IF-THEN METHOD - international version - [page 12]
If the ratio of the components is 100% for "competition" (D+), the vector would be a line with an in-
clination of 135o to the abscissa, viz., an inclination of 45 degree to the ordinate. If the motive compo-
nents consist of only the "equalitarianism"(D0), the vector having a length of 1.0 is a vertical line
against the X-Y plane consisting of the abscissa and the ordinate. Usually, each ratio of the mo-
tive components gained from the real data has some halfway value. In such case, the vectors would be
shorter lines, following the size of the values for the respective ratios. The value of the ratio is
the length of each vector. Thus, we could obtain nine vectors in the space, in the maximum condition
for a distribution of the nine motive components. In this technique, one vector is mathematically de-
rived from these nine vectors. When the measure of uncertainty tor the distribution is relatively
large, the length of the composed vector would be relatively short.
Let us explain the calculation process to obtain "one vector" from the distribution of the nine
components. In this technique, each of the eight components, except "equalitarianism" (D0), is divided
into an x component on the abscissa and a y component on the ordinate, as shown in Figure 10. For ex-
ample, the x component for "individualism" (A+) is p(A+) which means the ratio of the appearance of
"individualism" (A+). The x component for "masochism" (A-) is -p(A-) because the direction is the
reverse of "individualism"(A+). The y component in the vector for both of these motive components is
zero, because both the vectors are just the horizontal lines along the abscissa. Similarly, the
lengths of the vectors on the ordinate for the motive components of "altruism" (B+) and "aggression"
(B-) are p(B+) and p(B-), respectively. The x component for "cooperation" (S+) is not p(S+), but
p(S+)/root(2), because the vector for this motive component has an inclination of 45o to the positive
direction along the abscissa, the same as the value of the y component for the ordinate. The vector of
"equalitarianism" (D0) is just the value of p(D0). The explanations for the x and y components of the
other vectors are omitted because they are based on the same principle. These values of the x and y
components are summed up to a single value. These summations would be indicated as the signs of X and
Y. Thus, the length of the final vector would be calculated by using the formulae shown in the lower
part of the figure. The value of L means the distance between the top of the vector and the central
point on the X-Y plane for the shadow part of the vector. The value of V means the real length of the
vector itself with some inclination in the space.
The values of "theta" and "lambda" are respectively, the angle
for the abscissa on the X-Y plane in the shadow part of the vector and the angle of the vector gained
finally for the X-Y plane itself.
As mentioned before, it is permitted for the experimenter to change the contents of the instruc-
tions according to the purpose of the research. Let us suppose a situation where the subjects are in-
structed that the other person is the subject's own mother, or intimate friend, or sometimes the suf-
ferer in a traffic accident in which the assailant is the subject. Some sample results gained by using
the "vector representation method" for such situations are shown on the left side of Figure 11. The
figure on the right side shows the results gained for some subject groups under the "mutual trust con-
diction" in an experiment which was described earlier.
CONCLUSION
This "IF-THEN method" was originally introduced as a by-product of research based on psychological
game theory for the logical structure involved in psychological situations (Teraoka. 1982c. 1987. 1989a).
Particularly, studies concerning the final states of the selection process introduced by the players
in the two-person non-zero sum matrix games were the origin of this research (Teraoka. 1981, 1990). The
"IF-THEN method" would be useful or effective as practical psychological test. In fact, adjustments to
this test have been repeated several times and some of them have contributed to direct theoretical de-
velopments of this test (Teraoka, 1982a, 1982b, 1989b, 1992b). Furthermore, several results with real sub-
jects have been already collected in several countries (Teraoka, 1983. 1984, 1992a:Teraoka & Meguro, 1984;
Teraoka & Yi, 1991). It is expected that this test can be developed as a powerful tool for research
concerning social motivations, even for psychologists majoring in the various research areas, excepting
the psychological game research.
Fig.11