Stephen Worchel

Understanding social psychology

Social Psychology: what, why, and how. Social cognition. Knowing the self. Presenting the self. Forming and changing attitudes. Relating actions and attitudes. Attraction and close relationships. Altruism: extending the self to others. Aggression: harming and hurting others. Developing and resolving conflict. Prejudice and stereotypes. Social influence. The dynamics of groups. The environment.

The experience of crowding: a two-factor theory

It was proposed that the experience of crowding occurs in a two-step process: First, the individual becomes aroused by violations of his personal space, and then he attributes the cause of this arousal to other people in his environment. Based on this model it was predicted that violations of personal space rather than simple density is the spatial variable associated with crowding. Further, it was predicted that the experience of crowding can be alleviated if the individual is distracted from making the attribution that his arousal is caused by other people. In order to test these prediction, interaction distance (close and far) and density (high and low) were varied separately. In addition, for half of the conditions, pictures (attribution inhibitors) were placed on the walls of the experimental room, and in the other half, the walls were bare. Subjects worked on two tasks and were then questioned about their experience of crowding. The results showed that interaction distance was more closely related to crowding than was density and that the addition of pictures reduced the experience of crowding only in the close interaction conditions. The results were interpreted as supporting the attribution analysis of crowding.

Effects of Supply and Demand on Ratings of Object Value

Subjects were asked to rate the value and attractiveness of cookies that were either in abundant supply or scarce supply. In the scarce condition, the cookies were either constantly scarce or they began in abundant supply and then decreased. Subjects were told that this decrease in supply was cither due to an accident or to a high demand for the cookies. In the abundant condition, the cookies were either constantly abundant or first scarce and then abundant. The increase in supply was either due to an accident or to a lack of demand for the cookies. These conditions were crossed with a manipulation in which subjects thought either a high or low number of additional subjects were still to participate in the study. The results indicated that (a) cookies in scarce supply were rated as more desirable than cookies in abundant supply; (b) cookies were rated as more valuable when their supply changed from abundant to scarce than when they were constantly scarce; and (c) cookies scarce because of high demand were rated higher than cookies that were scarce because of an accident. With regard to abundance, cookies that were constantly abundant were rated higher than cookies that began scarce but later became abundant. The results were interpreted as extending commodity theory, and reactance was hypothesized as an intervening process responsible for some of the results. A second study was performed to rule out the possibility that demand characteristics were responsible for the obtained results.

Effects of Media, Communicator,and Message Position onAttitude Change

M ANY MILLIONS of dollars are spent each year for television advertising with the belief that television is the most effective medium for producing a desired attitude change in an audience. This is particularly true in politics, as evidenced by the rapidly increasing use of television in political campaigns (Roper, 1968). The implementation of the campaign spending laws in 1974 has only served to heighten the importance of television as a vehicle for reaching the widespread electorate. Unfortunately, research in the field of media effects often contradicts the belief in televisions superiority. Although an early study by Wilke (1934) reported that live speeches were more influential than audio or written ones, later research produced no significant effects for the medium of presentation (Tannenbaum and Kerrick, 1954; Sawyer, 1955; Frandsen, 1963; Kennedy, 1971; Keating, 1972).

Prior expectancy and behavioral extremity as determinants of attitude attribution

Abstract In an experiment on attitude attribution, subjects were instructed to estimate the “true attitude” of a target person after reading an essay in which he took one or the other side of a controversial issue (legalization of marijuana). Four independent variables were manipulated: the direction of the essay (pro- versus anti-legalization), its extremity (strong versus weak), freedom to choose position versus assignment to position (choice versus no choice), and prior expectancy (expect pro versus expect anti). All experimental predictions were confirmed by the results. When the essay was strong: (1) attitudes were attributed more in line with behavior under choice than under no choice conditions; (2) even under no choice conditions, the target person was seen as believing to some extent in the arguments of his essay; (3) the role of choice was especially prominent when the position of the essay was unexpected. In both strong and weak essay conditions, (4) the behavior was ignored in favor of prior expectancy in no choice conditions, but a contrast effect was observed in the choice conditions. When the essay was weak: (5) subjects attributed the opposite attitude under no choice conditions; under choice conditions, the weak essay was construed as moderate endorsement. As in previous experiments, there was considerable variability in those conditions in which the target person wrote an essay under no choice instructions endorsing the position he presumably opposed. In a second experiment, attempting to determine what produced this variability, it was found that subjects with generalized expectancies of internal control ( Rotter, 1966 ) were more sensitive to variations in choice than were subjects whose expectancies were externalized. Under no choice conditions, “internals” were more inclined to ignore the essay and go by their prior expectancies in attributing attitude; “externals” seemed more impressed by the essay itself.

Intergroup Cooperation and Intergroup Attraction: The Effect of Previous Interaction and Outcome of Combined Effort.

The present study investigated the conditions that determine when intergroup cooperation will result in increased intergroup attraction. In the first phase of the study groups were led to believe that they were either competing, cooperating, or having no interaction with a second group. The results indicated that competition led to the least intergroup attraction. In the second phase of the study, the two groups were combined and worked cooperatively on two tasks. They received feedback that their combined effort had either succeeded or failed. Intergroup attraction scores were taken after the second phase of the study. When groups had previously competed, failure on the combined effort resulted in decreased intergroup attraction while success yielded increased attraction. However, for groups that had previously cooperated, both success and failure on the combined effort increased intergroup attraction. The results were interpreted as showing that both previous interaction and success of combined effort are important variables in determining when intergroup cooperation will increase intergroup attraction.

Determinants of the Effect of Intergroup Cooperation on Intergroup Attraction

It was hypothesized that intergroup cooperation would increase intergroup attraction to the extent that previous group identities were erased. In the first phase of the present study, two groups of subjects either competed or acted interdependently. Members of the two groups either wore similar uniforms or different uniforms to distinguish the groups. In the second phase of the study, the two groups were combined and worked cooperatively on two tasks. The outcome of the cooperative endeavor was manipulated so half the groups succeeded and half failed. The results indicated that attraction for out-group members following the first phase was the lowest when the groups wore distinctive uniforms and competed. Intergroup cooperation increased attraction for outgroup members except when the cooperative endeavor resulted in failure and the two groups had previously competed. Further, there was less intergroup attraction following cooperation between members of groups distinguished by uniforms than between groups not wearing distinctive dress. It was reasoned that previous intergroup competition, distinctive dress, and failure at a task hindered the elimination of former group identities during intergroup cooperation.

The Effects of Censorship and Attractiveness of the Censor on Attitude Change.

Abstract The effects of censoring a communication, overriding the censor, and the attractiveness of the censor on the potential audiences attitude and desire to hear the communication were studied. Subjects were told that a speech which they were to have heard had been censored by a positively, negatively, or neutrally evaluated group. Some subjects were told that the experimenter had decided to override the censor and that they would hear the communication. Other subjects were told they would not hear the censored communication. The results indicated that censorship, regardless of the attractiveness of the censor, caused the potential audience to change their attitudes toward the position to be advocated by the communication and to increase their desire to hear that communication. These effects were interpreted as resulting from the arousal of psychological reactance. When the censor was overriden and the audience felt that they would hear the communication, their desire to hear it decreased. Further, subjects who had been told that a positively evaluated group had censored the speech changed their attitudes away from the position to be advocated by the communication while subjects who believed that a negative group had censored the speech changed their attitudes toward the position of the communication. These results were interpreted as evidence of cognitive balancing.

The effects of commercial interruption of violent and nonviolent films on viewers' subsequent aggression

Abstract Aggressive responses following the viewing of violent and nonviolent films were studied. Groups of subjects saw one of three full-length films: (1) a staged violent film, (2) a realistic violent film, or (3) a nonviolent film. For half of the groups of subjects, films were interrupted periodically by sets of commercials. Results confirmed predictions that aggressive responses will be greater after viewing aggressive films than nonaggressive films, and that aggressive responses will be greater if films are interrupted by commercials than when not interrupted. A hypothesis predicting an interaction such that aggressive responses will be maximal when violent films are interrupted by commercials was supported. No differences in aggressiveness following presentation of realistic and staged violent films were found.

Opinion change as a result of effortfully drawing a counterattitudinal conclusion

Abstract An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis, derived from dissonance theory, that the more effort subjects exerted to attain the conclusion to a syllogistic argument the more they would come to agree with that conclusion. Three experimentally manipulated levels of effort were created by varying the number of preliminary syllogisms subjects had to solve in addition to finding the conclusion to the final set of premises, the assertion that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. Two levels of commitment to the belief that cigarette smoking does not cause lung cancer were defined by dividing subjects into those who smoked and those who did not. Attitude change scores indicated that the amount of effort expended was directly related to the amount of attitude change for smokers, but that nonsmokers in the three effort conditions did not differ in the amount of attitude change evinced. The data were interpreted as the result of dissonance reducing effort justification, but several alternative explanations are discussed. Also, the authors note the relevance of these findings of the question of whether it is best for a communicator to state his conclusion or leave it as an implication to be drawn from his premises by the audience.