations subset menu.

Changes in equations are not permanent, but they do remain in effect until you end your Interact session, or until you change the equations again.

Using Equations From Different Cultures

The culture where equations were obtained is displayed on the Equation culture drop-down menu at the left of the form. ABO and MI equations from that culture are being used in Interact computations. Whatever the culture that is shown as source on the Equation culture menu, ABOS and AB equations for both males and females always are U.S.A. equations, because ABOS and AB equations have been derived only in the U.S.A.

U.S.A. equations are used when equations have not been estimated in the culture providing the sentiments currently in use. Analyses involving settings or self-directed actions always use

You can use ABO and MI equations derived in different cultures by selecting different options on the Equation culture menu. Equations from the culture selected with this menu are used in computations and are displayed when you make a selection on the Equations subset drop-down menu.