Barry E. Collins

Personal responsibility-for-consequences: An integration and extension of the “forced compliance” literature ☆

Counterattitudinal role playing resulted in attitude change only when subjects believed (1) their actions would have high consequences for which they (2) felt personally responsible, and (3) they received low financial inducement. Subjects were enticed to write anonymous essays strongly arguing against a university housing policy. Employing a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design, subjects were led to believe that (1) their essays would have either High or Low Consequences and (2) they had either High or Low Personal Responsibility regarding their essay writing, and (3) they were paid either a High (

Gender, Relationship Status, and Stereotyping about Sexual Risk

2.50) or Low (50c) Financial Inducement to write their essays. As predicted, subjects in the High Consequences, High Responsibility, Low Inducement condition showed more attitude change than did subjects in other cells (p < .001); and this attitude change persisted for a period of at least 14 days. These results provide the basis for reconciling the confusion in the forced compliance literature, and have application to a broad variety of theoretical and practical problems.

Double-blind and triple-blind assessments of medication and placebo responses in hyperactive children

In this research, the authors integrated research on stereotyping and health to document relationship-status stereotyping about sexual risk. Drawing on research on relational schemas and implicit personality theories, the authors hypothesized that targets who were described as being in relationships would be perceived as having a lesser likelihood of risk for sexually transmitted diseases than would targets who were described as single. Gender of the targets and gender of the participants also were examined as potential moderating variables. In five vignette studies, people rated single targets as having more risky personality traits and higher probabilistic risk for STDs than partnered targets. They also reported a greater desire to be involved with someone similar to the partnered target. In general, male and female targets were perceived similarly; however, female targets were rated as having a lower probabilistic risk.

The effects of gender ethnicity and a close relationship theme on perceptions of persons introducing a condom.

Hyperactive boys taking psychostimulant medication were studied using a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover design. Behavior ratings and medication guesstimates were obtained for the boys when they were given methylphenidate (Ritalin) and when they were given a placebo. The ratings showed positive medication-related changes, and the guesses, done by independent judges, were significantly better than chance. The pattern of ratings for double-blind and triple-blind raters was identical. These results imply that positive psychostimulant effects are not attributable to rater sensitization or expectancy. The medication-placebo differences were highly reliable for the group comparisons and were in the predicted direction for 21 of 22 individuals, but the magnitude of the change for many individuals was not dramatic. Implications for child psychopharmacology research and differences between clinical and experimental significance are discussed.

A trans-paradigm theoretical synthesis of cognitive dissonance theory: Illuminating the nature of discomfort

A vignette methodology was used to examineperceptions of condom introducers on sixcondom-relevant,multi-item scales (Nice, Exciting, Sexually Attractive,Promiscuous, Good Relationship Partner,Unpersonable/Personable) in a university student sample of 133 MexicanAmericans and 110 Whites. Data were analyzed in a 2(gender of participant) ×2 (gender of condomintroducer) ×3 (low acculturated Mexican American,high acculturated Mexican American, White) ×2(presence/absence of close relationship theme) analysisof variance and covariance. Women rated condomintroducers significantly higher than men on the Nicescale, female condom introducers were rated significantly higherthan male condom introducers on the Nice scale, andcondom introducers who expressed a care andresponsibility theme while introducing a condom wererated significantly higher on the Nice scale than those whoexpressed no theme. The female condom introducer wasrated significantly higher than the male condomintroducer on the Exciting scale. Condom introducers whoexpressed a care and responsibility theme were ratedsignificantly higher than those who expressed no themeon the Good Relationship Partner scale. In a two-wayinteraction between gender of participant and gender of condom introducer, men rated the femalecondom introducer significantly higher than women on thePromiscuous scale. In another two-way interactionbetween gender of condom introducer and ethnicity, low acculturated Mexican Americans rated the femalecondom introducer significantly higher than the malecondom introducer on the Promiscuous scale. Lowacculturated Mexican Americans rated the condomintroducer significantly higher than Whites on theSexually Attractive scale. There were no significantmain or interaction effects of the independent variableson the Unpersonable/Personable scale.

Studies in forced compliance. X. Attitude change and commitment to maintain publicly a counterattitudinal position.

In a trans-paradigm theoretical synthesis of cognitive dissonance research, we examined theoretical variables (e.g., choice, consequences, etc.) and their relationships with dissonance effect sizes. We used structural equation analyses, performed within and across five research paradigms (induced compliance, insufficient justification, disconfirmed expectancies, selective exposure, and free choice), and corresponding to major versions of cognitive dissonance theory, to test several theoretically derived models. None of these models supported Festingers notion that discomfort mediates dissonance effects. Consistent with conceptualisation of guilt as the drive component of dissonance theory, guilt strongly predicted dissonance effect sizes, virtually irrespective of which model was tested. A theory integrating the guilt and dissonance theories is stronger than either set of theories in isolation.

Audience reaction as a determinant of the speaker's self-persuasion ☆

Three variables thought to affect attitude change produced by forced compliance were varied: public-private, true-persuasive and high-low financial inducement. Public Ss signed a statement in which they promised to maintain their counterattitudinal position outside the laboratory. These public Ss had a tendency (p < .10) to show more attitude change than private Ss. Significantly more Ss refused to comply in the low inducement, public conditions than in the other conditions combined. Analysis of performance measures indicated generally negative results.

Choice, Aversive Consequences, and the “Truth-Telling” Potential of the Situation as Integrating Concepts in Forced Compliance

Abstract This paper tests effects of audience feedback on speaker attitudes. One hundred and seven male subjects with initial beliefs on both sides of an issue (womens role) were assigned to speak for or against their own position; then an “audience” provided one of three types of feedback (speaker was sincere, speaker was insincere, no feedback) in a 2 × 2 × 3 design. Subjects who received sincere feedback showed greater change in the direction of their speech than did those who received insincere feedback. No feedback treatments resulted in intermediate change. This sincere > no feedback > insincere ordering of means held for both pro- and counterattitudinal speakers and for both pretest attitudes. A main effect for pretest attitude was also obtained. Two additional control groups allow for a separate analysis of the effects of (1) preparing and delivering the speech, and (2) audience reaction to the speech.

Four components of the Rotter Internal-External scale: Belief in a difficult world, a just world, a predictable world, and a politically responsive world.

Observer-Ss read descriptions of a number of prior forced-compliance experiments in which financial inducement was manipulated. Observer-Ss then rated these cover story-experimental manipulations along such dimensions as whether Ss behavior was consistent with his own beliefs, the probability that Ss act would deceive someone, the extent to which the observer-S would have experienced guilt as a result of his counter-attitudinal act, the extent to which the situation provided choice, the extent to which the situation tended to evoke truth, responsibility and sincerity, and whether or not the counter-attitudinal act was likely to produce any harm. Although the results are not completely consistent, there is some suggestion that the ratings for harm tracked the attitude-change data previously reported.