Linear Models of Consistency: Some Extensions of Blalock's Strategy

Abstract

Certain social consistency theories (status inconsistency, social mobility, and structural effects, integrated by Blalock using a multiple regression strategy),and certain cognitive consistency theories (Heider's balance, Osgood's attitudes congruity, Festinger's dissonance) can be formally integrated. Cognitive consistency is shown to be a type of statistical interaction, and omissions in past research are noted. The theories of Heider and Osgood are formalized using a multiple regression strategy, with particular attention devoted to defining interaction vectors or terms; alternative models are derived and discussed. Some comparisons between social and cognitive consistency are made, and the models are contrasted with Blacok's models. Suggested futher extensions include relative deprivation theory, where the effect of "degree" and "direction" of inconsistency are partitioned, and graphs, where the lines (relations) in a graph become main vectors in a multiple regression equation.