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The Effect of Fleeting Attraction on Compliance to Requests
Abstract
Three studies examined the effects of fleeting attraction on compliance to a request. Participants in Study 1 who either spoke with a confederate for a few minutes or sat quietly in a room with the confederate were more likely to agree to a request from the confederate than were participants not exposed to these manipulations. Findings from Study 2 replicated the mere exposure effect and argue against alternative interpretations based on priming and mood. Study 3 participants were more likely to agree with a request when led to believe the requester was similar to themselves. The findings support the notion of automatic responding to requests, with individuals reacting to fleeting feelings of attraction as if dealing with friends and long-term acquaintances.
... Despite the deep connection people can feel towards reference groups, it is often very easy to lead individuals to respond to strangers in ways that belie the absence of a truly meaningful relationship between them (Deutsch & Gerard, 1955). For example, Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, and Somervell (2001) found that simply being exposed to a person even for a brief period without any interaction substantially increased compliance with that person's request. In a series of studies, Dolinski, Nawrat, and Rudak (2001) also showed that simply engaging people in a short, trivial dialogue prior to making the target request was sufficient to elevate compliance. ...
... Interestingly, the results showed that there was no effect from the presence of the group with regards to whether or not participants stopped or continued to the hospital. This was not predicted and it is curious why so many studies in the past have shown how easily people can be influenced by small, trivial and artificial groups (Burger et al., 2001;Deutsch & Gerard, 1955;Dolinski et al., 2001), as well during previous moral influence studies (Bostyn & Roets, 2017;Kelly et al., 2017;Kundu & Cummins, 2013;Lisciandra et al., 2013), but this one has failed. ...
... However, in-groups can be formed in trivial ways (Burger et al., 2001;Dolinski et al., 2001), allowing social influence to be effective in arbitrary situations. Another motivation is our desire to have an accurate view of the world. ...
Much of the research surrounding social influence investigates its effects in specifically non-moral situations while almost no research has looked at its effects during moral emergencies. At the same time, studies of moral psychology tend to focus on the intricacies of moral decision-making during the responses of individual participants. This thesis aims to bridge this gap between social influence and moral psychology by having participants respond to moral dilemmas while under the duress of social influence. In order to investigate the effects of social influence on moral behaviours, immersive virtual reality (IVR) was used, allowing participants to be placed in a life-like virtual simulation of events that they would normally only read about in a text-based vignette, probing their observed moral behaviours instead of just their abstract moral judgments. The benefits of using IVR include the ethical and controllable nature of questionnaires along with the verisimilitude of real-life. Another focus of this thesis is to compare moral judgments to moral behaviours. In two out of the three studies presented in this thesis, the virtual moral dilemma was replicated in a text-based questionnaire in order to compare the results from the two media. Moral judgments in response to text-based moral dilemma can miss out key contextual information such the motoric feedback of having to physically act out a movement. These factors can lead to a divergence between moral judgments and behaviours. The thesis starts with a literature review on IVR technology and moral decision-making and social influence research. After this, the three studies conducted as part of this thesis are described. The major findings from these studies include the demonstration of a preference to take action regardless of outcome only when in IVR and the inability for compliance attempts to influence specifically moral behaviour.
... Studies conducted by Burger and colleagues (Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001;Burger et al., 2004) revealed that incidental similarities can promote liking and induce higher rates of compliance. Unlike other types of similarities, such as attitudes and group membership, incidental similarities are similarities that reside in the most trivial aspects of our lives, such as a shared name, birthday, or hometown. ...
... In another set of experiments conducted by Burger and colleagues, more direct evidence was found regarding the relationship of similarity, liking, and compliance (Burger et al., 2001). In one study, participants completed an adjective checklist describing themselves, and subsequently were provided with false feedback about a confederate. ...
... Relating mere exposure to compliance, individuals with more exposure to recipients should be able to garner higher levels of compliance rates than those with less exposure to recipients. Indeed, in two studies, Burger et al. (2001) provided support for this hypothesis. In this paradigm, participants completed an experimental task and were subsequently asked by a confederate to provide feedback on an essay. ...
The purpose of this report is to review academic research literature on the topic of social influence, with particular emphasis on the effects of situational characteristics. We present an organizing framework for categorizing the vast array of situational factors known to regulate four types of social influence: conformity, compliance, obedience, and persuasion. The framework is grounded in a theoretical perspective for understanding how, when, and why situational factors have their effects. We conclude by highlighting applied implications of this literature for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), and note issues that remain to be resolved within the literature.
... We use the term "friend" to refer to relationships ranging from the stage where the two parties like each other and seek out each other's company to the stage of friendly relations (Price and Arnould 1999). Research indicates that the behavioral implications of the interaction between two parties such as compliance to a request, tend to be similar across this range (e.g., Burger et al. 2001;Dolinski, Nawrat, and Rudak 2001). ...
... While the confederate cannot be considered as a friend per se, previous research (e.g., Burger et al. 2001;Dolinski et al. 2001) shows that short conversations with strangers lead individuals to treat them as if they were friends. For instance, by using a similar manipulation to ours, Burger et al. (2001) find that participants in a conversation (versus a control) condition complied with a request from the confederate at a higher rate, as if they had been asked by a friend. ...
... While the confederate cannot be considered as a friend per se, previous research (e.g., Burger et al. 2001;Dolinski et al. 2001) shows that short conversations with strangers lead individuals to treat them as if they were friends. For instance, by using a similar manipulation to ours, Burger et al. (2001) find that participants in a conversation (versus a control) condition complied with a request from the confederate at a higher rate, as if they had been asked by a friend. Similarly, Dolinski et al. (2001, p. 1405) point out: "...people involved in a dialogue [but not in a monologue] with a stranger automatically treat him or her as a friend and, consequently comply with his or her request." ...
Previous research suggests that social influence and social prediction (i.e., how would others behave in a similar situation?) can have a profound impact on individuals’ consumption patterns. Despite the popularity of the social aspect of decision making in consumer research, there are certain topics that received very little attention to date. In my dissertation, I explore three such underresearched topics, namely (1) the effect of the presence of an accompanying friend on consumer spending, (2) the impact of social power on financial risk taking, and (3) the accuracy of social predictions in the context of endowment. Each essay addresses an issue that either stems from the difference in individuals’ focus on the self versus others (Essays 1 and 2) or is a manifestation of the self-other difference (Essay 3).
My first essay documents that agentic consumers spend more when they shop with a friend as compared to when they shop alone, whereas the amount spent by communal consumer is about the same regardless of whether they shop with a friend. I attribute this to the notion that agentic consumers are self-focused and strive for status and thus, engage in self-promotion through increased spending while shopping with friends. On the other hand, spending more to impress a friend is not consistent with the modest nature of communal consumers, leading them to keep their spending under control in the presence of a friend.
My second essay demonstrates that having power versus lacking power over others increases financial risk taking among agentic, but not communal, individuals. I explain this finding with the notion that self-oriented individuals associate power with self-interest goals, whereas other-oriented individuals associate power with responsibility goals. That is, since increased wealth can fortify agentic individuals’ powerful position and help them maintain their status, they tend to make risky financial decisions when they experience a state of power. However, taking risks with the goals of enhancing financial position and maintaining the status associated with power is inconsistent with communal goals. Mediation analysis provides support for the proposed underlying mechanism.
Finally, my third essay examines whether consumers accurately predict how valuable an object would be to other consumers. Building on research in several domains including affective psychology of value, empathy gaps, and social prediction, I propose and find that owners underestimate the average selling price stated by other owners, whereas buyers overestimate the average buying price stated by other buyers. I attribute this to a self-other difference in the value function arising from empathy gaps. Accordingly, I find that the documented effects are attenuated when either an external influence (e.g., similarity priming) or one’s high cognitive and emotional ability to connect with others helps reduce empathy gaps.
Taken together, my dissertation examines the social aspect of consumer decision making from three different perspectives that are closely related to consumers’ welfare and well-being: (1) the costly influence of friends’ presence in the market place, (2) the propensity to take higher financial risk due to the possession of social power, and (3) the biased predictions of the valuations of other consumers. I discuss in depth the theoretical and practical implications of my dissertation.
... Despite this, parallel understanding can be drawn from the social influence literature holds that greater perceived similarity is an important social cue for potential friendship or acquaintanceship, which results in liking, a key principle of social influence that leads to compliance (Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004). Experimental research also shows that people have a greater level of liking for individuals who they perceive to be similar to themselves than those who they think they have little in common with (Burger et al., 2001). In the tourism context, research suggests that the demographic similarity between online review reader and reviewer is related to hotel booking intentions (Chan et al., 2017). ...
... It is plausible that the difference in age has created the social distance between hosts and guests, and guests may not feel closer to hosts whom they perceive as different to themselves (Stephan et al., 2011). When age difference between the guest and the host increases, the guest may have a lower level of liking for hosts who they think they have little in common with than those who they perceive to be similar to themselves (Burger et al., 2001). By disclosing the agea critical demographic attribute -in defining the return business and customer loyalty in peer-to-peer accommodation services, we confirm the findings by previous scholars in other social contexts (Heider, 1958;Tesser and Paulhus, 1983). ...
Purpose
This study focuses on peer-to-peer accommodation of the sharing economy. Adopting construal level theory as the theoretical foundation, this study investigates the main and interaction effects of social and spatial distances on guest loyalty toward peer-to-peer accommodation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a secondary source of online observational data archived on Xiaozhu, a leading peer-to-peer accommodation sharing platform in China. It consists of 2,612 observations of 1,304 unique travelers who stayed at 559 listings managed by 281 hosts in four major metropolitan areas of China over four years from August 2012 to August 2016. Non-linear binary choice panel models of probability regressions were used to estimate the effects of psychological distances (social and spatial) between hosts and guests on the likelihood of repeat purchase. The software used for the econometric analyses is STATA 14.
Findings
The results indicate that social distance negatively affects guest loyalty toward the listing hosts, while spatial distance has a positive influence on guest loyalty. The results also show significant interactions between the two psychological distance dimensions in influencing loyalty. The findings provide important insight into the influences of psychological distances on travelers’ repeat purchase behavior toward peer-to-peer accommodation providers.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence that supports the importance of psychological distances in forming a loyal relationship between hosts and guests in the peer-to-peer accommodation sector of the sharing economy.
Keywords: Sharing economy, peer-to-peer accommodation, customer loyalty, psychological distances, construal level theory
... A slight increase in perceived friendliness may be all that is required to increase compliance likelihood. Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, and Somerwell (2001) argued that creating fleeting attraction is enough to produce a feeling of liking for the requester in the mind of the target. That feeling of liking then translates to a greater likelihood of compliance (cf. ...
... Dolinski, Nawrat, & Rudak, 2001). Burger et al. (2001) showed that merely engaging in a brief interaction is enough to increase liking and subsequent compliance with a request. It may be that merely showing that one is being friendly rather than pushy is enough to produce the same sense of fleeting attraction Burger et al. induced in the lab. ...
It was hypothesized that the enhanced compliance rate associated with the use of the “evoking-freedom” technique of compliance gaining may be explained by a causal model in which the use of the technique causes the target to perceive the requester as friendlier, which increases the target’s likelihood of compliance. A research question explored the extent to which targets of the evoking-freedom request had to recall hearing the key phrase for the effect to occur. These issues were examined using previously unreported measures from a larger data collection of a series of six studies in France, Romania, and Russia. Testing the mediation model with the combined sample (N = 720) produced weak fit. Yet the research question was affirmed: Among those exposed to the evoking-freedom phrase, targets who recalled the phrase complied more than those who did not.
... Moreland and Beach, 1992)a phenomenon known as the mere-exposure effect (Myers and Spencer, 2004). Researchers have demonstrated that the mere-exposure effect can induce compliance (see Burger et al., 2001). The mere-exposure effect is prevalent within the Mr. Big technique because targets often interact on a frequent basis with undercover operatives (R. v. Niemi, 2012). ...
... That is, we are more inclined to have increased attraction to and stronger relationships with those who are similar to us (Lee and Bond, 1988). Researchers have found that individuals comply significantly more with a request from individuals who are more similar than dissimilar (see Burger et al., 2001). There is no doubt that similarity plays a role in the Mr. Big technique. ...
Purpose
– A recent Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) ruling resulted in stricter rules being placed on how police organizations can obtain confessions through a controversial undercover operation, known as the Mr. Big technique. The SCC placed the onus on prosecutors to demonstrate that the probative value of any Mr. Big derived confession outweighs its prejudicial effect, and that the police must refrain from an abuse of process (i.e. avoid overcoming the will of the accused to obtain a confession). The purpose of this paper is to determine whether a consideration of the social influence tactics present in the Mr. Big technique would deem Mr. Big confessions inadmissible.
Design/methodology/approach
– The social psychological literature related to the compliance and the six main principles of social influence (i.e. reciprocity, consistency, liking, social proof, authority, scarcity) was reviewed. The extent to which these social influence principles are arguably present in Mr. Big operations are discussed.
Findings
– Mr. Big operations, by their very nature, create unfavourable circumstances for the accused that are rife with psychological pressure to comply and ultimately confess. A consideration by the SCC of the social influence tactics used to elicit confessions – because such tactics sully the circumstances preceding confessions and verge on abuse of process – should lead to all Mr. Big operations being prohibited.
Practical implications
– Concerns regarding the level of compliance in the Mr. Big technique call into question how Mr. Big operations violate the guidelines set out by the SCC ruling. The findings from the current paper could have a potential impact of the admissibility of Mr. Big confessions, along with continued use of this controversial technique.
Originality/value
– The current paper represents the first in-depth analysis of the Mr. Big technique through a social psychological lens.
... Research supports the notion that individuals are more likely to comply with a request from someone they perceive as their friend than from a stranger (Cialdini, 2001;Williamson and Clark, 1992); therefore, connecting friendship with business is believed to be beneficial for a firm in selling its products (Grayson, 2007). Burger et al. (2001) showed that a short conversation with a stranger where one party reveals something personal increases temporary feelings of liking that person, which affects consumers' social impression of the employee (Koermer et al., 2000;Lee and Dubinsky, 2003), satisfaction with the employee (Lee et al., 2011), and future reciprocal behavior (Macintosh, 2009a(Macintosh, , 2009b. Most research regarding self-disclosure has sought to determine the role of selfdisclosure in the development and maintenance of relationshipsfor example, among friends (Miller and Kenny, 1986); in the context of therapy (Knox et al., 1997); consumers who self-disclose to companies (White, 2004); and how self-disclosure promotes long-term relationships between salespeople and consumers (Jacobs et al., 2001b). ...
... Macintosh (2009aMacintosh ( , 2009b described the importance of enjoyable interactions, where liking for the other party plays an important role in the bonding process, similar to gift giving and social support in a commercial friendship. Burger et al. (2001) found that selfdisclosure increases liking for the other party and also leads to automatic responses as requests from people with whom they share a commonality. These findings are consistent with research on compliance behavior, which emphasizes that people rely on heuristics to determine whether they should comply with a request (Cialdini, 2001). ...
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how frontline employee self-disclosure influences consumers’ reciprocal behavior. To investigate the effects of frontline employee self-disclosure, two experiments were conducted with a total sample of 475 participants. The results show that when frontline employees disclose personal information in one-time encounters, they are perceived as less competent and more superficial. The results also show that self-disclosure negatively affects reciprocal behavior, but that this is mediated through liking, competence, superficiality, and satisfaction. These findings suggest that it is not always beneficial for employees to use self-disclosure as a strategy for garnering a consumer's trust or satisfaction, which counters previous research that suggest that disclosure of personal information is a good way to positively influence consumers in the retail environment.
... Moreover, one can expect similarities between these perspectives regarding the proposed mechanisms (prosocial and imitation) leading to collaborative dishonesty. Similarities were found in terms of prosocial behaviour towards acquaintances versus strangers (Amato, 1990;Padilla-Walker & Christensen, 2011;Passarelli & Buchanan, 2020) and compliance (Burger et al., 2001(Burger et al., , 2004. In sum, as these perspectives are difficult to disentangle in our studies, and the interplay with the target behaviour works through similar mechanisms, we believe it is justified to take these perspectives together. ...
Collaborations may sometimes increase the likelihood of engaging in dishonest behaviour. As yet, it remains unknown what factors contribute to this phenomenon. Here, we investigate whether it matters with whom people are collaborating for the extent to which they are dishonest. We aim to (I) replicate dishonest collaboration effects and (II) examine whether collaborating with an ingroup member (vs. outgroup member) amplifies dishonesty. In three pre-registered studies (N = 782), we used the sequential dyadic die-rolling paradigm in both student (Study 1: Lab context) and community samples (Studies 2-3: Field context). In this paradigm, two players form a dyad (either with an ingroup or an outgroup member) and earn winnings depending on both their own and the other's dice roll. Crucially, dice rolls are private, and players can inflate their winnings by misreporting their dice roll. Collectively, our studies replicate the dishonest collaboration effect, showing the robustness of collaborative dishonesty over samples and contexts. However, our studies suggest that dishonesty is similar when collaborating with an ingroup versus an outgroup member. Alternative processes are discussed that may play a role in collaborative dishonesty resulting in the absence of an intergroup effect.
... These are collectively referred to as the choice overload effect or the too-much-choice effect (Burger et al. 2001;Sagi and Friedland 2007;Sethi-Iyengar, Huberman, and Jiang 2004). ...
The introduction of the Internet generated two significant developments for consumers-the emergence of social network services and relentlessly increasing product variety. However, recent research has highlighted the negative consequences of extensive choice variety and how it overloads cognition. Three experimental studies and a pilot study show that social recommendations appearing in the choice context mitigate assortment-driven choice difficulty, thereby eliminating choice overload effects. Interestingly, this effect is moderated by the similarity, but not by the felt social distance, between the recommendation provider and the chooser. In other words, consumers who are burdened by choice difficulty are more likely to choose the alternative recommended by similar others, which allows them to reduce the difficulty of evaluating other options available in the assortment-an activity that can produce dissatisfaction and choice deferral.
... Literature on the mere exposure effect predicts a relationship between exposure and liking, such that liking of a person increases with repeated exposure to him or her (Burger et al., 2001). According to Byrne and Neuman (1992), "without the opportunity for interaction, there can be no opportunity for attraction" (p. ...
This paper addresses the lack of clarity on the linkage between customer participation (CP) and customer citizenship behavior (CCB) by using reinforcement theory to investigate the mediating role of interpersonal attraction (IPA) and the moderating effect of three types of reinforcers (people, task, and environment) in the impact of CP on CCB. Dyadic data from a field survey of both customers and designers from an interior design institute confirms the mediating role of IPA, particularly under high level of shared similarity between customers and employees, and when the task outcomes are better than expected. Moreover, the effect of IPA on CCB is stronger when customers perceive the organizational climate as highly customer-oriented. Besides extending the CP and CCB literature by exploring the impact of IPA on CCB with CP as a mediator and several reinforcers as moderator, this paper also suggests how service firms may influence their customers' citizenship behaviors.
... Dr. Edwards went to great efforts to heavily focus on presenter competence and how important that role is to the success of the event. In keeping with the findings from this study, past research has also shown the importance of the presenter in relation to the success of the training experience(Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy & Somervell, 2001;Cialdini & Trost, 1998;Dolinski, Grzyb, Olejnik, Prusakowski, & Urban, 2005;Edwards, 2017). It is important to note, however, that not only is the individual who provides the training critical, but the content and all that surrounds the experience is of prime importance as well. ...
Background: Soft skills training is a requirement in most professions, but it is unclear whether the trainees see value in this training and why they choose to use it or not use it upon receipt. The aim of this study was to explore conation (will/motivation) and why trainees choose to use or not use the received training.
Objective: A qualitative descriptive study among adult professionals who have received soft skills training from their employer was conducted to explore the individual’s experiences and why they chose to employ or not employ the soft skills training received.
Methods: The study was a qualitative descriptive study based on semi-structured individual interviews.
Results: Pending
Conclusion: Pending
Keywords: Conation, Conative, Conative Triggers, Will, Volition, Motivation, Why, Soft Skills, Transfer of Learning, Transfer of Training, Professional Development, Workforce Development, Qualitative method, Qualitative Descriptive, Education & Training
... The social influence literature is rife with evidence that social rapport and a positive relationship enhance persuasion and influence (Cialdini and Trost 1998). Moreover, it has been found that a person's persuasive ability is strengthened if the audience likes this person (Burger et al. 2001). ...
Online social networks create echo-chambers where people are infrequently exposed to opposing opinions. Even if such exposure occurs, the persuasive effect may be minimal or nonexistent. Recent studies have shown that exposure to opposing opinions causes a backfire effect, where people become more steadfast in their original beliefs. We conducted a longitudinal field experiment on Twitter to test methods that mitigate the backfire effect while exposing people to opposing opinions. Our subjects were Twitter users with anti-immigration sentiment. The backfire effect was defined as an increase in the usage frequency of extreme anti-immigration language in the subjects' posts. We used automated Twitter accounts, or bots, to apply different treatments to the subjects. One bot posted only pro-immigration content, which we refer to as arguing. Another bot initially posted anti-immigration content, then gradually posted more pro-immigration content, which we refer to as pacing and leading. We also applied a contact treatment in conjunction with the messaging based methods, where the bots liked the subjects' posts. We found that the most effective treatment was a combination of pacing and leading with contact. The least effective treatment was arguing with contact. In fact, arguing with contact consistently showed a backfire effect relative to a control group. These findings have many limitations, but they still have important implications for the study of political polarization, the backfire effect, and persuasion in online social networks.
... In addition, similarity more broadly influences compliance. People are likelier to comply with requesters who are similar in musical taste (Woodside & Davenport, 1974), clothing (Emswiller, Deaux, & Willits, 1971), personality (Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somerville, 2001), height (Evans, 1963), birthday (Jiang, Hoegg, Dahl, & Chattopadhyay, 2010), or even fingerprints (Burger, Messian, Patel, del Prado, & Anderson, 2004). Three mechanisms mediate between similarity and compliance. ...
We study the psychology at the intersection of two social trends. First, as markets become increasingly specialized, consumers must increasingly defer to outside experts to decide among complex products. Second, people divide themselves increasingly into moral tribes, defining themselves in terms of shared values with their group and often seeing these values as being objectively right or wrong. We tested how and why these tribalistic tendencies affect consumers' willingness to defer to experts. We find that consumers are indeed tribalistic in which experts they find convincing, preferring products advocated by experts who share their moral values (Study 1), with this effect generalizing across product categories (books and electronics) and measures (purchase intentions, information‐seeking, willingness‐to‐pay, product attitudes, and consequential choices). We also establish the mechanisms underlying these effects: because many consumers believe moral matters to be objective facts, experts who disagree with those values are seen as less competent and therefore less believable (Studies 2 and 3), with this effect strongest among consumers who are high in their belief in objective moral truth (Study 4). Overall, these studies seek not only to establish dynamics of tribalistic deference to experts but also to identify which consumers are more or less likely to fall prey to these tribalistic tendencies.
... Another reason why eyewitnesses are more likely to be influenced by familiar co-witnesses than by strangers is due to an increased level of likability towards the co-witness. Research on social cognition suggests that the likeability of an information source can moderate the level of social influence they have (Burger et al., 2001). ...
Criminal investigations often rely upon eyewitnesses to help drive investigations forward and convict offenders. Witnesses can assist investigators by identifying suspects, through identification parades; and by providing detailed accounts about the incident, through their statement. However, research suggests that witnesses will not always produce reliable evidence. Witness inaccuracies can be due to various dispositional and circumstantial factors, however for the purpose of the current discussion, the author focuses on the malleability on the suggestibility of eyewitnesses during co-witness discussions.
... The current meta-analysis provides little information regarding how the dynamic between the members involved in the modeling context (model, observer, model target, outcome target) affect the magnitude of the modeling effect. Indeed, prior work has shown that interpersonal factors, such as similarity (Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001), group membership (David & Turner, 2001), liking (Cialdini & Trost, 1998), and status gap (Koslowsky, Schwarzwald, & Ashuri, 2001), affect the likelihood that people will conform to others' actions. All these factors also play major roles in individual decisions to offer help (e.g., Gaertner et al., 1999;Mullen, Brown, & Smith, 1992). ...
Exposure to prosocial models is commonly used to foster prosocial behavior in various domains of society. The aim of the current article is to apply meta-analytic techniques to synthesize several decades of research on prosocial modeling, and to examine the extent to which prosocial modeling elicits helping behavior. We also identify the theoretical and methodological variables that moderate the prosocial modeling effect. Eighty-eight studies with 25,354 participants found a moderate effect (g = 0.45) of prosocial modeling in eliciting subsequent helping behavior. The prosocial modeling effect generalized across different types of helping behaviors, different targets in need of help, and was robust to experimenter bias. Nevertheless, there was cross-societal variation in the magnitude of the modeling effect, and the magnitude of the prosocial modeling effect was larger when participants were presented with an opportunity to help the model (vs. a third-party) after witnessing the model’s generosity. The prosocial modeling effect was also larger for studies with higher percentage of female in the sample, when other people (vs. participants) benefitted from the model’s prosocial behavior, and when the model was rewarded for helping (vs. was not). We discuss the publication bias in the prosocial modeling literature, limitations of our analyses and identify avenues for future research. We end with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.
... We considered that a context with unfamiliar social partners would provide ample opportunities to observe the coexistence of empathy-related responding as well as unresponsiveness and disengagement. This was because an unfamiliar social context poses ambiguity and uncertainty, under which people tend to disengage for their own survival instead of investing their efforts in assisting others (Burger et al., 2001). In this study, we included an adult stranger and an infant stranger. ...
In a paradigm of simulated stranger distress designed to elicit empathic arousal, this study examined multiple elements of responding in 61 preschoolers. Disengagement from stranger distress was underscored in addition to prosocial responding. All children encountered a female adult stranger feigning stomach ache followed by an infant manikin emitting cry sound in a bassinet. Behaviors were coded for other-oriented behaviors, personal distress, and disengagement. In contrast to the traditional supposition, behaviors indicative of personal distress covaried positively with empathic concern and negatively with disengagement. The findings of multiple regression analysis demonstrated how empathic concern and personal distress jointly related to disengaging behaviors in children’s response to stranger distress.
... To cultivate relationships, individuals respond rather affirmatively to a request and are more likely to comply the better the relationship is developed (Cialdini and Trost 1998). In fact, simply being exposed to a person for a brief period without any interaction significantly increases compliance with the person's request, which is even stronger when the request is made face-to-face and unexpectedly (Burger et al. 2001). In private situations, individuals even decide to comply to a request simply to reduce feelings of guilt and pity (Whatley et al. 1999) and to gain social approval from others to improve their self-esteem (Deutsch and Gerard 1955). ...
Communicating with customers through live chat interfaces has become an increasingly popular means to provide real-time customer service in many e-commerce settings. Today, human chat service agents are frequently replaced by conversational software agents or chatbots, which are systems designed to communicate with human users by means of natural language often based on artificial intelligence (AI). Though cost- and time-saving opportunities triggered a widespread implementation of AI-based chatbots, they still frequently fail to meet customer expectations, potentially resulting in users being less inclined to comply with requests made by the chatbot. Drawing on social response and commitment-consistency theory, we empirically examine through a randomized online experiment how verbal anthropomorphic design cues and the foot-in-the-door technique affect user request compliance. Our results demonstrate that both anthropomorphism as well as the need to stay consistent significantly increase the likelihood that users comply with a chatbot’s request for service feedback. Moreover, the results show that social presence mediates the effect of anthropomorphic design cues on user compliance.
... Self-disclosure is a complex and dynamic process which is affected by various factors like individual differences, cultural aspects, emotional states, motivational aspects, flexibility, trust, confidentiality, risk, and self-presentation (Harris et al., 1999). High self-disclosure supports a better two-way response in an interaction between individuals (Burger et al., 2001). While high self-disclosure is indicative of greater inclination towards sharing of personal information, caution needs to be taken with respect to the correctness of information sharing (Mehrabian and Ksionzky, 1972). ...
The present study explores the relationship between self-disclosure, personality integration, and social adjustment. The study further investigates whether emotional stability acts as a mediator between the said relationships. Capitalisation theory has been used as the supporting theoretical lens to examine the proposed relationship. This research uses a paper and pencil based on questionnaire survey of 290 employees' of public and private sector organisations. Multiple hierarchical regression analysis was employed to analyse the data. The results reveal that the self-disclosure is positively associated with personality integration and social adjustment. The results further demonstrate that the emotional stability acts as a partial mediator between self-disclosure and social adjustment. The results also show that the emotional stability does not mediate the relationship between the self-disclosure and personality integration. This is the first study to test these associations, especially in a South Asian context, thus making a unique contribution to existing body of literature.
... Self-disclosure is a complex and dynamic process which is affected by various factors like individual differences, cultural aspects, emotional states, motivational aspects, flexibility, trust, confidentiality, risk, and self-presentation (Harris et al., 1999). High self-disclosure supports a better two-way response in an interaction between individuals (Burger et al., 2001). While high self-disclosure is indicative of greater inclination towards sharing of personal information, caution needs to be taken with respect to the correctness of information sharing (Mehrabian and Ksionzky, 1972). ...
... We received donations more frequently in dialogue conditions. A similar effect, indicating that dialogue plays a key role in processes of social influence, was reported by Burger et al. (2001). These researchers, however, treated dialogue as a manifestation of a broader phenomenon which they refer to as incidental similarity (see also Burger et al. 2004). ...
... Similarity/attraction theory proposes that the more similar our attitudes, beliefs and valued characteristics are to those of others, the more likely it is that one will be attracted to them (Byrne 1969). Studies have demonstrated that similarity effects on helping behavior involved situations in which parties involved had direct, faceto-face interactions (Burger et al. 2001;Garner 2005;Jiang et al. 2010). However, with respect to giving to distant others, charitable appeals do not involve face-to-face contact as most of the communication is done through the charity and their advertising. ...
At a time when government support for international humanitarian aid is decreasing, organizations devoted to helping in times of disaster are looking ever more to the individual donor for financial contributions. In this paper, we explore the relationship between the donor and the distant other by introducing the concepts of psychic distance and psychic distance stimuli to the macromarketing literature and exploring the role of psychic distance in fundraising for international humanitarian aid. It is our contention that by better understanding the biases that psychic distance introduce into the system, an improved flow of donations for the betterment of the distant needy and a more effective marketing system can be achieved. We offer four propositions for future testing and exploration.
... In initial interactions, the behavioral response commonly takes the form of compliance, cooperation, or reciprocated behavior. Indeed, compliance requests paired with behavioral cues to liking are more successful (Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001;Cialdini, 2001;Daniels & Berkowitz, 1963;Goei, Lindsey, Boster, Skalski, & Bowman, 2003;Mehrabian & Ksionzky, 1970), and the presence of affiliation cues produces more intergroup cooperation among male participants (Kurzban, 2001) and they increase the success rate of bank loan requests (Wexley, Fugita, & Malone, 1975). ...
We present a meta-analysis that investigated the relation between self-reported interpersonal attraction and enacted behavior. Our synthesis focused on (a) identifying the behaviors related to attraction; (b) evaluating the efficacy of models of the relation between attraction and behavior; (c) testing the impact of several moderators, including evaluative threat salience, cognitive appraisal salience, and the sex composition of the social interaction; and (d) investigating the degree of agreement between the meta-analytic findings and an ethnographic analysis. Using a multilevel modeling approach, an analysis of 309 effect sizes (N = 5,422) revealed a significant association (z = .20) between self-reported attraction and enacted behavior. Key findings include: (a) that the specific behaviors associated with attraction (e.g., eye contact, smiling, laughter, mimicry) are those behaviors research has linked to the development of trust/rapport; (b) direct behaviors (e.g., physical proximity, talking to), compared with indirect behaviors (e.g., eye contact, smiling, mimicry), were more strongly related to self-reported attraction; and (c) evaluative threat salience (e.g., fear of rejection) reduced the magnitude of the relation between direct behavior and affective attraction. Moreover, an ethnographic analysis revealed consistency between the behaviors identified by the meta-analysis and those behaviors identified by ethnographers as predictive of attraction. We discuss the implications of our findings for models of the relation between attraction and behavior, for the behavioral expressions of emotions, and for how attraction is measured and conceptualized.
... For example, when a subject shares her sign or birthday with another participant, participants show more synchrony amongst each other. 66 This suggests a bidirectional influence of synchronization and a pro-social attitude. 67 Especially when there is no specific goal or shared intention in place, a pro-social attitude can create room for such goals and intentions to arise. ...
It has been claimed that a sense of us is presupposed for shared intentions to be possible. Searle introduced this notion together with the notion of the sense of the other. This article distinguishes between the "sense of the other" and the "sense of us" and elaborates on their role in joint action. It argues that the sense of the other is a necessary condition for a sense of us. Whereas the sense of the other is immediate and automatic, the sense of us can (but need not) arise between people and can (a) develop over time, (b) depend on the situation, and (c) involves several sufficient but not necessary processes. The article relies on research on core knowledge to better understand the sense of the other. It elaborates the sense of us using insights from cognitive science and social psychology. The article shows that the sense of the other and the sense of us can contribute to our understanding of the perception of possibilities for joint action and how individuals can come to experience actions and intentions as shared, even if the participants lack common knowledge. This leads to the conclusion that people are ordinarily socially oriented rather than individually.
... Another reason why eyewitnesses are more likely to be influenced by familiar co-witnesses than by strangers is due to an increased level of likability towards the co-witness. Research on social cognition suggests that the likeability of an information source can moderate the level of social influence they have (Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001;Cialdini, 2001;Frenzen & Davis, 1990). Hope et al. (2008) explained that eyewitnesses are likely to spend Co-Witness Familiarity and Blame Conformity 9 less time evaluating the reliability of a co-witness's judgement if they find the individual more likeable (unless the individual is deemed as being extraordinarily incompetent). ...
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of pre-existing relationships between co-witnesses on statement similarity, after a post-event discussion. Although research studies have attempted to observe the effect of a pre-existing relationship on eyewitness pairs, few have investigated these effects on larger groups of co-witnesses. Four hundred and twenty participants took part in an eyewitness simulation experiment. Participants were placed into groups of five, and viewed video footage of a bar fight. After witnessing the event, participants discussed the event with group members before giving individual statements privately. The study employed a one-way between subjects design with three conditions; 1) participants discussed the event with familiar co-witnesses; 2) participants discussed the event with unfamiliar co-witnesses; and 3) participants were not permitted to discuss the event with their co-witnesses (control). It was found that post-event discussion between co-witnesses increased the level of similarity in blame attribution within the eyewitness groups; however, this difference was only significant in groups where eyewitnesses shared a pre-existing relationship. In addition, the level of uncertainty was reduced when eyewitnesses took part in post-event discussions. It is suggested that this might be attributed to an increased level of informational influence between familiar co-witnesses. However, there was no evidence suggesting that post-event discussions led to an increase in false eyewitness statements.
... In order to cement the membership status, individuals tend to align with the social network's norms and values, progressively developing additional similar ways of thinking and acting (Yoo and Alavi, 2001;Vătămănescu et al., 2015;Bahns et al., 2016). Burger et al. (2001) reveal the consolidation of the similarity tiers among the individuals as a consequence of a substantive perception of similar attributes. Interacting with similar ones, for example, provides confirmation that a person is not alone in his or her belief, supports one's core identity and opens a predictive window into the others' behavioral propensity (Myers, 2015). ...
Purpose
The paper aimed at exploring the influence of five dimensions of similarity (i.e. condition similarity, context similarity, catalyst similarity, consequence similarity and connection similarity) on Facebook social networks development.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire-based survey was conducted with 245 Romanian college students. SmartPLS 3 statistical software for partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was chosen as the most adequate technique for the assessment of models with both composites and reflective constructs.
Findings
More than 52% of the variance in social network development was explained by the advanced similarity model. Each dimension had a positive effect on Facebook social networks development, the highest influences being exerted by condition similarity, context similarity and consequence similarity.
Research limitations/implications
The current approach is substantively based on the homophily paradigm in explaining social network development. Future research would benefit from comparing and contrasting complementary theories (e.g. the rational self-interest paradigm, the social exchange or dependency theories) with the current findings. Also, the research is tributary to a convenience-based sample of Romanian college students which limits the generalization of the results to other cultural contexts and, thus, invites further research initiatives to test the model in different settings.
Originality/value
The study is among the first research initiatives to approach similarity structures and processes within an integrative framework and to conduct the empirical analysis beyond US-centric samples.
... According to the mere exposure effect (Zajonc, 1968), repeated exposure to an object or person already increases our liking of that object or person (e.g. Moreland & Beach, 1992;Burger et al., 2001;Jones et al., 2011). Other scholars argue, however, that just seeing each other is not enough and claim that such superficial forms of contact are likely to trigger stereotypes and negative associations and can, therefore, lead to an increase of negative out-group sentiments (Barlow et al., 2012;Schuermans, 2016). ...
... Thus, Schuman and Converse (1971), Singer et al. (1983), Webster (1996), Ford, Norris (1997), Davis, Silver (2003), Olson, Bilgen (2011), Liu and Stainback (2013), Blaydes and Gillum (2013) have shown that sociodemographic characteristics of an interviewer like gender, race, age, ethnicity, religion, educational level or experience may have a significant influence on the interpretation of questionnaire questions and on the formulation of respondents answers. According to Joseph (1982), Burger et al. (2001) and Murphy et al. (2010), physical characteristics of a survey interviewer like weight, height, facial expression or voice may determine the attractiveness and this affects the respondent perceived trustworthiness. This is possible because, in general, people are more inclined to comply with the requests of someone whom they like or see as similar to themselves. ...
This study purpose is a questionnaire development used to quantify survey interviewer characteristics. Five dimensions of personality were used: conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, emotional stability and openness. Those dimensions where measured using a Likert scale with 6 points. In total, 107 survey interviewers from a branch of private companies specialized in public opinion research answered the questionnaire’s questions. Reliability of the questionnaire was assessed by internal consistency. A preliminary list of 25 items was prepared as a starting point. After evaluation of validity, five items were rejected. The new measurement instrument with 20 items was finally developed. The content validity index for the final questionnaire was found acceptable. Results showed that final questionnaire was internally consistent.
... Regarding the motivations that drive conformity, various mechanisms could have been at play. First, it is possible that compliance was driven by positive affective states that arise from having conversations and being exposed to others, i.e., positive emotions and feelings (Burger 2007). Second, by aligning with the majority view people avoid conflict and complete the decision task in a more rewarding way (Cialdini and Goldstein 2004). ...
Deliberative monetary valuation (DMV) methods can support environmental decision making by enabling the exchange of arguments and information to produce more democratic outcomes. The product of a valuation may be an array of expressions of willingness to pay (WTP) by individuals or a collectively agreed monetary value. Concerns have been raised, however, as to whether this product is an outcome of thoughtful and independent decision-making or influenced by social pressures to conform. Our study examines this issue and addresses concerns about the use of DMV, based on a public deliberation of forest conservation in Colombia. We analyzed the impacts of social conformity on WTP under two different decision scenarios: individual and collective. The results suggest that the impacts of social conformity are greater when a collective decision is required. These findings indicate that tensions between the differing goals of DMV could undermine its democratic promise.
... After half a minute, the confederate approached the participant with the target request (Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001). The confederate mentioned to attend a writing course, that participants of this course were required to write an eight-page essay, and that she had to ask someone unknown to provide feedback on this essay. ...
Previous work has shown that self-generating arguments is more persuasive than reading arguments provided by others, particularly if self-generation feels easy. The present study replicates and extends these findings by providing evidence for fluency effects on behavioural intention in the realm of helping. In two studies, participants were instructed to either self-generate or read two versus ten arguments about why it is good to help. Subsequently, a confederate asked them for help. Results show that self-generating few arguments is more effective than generating many arguments. While this pattern reverses for reading arguments, easy self-generation is the most effective strategy compared to all other conditions. These results have important implications for fostering behavioural change in all areas of life.
... For instance, when individuals perceive meaningful similarities (e.g., personality characteristics) or merely perceive incidental similarities between themselves and a target (e.g., similar name, birthdate, fingerprint), they evaluate the target more favorably, view the target as more likable, and are more willing to comply with the target's requests (Burger, Messian, Patel, del Prado, & Anderson, 2004;Garner, 2005;Strauss, Barrick, & Connerley, 2001). Furthermore, increasing liking between a perceiver and target via mere exposure (Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001) or via physical attractiveness (Lynn & Simons, 2000) can also lead a target to have greater influence over a perceiver (e.g., perceiver gives larger tips). Thus perceivers are more influenced by targets they like, particularly because of perceived similarity with the target. ...
Counterfactual thoughts about “what might have been” allow individuals to improve future outcomes based on insights from past events. Previous research has examined how counterfactuals about the self facilitate future improvement. The current research examined how group membership influences behavioral intentions developed from counterfactuals about another’s actions. Participants who read counterfactual-inducing vignettes formed stronger intentions relative to participants who read non-counterfactual-inducing vignettes; this effect was stronger for in-group targets than for out-group targets (Study 1). Furthermore, when group membership was manipulated experimentally, counterfactuals facilitated behavioral intention judgments for in-group targets but not out-group targets (Study 2). Together, the current research demonstrates that group membership can influence the counterfactual-behavioral intention relationship.
... One possible explanation for this result is that the assertion of love increased the likability of the target, which in turn increased compliance to the request. Existing research (e.g., Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001;Cialdini & Sagarin, 2005;Goei, Massi Lindsey, Boster, Skalksi, & Bowman, 2003) has highlighted the liking principle of compliance, i.e., the fact that we comply more with the people we like. Temporary feelings of liking can emerge in the context of brief encounters. ...
A field experiment was conducted (N = 216) to test the sequential
priming of love as a compliance-gaining technique. Employees of the
Parisian metro were asked for an undue late note by a female confederate. A sequential design was used. First, the request for a late note was made together with an implicit priming of love, i.e., stating that the reason for being late was an encounter with a hospitalized grandmother, or a favorite star. When the target employee refused to comply with the request, the confederate was instructed to use an explicit priming of love, i.e., the sentence “It’s someone I love so much!” Results showed that this procedure, as compared to a control condition, led to increased compliance to the request. It was also found that participants were more compliant when explicitly primed with love, but not when implicitly primed with love. These results are explained in light of mindlessness behavior, likability of the requester, and reduced processing of information.
... Mais concretamente, referimo-nos a uma forma de atracção que tem as características de um sentimento de "estar caidinho por..." (em inglês "to have a crush on..."). Este sentimento pode dar origem a outro tipo de relacionamentos (e.g., amizade, desejo sexual), pode ser algo efémero que desaparece imediatamente após o afastamento das pessoas ("fleeting attraction") (Berscheid & Reis, 1998;Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001) ou pode desenvolver-se lenta e gradualmente, sendo continuado no tempo (e.g., o eterno fraquinho sentido por "aquela" estrela de cinema), não tendo qualquer consequência na vida amorosa da pessoa. ...
O fenomeno geral de atraccao interpessoal e complexo e transversal a diferentes sentimentos de cariz positivo (e.g., paixao, amor, atraccao sexual), sendo normalmente associado ao conceito de atitude. Interessa-nos especificamente estudar o sentimento de “estar caidinho por...”, ou seja, o sentimento subjacente a atraccao que pode ser continuada no tempo sem interferencias na vida amorosa das pessoas, ou que pode ser despoletado num primeiro momento em que nao conhecemos ou sabemos o suficiente sobre a pessoa. Estudos previos permitiram analisar o sentimento de atraccao inicial e construir o Indice de Atraccao Inicial (IAI) , desenvolvido para aceder a atraccao sentido num primeiro momento de contacto entre duas pessoas. A medida revelou possuir boas propriedades metricas, bem como a capacidade para discriminar alvos associados a relacionamentos interpessoais com diferentes graus de atraccao interpessoal. O presente estudo foca o processo associado a reducao e adequacao desta medida, com base nos dados anteriormente recolhidos, a este sentimento de “estar caidinho por...” (Sentimento C). Apos a sua concepcao, o Indice do Sentimento C (Indice C) foi igualmente submetido a uma analise das suas propriedades metricas, considerando um alvo de atraccao (Estudo 1) ou uma pessoa desconhecida (Estudo 2). Discutiremos a necessidade e importância de uma medida como o Indice C para o campo de estudo da atraccao interpessoal.
... agreeing with those we like but somewhat uncomfortable agreeing with those we dislike (Heider, 1946(Heider, , 1958. We are even more likely to comply with the requests of those with whom we have fleeting but pleasant encounters (e.g., Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy & Somervell, 2001). Consider the title of Dale Carnegie's famous book-How to Win Friends and Influence People-which essentially embodies the principle that making oneself liked creates fertile ground for influence. ...
This chapter explores the “road to perdition”—the nature and typical sequence of interrogative strategies and events leading to false confession as well as the underlying psychological principles through which they exert their influence. In recognition of the various contributory causes of false confession, the chapter considers several classification schemes for confessions and their underlying causes. The chapter provides a brief summary of common sequences of police tactics—beginning with selection of a suspect, and following the interrogation of that suspect through the production of the full confession and account of the crime. Basic psychological processes through which specific interrogative tactics exert their effects have been considered. The chapter focuses on individual differences that render specific individuals particularly vulnerable to influence and false confession. The chapter also considers the consequences of confession evidence for eventual disposition of the case. The interrogation tactics themselves are designed to both constrain and falsify the information suspects use to analyze their situations.
... To conclude, this study demonstrates that rapport-building has the potential to contribute to the contamination of witness testimony. Whereas our results are consistent with those of numerous studies on the effects of interpersonal dynamics on compliance (e.g., Falsely corroborating allegations 18 Burger, Soroka, Gonzago, Murphy, & Somervell, 2001; Dolinski et al., 2001), few of those studies have involved subjects providing false information that would have important negative consequences for another person. Rapport-building undoubtedly reaps important rewards in police interviews and other contexts, and we do not challenge that this ethical interviewing approach should be considered the gold standard. ...
Building rapport involves developing a harmonious relationship with another person, and conveying understanding and acceptance towards that person. Law enforcement officers use rapport-building to help gather information from witnesses. But could rapport-building, in some situations, work to contaminate eyewitness testimony? Research shows that compelling incriminating evidence can lead people to corroborate false accusations made against another person. We investigated whether rapport-building—when combined with either Verbal or Verbal+Visual false evidence—might boost these corroboration rates. Subjects took part in a pseudo-gambling task, in which their counterpart was falsely accused of cheating. Using a 2 (Rapport: Rapport vs. No-rapport) x 2 (Incriminating Evidence: Verbal vs. Verbal+Visual) between-subjects design, we persuaded subjects to corroborate the accusation. We found that both rapport and verbal+visual incriminating evidence increased the compliance rate. Even when the incriminating evidence was only presented verbally, rapport-building subjects were almost three times as likely to corroborate a false accusation compared to subjects who did not undergo rapport-building. Our results suggest that although there is widespread and strong support for using rapport-building in interviews, doing so also has the potential to aggravate the contaminating power of suggestive interview techniques.
Tourism is a dynamic way to encounter strangers. The deeply rooted Chinese concept of Yuan (缘) was drawn upon in this research to better understand individuals' encounters with strangers during travel. Specifically, this qualitative study systematically conceptualized Yuan-based strangership in a tourism context. Interviews with Chinese emerging adults uncovered a cycle of stranger-dominated socioecological relationships involving the initiation, sociability, intensity, and evolvement of Yuan-based strangership. Results showed that Yuan-connected significant strangers served as partial spectators who helped tourists develop a sense of place in a destination. This study contributes to the literature on strangership, sense of place, self-identity, and emerging adulthood in relation to tourism. Findings also help the tourism industry, families, and individuals in facilitating and embracing Yuan during trips.
Purpose
The increasing adoption of digital technologies such as social media have changed the way consumers share knowledge about products and services among each other. The aim of this paper is to test what factors drive customers to share knowledge about products and services on social media pages.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative survey design was employed for this study. Empirical data were drawn from 358 consumers in Italy, using a purposive sampling technique. The hypothesised relationships were tested using ordinary least squares regression modelling.
Findings
The results of this study reveal that the usage frequency of online reviews (UFORs), social bonds (SBs), subjective happiness (SH) and reciprocity positively impact on customer knowledge sharing (CKS). By contrast, the perceived usefulness of online reviews (PUORs), helping others, customer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII) and informational (INFO) do not impact CKS.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study is amongst the first to empirically test the antecedents of knowledge-sharing behaviours about products and services on online social media. The present work offers relevant implications for theory. First, the work enriches the customer knowledge management (CKM) theory by providing empirical evidence on factors leading to the higher sharing of knowledge amongst customers. Second, the work adds to the literature on social media, demonstrating the individual determinants on knowledge-sharing behaviours about products and services in online communities. Practically speaking, this paper identifies some key elements driving CKS in social media conversations. Thus, building upon the findings of this study, the authors provide some guidelines for social media managers and retailers for promoting CKS on social media pages.
Online social networks create echo-chambers where people are infrequently exposed to opposing opinions. Even if such exposure occurs, the persuasive effect may be minimal or nonexistent. Recent studies have shown that exposure to opposing opinions causes a backfire effect, where people become more steadfast in their original beliefs. We conducted a longitudinal field experiment on Twitter to test methods that mitigate the backfire effect while exposing people to opposing opinions. Our subjects were Twitter users with anti-immigration sentiment. The backfire effect was defined as an increase in the usage frequency of extreme anti-immigration language in the subjects’ posts. We used automated Twitter accounts, or bots, to apply different treatments to the subjects. One bot posted only pro-immigration content, which we refer to as arguing. Another bot initially posted anti-immigration content, then gradually posted more pro-immigration content, which we refer to as pacing and leading. We also applied a contact treatment in conjunction with the messaging based methods, where the bots liked the subjects’ posts. We found that the most effective treatment was a combination of pacing and leading with contact. The least effective treatment was arguing with contact. In fact, arguing with contact consistently showed a backfire effect relative to a control group. These findings have many limitations, but they still have important implications for the study of political polarization, the backfire effect, and persuasion in online social networks.
Although compliments can be an effective compliance tactic, little is known about the reasons for their effectiveness. Two studies tested three potential mechanisms underlying the use of compliments as a compliance tactic: reciprocity, positive mood, and liking. In both studies, participants were either primed with the reciprocity norm or not, then received either complimentary or neutral feedback from a stranger. Participants were later faced with a request from the stranger. Mood, liking for the requestor, and compliance were measured. As predicted, compliments increased compliance in both studies. Neither study found evidence for positive mood nor liking as a mediator of the compliment effect. However, reciprocity priming was found to moderate the compliment effect in both studies, suggesting that compliments are effective, at least in part, because they invoke the reciprocity norm.
Although it seems intuitive for firms to leverage social connections and interactions to influence consumers' goal attainment and spending, the authors present a caveat of such strategies. Using two large-scale data sets with more than 5 million people-day observations from online gaming markets, Studies 1 and 2 show consistently nonlinear effects. Although some social connections and interactions boost goal attainment and spending (positive linear term), after a certain point toomany of them have a diminished marginal effect (negative squared term). The results are robust to a wide array of modeling techniques addressing self-selection, unobserved individual heterogeneity, and endogeneity. In addition, novices can benefit more from greater social connections and interactions, yet also suffer more from the diminishing effects. Regarding the underlyingmechanism, the follow-up experimentStudy 3 shows that consistent with the information processing theory, some social connections and interactions can provide information support for goal attainment, but too many of themcan introduce an information overload problem and, thus, hamper goal attainment intention. Together, these findings refute a simple, linear view of the effects of social connections and interactions and provide pivotal theoretical and practical implications.
Police investigators, judges, and jurors are often very skeptical of alibi witness testimony. To investigate when and why individuals lie for one another, we conducted two studies in which witnesses' support of a false alibi was observed. We varied the level of social pressure exerted on witnesses and the level of affinity between suspect-witness pairs. During a study session purportedly intended to investigate dyadic problem-solving ability, a mock theft was staged. When questioned, participants were provided the opportunity to either corroborate or refute a confederate's false alibi that the latter was with them when the theft occurred. Participants were more likely to lie for the confederate when the latter explicitly asked participants to conceal his/her whereabouts during the time of the theft (Study 1). How much participants liked the suspect did not impact lying; however, participants lied for a confederate more often when the latter was a friend rather than a stranger (Study 2). Results show that alibi witnesses often lie and that investigators and jurors may not accurately estimate the likelihood that such witnesses will lie for one another. Witnesses who lied also reported doing so more often because they believed that the suspect was innocent rather than guilty. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Social isolation amongst older adults represents a significant societal challenge in which persuasion offers a potential solution. To develop a persuasive interactive system for this purpose, we conducted a modelling study with carers to discover how persuasion is used to encourage social interaction amongst older adults. From an analysis of the results we identified and defined effective persuasive strategies grounded in theories of persuasion and developed a computational model for applying them. In this paper, we report our findings from an evaluation of the generalizability of this model and present a revised version based on these results. We conclude with a discussion on possible domain specific conceptual features between the model evaluated and the revised model developed.
Design for Emotion introduces you to the why, what, when, where and how of designing for emotion. Improve user connection, satisfaction and loyalty by incorporating emotion and personality into your design process. The conscious and unconscious origins of emotions are explained, while real-world examples show how the design you create affects the emotions of your users. This isn't just another design theory book - it's imminently practical. Design for Emotion introduces the A.C.T. Model (Attract/Converse/Transact) a tool for helping designers create designs that intentionally trigger emotional responses. This book offers a way to harness emotions for improving the design of products, interfaces and applications while also enhancing learning and information processing. Design for Emotion will help your designs grab attention and communicate your message more powerfully, to more people. Foreword by BJ Fogg, Founder & Director, Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab Creative professionals who design consumer products, entertainment, software, websites, marketing, and communications are beginning to appreciate the importance of evoking emotions and personality to capture viewers' attention and create satisfying experiences. Design for Emotion addresses the basic questions around designing emotional experiences; why, what, when, where and how do we design for emotion? With extensive real-world examples to help illustrate how emotion and personality are communicated through design, Design for Emotion isn't just another book on design theory - it's an imminently practical guide to applying and eliciting emotion in design. Design for Emotion: Explains the relationship between emotions and product personalities Details the most important dimensions of a product's personality Examines models for understanding users' relationships with products Explores how to intentionally design product personalities Provides extensive examples from the worlds of product, web and application design Includes a simple and effective model for creating more emotional designs The book also features interviews with Stephen P. Anderson, Aarron Walter, Marco van Hout, Patrick W. Jordan and Trish Miner, and case studies from Moni Wolf, Matt Pattison, Shayal Chhibber, Chris Fryer and Damian Smith. Harness the power of emotional design to enhance products, websites and applications while improving user experience and increasing customer satisfaction. Design for Emotion will help you communicate your client's message and brand values with the appropriate emotions and personality for their target audience. Improve user connection, satisfaction and loyalty by incorporating emotion and personality into your design process. The conscious and unconscious origins of emotions are explained, while real-world examples show how the design you create affects the emotions of your users. This isn't just another design theory book - it's imminently practical. Design for Emotion introduces the A.C.T. Model (Attract/Converse/Transact) a tool for helping designers create designs that intentionally trigger emotional responses. This book offers a way to harness emotions for improving the design of products, interfaces and applications while also enhancing learning and information processing. Design for Emotion will help your designs grab attention and communicate your message more powerfully, to more people. Provides a simple and effective model for understanding and applying emotional considerations to your designs. Explains why designing for emotion improves users' relationships with your product. Offers extensive examples from the world of product and interface design. Design for Emotion introduces you to the why, what, when, and how of incorporating emotion into your design process. Conscious and unconscious emotion are explained, while real world examples show how the design that you create can affect the emotions of your consumer. What makes this book more than just another design theory book is that it isn't - it is extensively practical. It introduces the ACT model (Attract/Converse/Transact) so that designers can actually create designs to trigger emotional responses. This book offers a way to harness emotions for affective learning and information processing that will help you get your message across more clearly and to more people. Provides a simple and effective model for applying emotional considerations to your designs Explains why designing for emotion enhances your process Extensive examples from all around us and in the digital environment of sites and produces that use emotion well and not so well.
Friends-they are generous and cooperative with each other in ways that appear to defy standard evolutionary expectations, frequently sacrificing for one another without concern for past behaviors or future consequences. In this fascinating multidisciplinary study, Daniel J. Hruschka synthesizes an array of cross-cultural, experimental, and ethnographic data to understand the broad meaning of friendship, how it develops, how it interfaces with kinship and romantic relationships, and how it differs from place to place. Hruschka argues that friendship is a special form of reciprocal altruism based not on tit-for-tat accounting or forward-looking rationality, but rather on mutual goodwill that is built up along the way in human relationships.
This special issue presents leading-edge work into how the characteristics of social media affect the nature of influence in networks. Our central thesis is that social influence has become networked influence. Influence is networked in two ways: by occurring in social networks and by propagating through online communication networks. We want to understand online social influence in its diversity: who is exercising influence, how it is done, how to measure influence, what its consequences are, and how online and offline influences intertwine in different contexts.
With the large amount of information shared on the Internet, customers are more likely to be influenced by other customers today. This research examines the impact of shared incidental similarity with an online reviewer on the focal customers’ attitudes and purchase intentions. In addition, the present study argues that such a positive relationship between incidental similarity and customers’ responses can be moderated by individuals’ psychological states of power. The results of the current study show that participants in the powerful condition exhibited similar level of responses toward a restaurant after reading a set of online reviews regardless of the presence or absence of incidental similarity cues (e.g., same name initials). However, under the condition of powerlessness, participants’ responses are positively driven by shared incidental similarity with the reviewer.
In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators. (46 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Models postulating 2 distinct processing modes have been proposed in several topic areas within social and cognitive psychology. We advance a new conceptual model of the 2 processing modes. The structural basis of the new model is the idea, supported by psychological and neuropsychological evidence, that humans possess 2 memory systems. One system slowly learns general regularities, whereas the other can quickly form representations of unique or novel events. Associative retrieval or pattern completion in the slow-learning system elicited by a salient cue constitutes the effortless processing mode. The second processing mode is more conscious and effortful; it involves the intentional retrieval of explicit, symbolically represented rulesfrom either memory system and their use to guide processing. After presenting our model, we review existing dual-process models in several areas, emphasizing their similar assumptions of a quick, effortless processing mode that rests on well-learned prior associations and a second, more effortful processing mode that involves rule-based inferences and is employed only when people have both cognitive capacity and motivation. New insights and implications of the model for several topic areas are outlined.
In both biology and the human sciences, social groups are sometimes treated as adaptive units whose organization cannot be reduced to individual interactions. This group-level view is opposed by a more individualistic one that treats social organization as a byproduct of self-interest. According to biologists, group-level adaptations can evolve only by a process of natural selection at the group level. Most biologists rejected group selection as an important evolutionary force during the 1960s and 1970s but a positive literature began to grow during the 1970s and is rapidly expanding today. We review this recent literature and its implications for human evolutionary biology. We show that the rejection of group selection was based on a misplaced emphasis on genes as “replicators” which is in fact irrelevant to the question of whether groups can be like individuals in their functional organization. The fundamental question is whether social groups and other higher-level entities can be “vehicles” of selection. When this elementary fact is recognized, group selection emerges as an important force in nature and what seem to be competing theories, such as kin selection and reciprocity, reappear as special cases of group selection. The result is a unified theory of natural selection that operates on a nested hierarchy of units.The vehicle-based theory makes it clear that group selection is an important force to consider in human evolution. Humans can facultatively span the full range from self-interested individuals to “organs” of group-level “organisms.” Human behavior not only reflects the balance between levels of selection but it can also alter the balance through the construction of social structures that have the effect of reducing fitness differences within groups, concentrating natural selection (and functional organization) at the group level. These social structures and the cognitive abilities that produce them allow group selection to be important even among large groups of unrelated individuals.
Rosenbaum's (1986) interesting attempt to demonstrate the irrelevance of similar attitudes is unsuccessful for several reasons. In three of the four attraction experiments he conducted, similar-attitude conditions were not compared with neutral control conditions as required, but instead they were compared with positive trait adjective conditions. In addition, it is not possible to create a no-attitude "control" condition because people assume a high level of self–other similarity even when the other person has relatively negative characteristics. Thus, the comparison of a similar-attitude condition with an assumed similar-attitude condition does not provide an adequate test of his hypothesis. Further, the quantitative aspects of similar and dissimilar attitudes, physical attractiveness, occupation, trait descriptions, and political affiliation have been ignored. When the quantitative aspects are considered, it is shown that Rosenbaum's obtained values do not differ from those predicted by the attraction model. Altogether, his attraction experiments and those using a learning paradigm do not contain the conditions necessary to test the proposition that similarity has no important consequence. Appropriate designs are suggested in order to provide such tests. (26 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
We conducted two studies to examine how a potential helper is affected by having a communal orientation toward a relationship with a potential recipient and by the potential recipient's sadness. We hypothesized that (a) having a communal orientation would increase helping and that (b) people high in communal orientation, but not others, would respond to a potential recipient's sadness by increasing helping. These hypotheses were tested in two studies. In Study 1, individual differences in communal orientation toward relationships were measured by using a new communal orientation scale reported for the first time in this article. In Study 2, manipulations were used to lead subjects to desire either a communal or an exchange relationship with another person. In both studies, subjects were exposed to a sad person or to a person in a neutral mood whom they were given a chance to help. As hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects helped the other significantly more than did others. Also as hypothesized, in both studies communally oriented subjects but not others, increased helping in response to the other person's sadness although this effect reached statistical significance only in the second study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Examined the effects of mere exposure and positive and negative contexts on interpersonal attraction in 2 experiments with undergraduate women (N = 112). In both experiments, exposure was manipulated by varying the number of encounters; context was varied by having Ss taste either pleasant or noxious solutions during the encounters. Attraction varied as a direct function of number of encounters, in negative as well as positive contexts. Implications for the "mere exposure" and for the "context," or association, hypotheses are discussed. (15 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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In this article, we attempt to distinguish between the properties of moderator and mediator variables at a number of levels. First, we seek to make theorists and researchers aware of the importance of not using the terms moderator and mediator interchangeably by carefully elaborating, both conceptually and strategically, the many ways in which moderators and mediators differ. We then go beyond this largely pedagogical function and delineate the conceptual and strategic implications of making use of such distinctions with regard to a wide range of phenomena, including control and stress, attitudes, and personality traits. We also provide a specific compendium of analytic procedures appropriate for making the most effective use of the moderator and mediator distinction, both separately and in terms of a broader causal system that includes both moderators and mediators.
Several effects of the physical attractiveness stereotype were assessed in a personal selling context. In a series of three experiments it was established that: (a) More favorable selling skills are attributed to physically attractive salespersons than to their unattractive counterparts; (b) in simulated sales scenarios, buyers treat ostensibly attractive sellers more cordially and are more likely to yield to their requests than is the case for unattractive sellers; and (c) in actual solicitations for a charitable organization, attractive persons induce a compliance rate significantly higher than that induced by unattractive solicitors. Results of the experiments, which are consistent with extant literature on physical attractiveness, are discussed in terms of commercially inspired interpersonal influence.
What was noted by E. J. Langer (1978) remains true today; that much of contemporary psychological research is based on the assumption that people are consciously and systematically processing incoming information in order to construe and interpret their world and to plan and engage in courses of action. As did E. J. Langer, the authors question this assumption. First, they review evidence that the ability to exercise such conscious, intentional control is actually quite limited, so that most of moment-to-moment psychological life must occur through nonconscious means if it is to occur at all. The authors then describe the different possible mechanisms that produce automatic, environmental control over these various phenomena and review evidence establishing both the existence of these mechanisms as well as their consequences for judgments, emotions, and behavior. Three major forms of automatic self-regulation are identified: an automatic effect of perception on action, automatic goal pursuit, and a continual automatic evaluation of one's experience. From the accumulating evidence, the authors conclude that these various nonconscious mental systems perform the lion's share of the self-regulatory burden, beneficently keeping the individual grounded in his or her current environment.
This chapter examines the familiarity-leads-to-liking hypothesis, with specific reference to developments since the time it was formalized and revitalized by Zajonc in 1965. Zajonc suggested that the function best describing the relationship between exposure and liking takes the form of a positive, decelerating curve, with attitude enhancement of a function of the logarithm of the exposure frequency. “Mere exposure” refers to conditions that make the stimulus accessible to the organism's perception. The chapter begins with a consideration of studies that have related assessed or varied familiarity to affective reactions focusing on the conditions suspected of limiting the exposure effect or causing contrasting effects. The conditions under which different results prevail are identified to consider major interpretations. A good deal of research in the past has demonstrated that repeated exposures to some stimulus lead to a liking for it under a wide range of conditions. The effect has been found when exposures have been reduced to a fraction of a second, rendered unrecognizable, or increased to ten times the number used in Zajonc's initial experiments. The effect has been extended into the realm of interpersonal attraction, and considerable new data has been accrued concerning the relationship between familiarity and aesthetic preference.
The manner in which the concept of reciprocity is implicated in functional theory is explored, enabling a reanalysis of the concepts of "survival" and "exploitation." The need to distinguish between the concepts of complementarity and reciprocity is stressed. Distinctions are also drawn between (1) reciprocity as a pattern of mutually contingent exchange of gratifications, (2) the existential or folk belief in reciprocity, and (3) the generalized moral norm of reciprocity. Reciprocity as a moral norm is analyzed; it is hypothesized that it is one of the universal "principal components" of moral codes. As Westermarck states, "To requite a benefit, or to be grateful to him who bestows it, is probably everywhere, at least under certain circumstances, regarded as a duty. This is a subject which in the present connection calls for special consideration." Ways in which the norm of reciprocity is implicated in the maintenance of stable social systems are examined.
The norm of reciprocity is a widely accepted social rule that requires us to return favors to those who do something nice for us. We conducted two experiments to test the hypothesis that the obligation to return favors diminishes as the amount of time between the initial favor and the opportunity to reciprocate grows. Participants in the first experiment were given an opportunity to return a favor either 5 min or 1 week after receiving a free soft drink from a confederate. Participants in the 5-min condition agreed to the confederate's request to deliver an envelope across campus more often than control group participants receiving only the request. However, participants in the 1-week condition showed no significant reciprocity effect. Participants in the second experiment indicated in hypothetical scenarios that they would be less likely to return a favor as the length of time since the favor increased. We interpret the findings to mean that the norm of reciprocity does not mandate an open-ended obligation to retum a favor. Rather, the social rule requires only that we return acts of kindness within a reasonable period of time.
Donors' reactions to choosing and being required to help were examined. Among subjects led to desire a communal relationship with the recipient, both choosing and being required to help elevated positive affect and alleviated negative affect relative to not being asked to help. Changes in affect as a result of choosing to help did not differ from changes as a result of being required to help. Among subjects led to desire an exchange relationship with the recipient, choosing to help caused positive affect to deteriorate, relative to being required to help or to not helping. Changes in affect in the required condition did not differ from those in the no-help condition. Psychological processes that may underlie these effects are discussed.
Two studies illustrate the importance of a distinction between communal and exchange relationships in understanding reactions to helping and refusing to help. In Study 1, refusing to help caused declines in positive affect when a communal (but not an exchange) relationship with the help seeker was desired. In Study 2, recalling a refusal to help a communal (but not an exchange) partner caused declines in positive affect. Recalling when some-one else helped or refused to help did not produce analogous changes. Results demonstrate that there are differential reactions to refusing to help in communal and exchange relationships, differential reactions apply to naturally occurring relationships as well as desired relationships created by laboratory manipulations, and affective reactions in communal relationships are not due to merely knowing the other has (or has not) been helped. The authors suggest that they reflect the impact that helping or failing to help may have on communal relationships.
An experiment was conducted in an effort to clarify the nature of the relationship between frequency of exposure and interpersonal at traction. Subjects were visually exposed to one another during each trial of a modified prisoner's dilemma game in which subjects' out comes were controlled by the experimenter. The frequency of these visual encounters was varied, as was the nature of the monetary outcomes from the gaming trials (rewards vs. punishments) and the attribution of re sponsibility for these outcomes (partners responsible vs. non-responsi ble). Measures of attraction indicated that, overall, more frequently viewed others were preferred to those less frequently seen. This ex posure effect was most strongly obtained when the other subjects were viewed as personally responsible for delivering rewards, while either no effect or a weak negative exposure effect was found in the responsible- punish condition.
Two experiments were conducted to examine the extent to which unit relation tendencies, and thus interpersonal attraction, are affected by social features of the surrounding interaction context. In the first experiment the relative strength of the perceptual bond between pairs of individuals within a triad was systematically varied through their relative physical proximity to one another. A series of planned comparisons of subjects' ratings of attraction for one another provides support for the unit relation interpretation of attraction. The second experiment concerned the strength of the perceptual bond between individuals in the context of anticipated discussion. The parallel findings in Experiment II provide additional support for the unit relation interpretation by ruling out several alternative explanations associated with the actual discussions that took place in the first study.
• As the title suggests, this book examines the psychology of interpersonal relations. In the context of this book, the term "interpersonal relations" denotes relations between a few, usually between two, people. How one person thinks and feels about another person, how he perceives him and what he does to him, what he expects him to do or think, how he reacts to the actions of the other--these are some of the phenomena that will be treated. Our concern will be with "surface" matters, the events that occur in everyday life on a conscious level, rather than with the unconscious processes studied by psychoanalysis in "depth" psychology. These intuitively understood and "obvious" human relations can, as we shall see, be just as challenging and psychologically significant as the deeper and stranger phenomena. The discussion will center on the person as the basic unit to be investigated. That is to say, the two-person group and its properties as a superindividual unit will not be the focus of attention. Of course, in dealing with the person as a member of a dyad, he cannot be described as a lone subject in an impersonal environment, but must be represented as standing in relation to and interacting with another person. The chapter topics included in this book include: Perceiving the Other Person; The Other Person as Perceiver; The Naive Analysis of Action; Desire and Pleasure; Environmental Effects; Sentiment; Ought and Value; Request and Command; Benefit and Harm; and Reaction to the Lot of the Other Person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
• As the title suggests, this book examines the psychology of interpersonal relations. In the context of this book, the term "interpersonal relations" denotes relations between a few, usually between two, people. How one person thinks and feels about another person, how he perceives him and what he does to him, what he expects him to do or think, how he reacts to the actions of the other--these are some of the phenomena that will be treated. Our concern will be with "surface" matters, the events that occur in everyday life on a conscious level, rather than with the unconscious processes studied by psychoanalysis in "depth" psychology. These intuitively understood and "obvious" human relations can, as we shall see, be just as challenging and psychologically significant as the deeper and stranger phenomena. The discussion will center on the person as the basic unit to be investigated. That is to say, the two-person group and its properties as a superindividual unit will not be the focus of attention. Of course, in dealing with the person as a member of a dyad, he cannot be described as a lone subject in an impersonal environment, but must be represented as standing in relation to and interacting with another person. The chapter topics included in this book include: Perceiving the Other Person; The Other Person as Perceiver; The Naive Analysis of Action; Desire and Pleasure; Environmental Effects; Sentiment; Ought and Value; Request and Command; Benefit and Harm; and Reaction to the Lot of the Other Person. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A review and meta-analysis of methodological and subject variables influencing the exposure-affect relationship was performed on studies of the mere exposure effect published in the 20 years following Zajonc's (1968) seminal monograph. Stimulus type, stimulus complexity, presentation sequence, exposure duration, stimulus recognition, age of subject, delay between exposure and ratings, and maximum number of stimulus presentations all influence the magnitude of the exposure effect. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of previous reviews of the literature on exposure effects and with respect to prevailing theoretical models of the exposure-affect relationship. Modifications of the 2-factor model of exposure effects that increase the heuristic value of the model are described. A possible evolutionary basis of the exposure effect is discussed.
The initiation and subsequent development of what I once immodestly labeled `the attraction paradigm' are described. Though an after-the-fact reconstruction of a given program of research and theory may appear to result from planful, rational, insightful, and even prescient actions, the actual process is more often a combination of multiple personal motives, semi-random input from a wide variety of sources, sheer luck, and semi-delusional tenacity. In any event, some highlights and landmarks of over 35 years of attraction research are summarized. The story includes the initial decision to investigate the effect of attitude similarity-dissimilarity on attraction, the gradual development of the linear function that specifies the relationship between seemingly diverse stimulus events and evaluative responses such as attraction, and the construction of a theoretical model that began with a focus on conditioning but was eventually expanded as `the behaviour sequence', incorporating cognitive constructs in order to deal with such interpersonal complexities as love. As a postscript, I describe our current efforts to place the components of adult attachment patterns within this model in an effort to predict more precisely various aspects of interpersonal relationships.
Communal relationships, in which the giving of a benefit in response to a need for the benefit is appropriate, are distinguished from exchange relationships, in which the giving of a benefit in response to the receipt of a benefit is appropriate. Based on this distinction, it was hypothesized that the receipt of a benefit after the person has been benefited leads to greater attraction when an exchange relationship is preferred and decreases attraction when a communal relationship is desired. These hypotheses were supported in Exp I, which used 96 male undergraduates. Exp II, which used a different manipulation of exchange vs communal relationships with 80 female undergraduates, supported the hypotheses that (a) a request for a benefit after the S is aided by the other leads to greater attraction when an exchange relationship is expected and decreases attraction when a communal relationship is expected, and (b) a request for a benefit in the absence of prior aid from the other decreases attraction when an exchange relationship is expected. (14 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Rosenbaum (1986b) proposed a reinterpretation of attraction research and theory in which similar attitudes constitute irrelevant stimuli; only dissimilar attitudes affect either attraction or performance in a learning task. He presented data seemingly consistent with these propositions, but Byrne, Clore, and Smeaton (1986) criticized the adequacy of his designs and suggested appropriate empirical tests of the competing hypotheses. This article reports two experiments in which the results are clearly inconsistent with the repulsion hypothesis. With number of dissimilar attitudes held constant, attraction toward a stranger increased as the number of similar attitudes increased. In a discrimination learning task, response acquisition occurred when correct responses were followed by similar attitude statements and incorrect responses by nonsense syllables, or when correct responses were followed by nonsense syllables and incorrect responses by dissimilar attitude statements. Despite the inadequacy of the repulsion hypothesis, Rosenbaum's analysis has raised several new and interesting possibilities for attraction research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A review and meta-analysis of methodological and subject variables influencing the exposure–affect relationship was performed on studies of the mere exposure effect published in the 20 years following R. B. Zajonc's (see record
1968-12019-001) seminal monograph. Stimulus type, stimulus complexity, presentation sequence, exposure duration, stimulus recognition, age of subject, delay between exposure and ratings, and maximum number of stimulus presentations all influence the magnitude of the exposure effect. Implications of these findings are discussed in the context of previous reviews of the literature on exposure effects and with respect to prevailing theoretical models of the exposure–affect relationship. Modifications of the 2-factor model of exposure effects that increase the heuristic value of the model are described. A possible evolutionary basis of the exposure effect is discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
What was noted by E. J. Langer (1978) remains true today: that much of contemporary psychological research is based on the assumption that people are consciously and systematically processing incoming information in order to construe and interpret their world and to plan and engage in courses of action. As did Langer, the authors question this assumption. First, they review evidence that the ability to exercise such conscious, intentional control is actually quite limited, so that most of moment-to-moment psychological life must occur through nonconscious means if it is to occur at all. The authors then describe the different possible mechanisms that produce automatic, environmental control over these various phenomena and review evidence establishing both the existence of these mechanisms as well as their consequences for judgments, emotions, and behavior. Three major forms of automatic self-regulation are identified: an automatic effect of perception on action, automatic goal pursuit, and a continual automatic evaluation of one's experience. From the accumulating evidence, the authors conclude that these various nonconscious mental systems perform the lion's share of the self-regulatory burden, beneficently keeping the individual grounded in his or her current environment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
A universal contention in the psychological literature is that attitudinal similarity leads to attraction. I argue that attitudinal similarity does not lead to liking but that dissimilarity does indeed lead to repulsion. Primary attention is given to Byrne's experimental paradigm in which subjects are shown the attitude scale of a stranger that is similar or dissimilar to their own and who are then asked to indicate their attraction to the stranger. Consistently, Byrne and others have found a linear relation between similarity and attraction. Unfortunately, the Byrne paradigm has never included a control condition in which ratings are made in the absence of attitudinal information. Research that used the Byrne paradigm and other procedures that included an appropriate control group is reported, and support is found for a repulsion hypothesis. Byrne's reinforcement model of attraction is also shown not to be supported. Consideration is given to special conditions in which attitudinal similarity does lead to attraction, to the origins of the hypothesis that similarity leads to attraction, and to the theoretical basis for the repulsion effect. (49 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Tested the hypothesis that social interaction may lead to attraction, an idea suggested by B. Latané's animal research (see PA, Vols 48:6854 and 52:9750). Three-person groups were formed with 54 undergraduates, in which 2 of the possible pairs of Ss interacted (and got accquainted) and 1 pair did not overtly interact. All Ss sat facing each other in a triangular pattern and thus had equal access to what was said. Results support Latané's position and also reveal additional effects on assessments relating to similarity, reciprocal liking, etc. The findings are interpreted in terms of balance theory—analogously to J. M. Darley and E. Berscheid's interpretation of the effect of anticipated interaction on attraction (see record
1967-10373-001). (18 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
The effect of a server introducing herself by name on restaurant tipping was investigated. Forty-two, 2-person dining parties were randomly assigned to either a name or a no name introduction condition. The use of a buffet brunch reduced contact between server and diners and held bill size constant. Results indicated that having the server introduce herself by name resulted in a significantly higher tipping rate (23.4%) than when the server did not introduce herself by name (15.0%), p < .001. Tipping rate also was affected by method of payment, with diners who charged the meal having a higher rate (22.6%) than those paying cash (15.9%), p < .001. The findings suggest the importance of initial server-diner interactions. Possible alternative explanations and suggestions for future research are provided.
HYPOTHESIZES THAT MERE REPEATED EXPOSURE OF THE INDIVIDUAL TO A STIMULUS OBJECT ENHANCES HIS ATTITUDE TOWARD IT. BY "MERE" EXPOSURE IS MEANT A CONDITION MAKING THE STIMULUS ACCESSIBLE TO PERCEPTION. SUPPORT FOR THE HYPOTHESIS CONSISTS OF 4 TYPES OF EVIDENCE, PRESENTED AND REVIEWED: (1) THE CORRELATION BETWEEN AFFECTIVE CONNOTATION OF WORDS AND WORD FREQUENCY, (2) THE EFFECT OF EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATED FREQUENCY OF EXPOSURE UPON THE AFFECTIVE CONNOTATION OF NONSENSE WORDS AND SYMBOLS, (3) THE CORRELATION BETWEEN WORD FREQUENCY AND THE ATTITUDE TO THEIR REFERENTS, AND (4) THE EFFECTS OF EXPERIMENTALLY MANIPULATED FREQUENCY OF EXPOSURE ON ATTITUDE. THE RELEVANCE FOR THE EXPOSURE-ATTITUDE HYPOTHESIS OF THE EXPLORATION THEORY AND OF THE SEMANTIC SATIATION FINDINGS WERE EXAMINED. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved).
A laboratory experiment was conducted to examine the effects of a favor and of liking on compliance with a request for assistance from a confederate. Liking for the confederate was manipulated, and male subjects then received a soft drink from the confederate, from the experimenter, or received no favor. Compliance with the confederate's request to purchase some raffle tickets was measured, as was liking for the confederate. The results showed that the favor increased liking for the confederate and compliance with his request, but the effect of manipulated liking was weak. Detailed ratings of the confederate as well as correlational data suggested that the relationship between favors and compliance is mediated, not by liking for the favor-doer, but by normative pressure to reciprocate.
Several effects of the physical attractiveness stereotype were assessed in a personal selling context. In a series of three experiments it was established that: (a) More favorable selling skills are attributed to physically attractive salespersons than to their unattractive counterparts; (b) in simulated sales scenarios, buyers treat ostensibly attractive sellers more cordially and are more likely to yield to their requests than is the case for unattractive sellers; and (c) in actual solicitations for a charitable organization, attractive persons induce a compliance rate significantly higher than that induced by unattractive solicitors. Results of the experiments, which are consistent with extant literature on physical attractiveness, are discussed in terms of commercially inspired interpersonal influence.
Affinity is a complex blend of familiarity, attraction, and similarity that strengthens social relations by fostering a sense of closeness among people. We studied the development of affinity among students in a large college course. Four women of similar appearance attended class sessions, posing as students in the course. To create conditions of mere exposure, they did not interact with any of the other students. Each woman attended a different number (0, 5, 10, or 15) of class sessions. At the end of the term, students (N = 130) were shown slides of the women and measures of each woman's perceived familiarity, attractiveness, and similarity were obtained. Mere exposure had weak effects on familiarity, but strong effects on attraction and similarity. Causal analyses indicated that the effects of exposure on familiarity and similarity were mediated by its effects on atrraction. The potential role of affinity in several kinds of social relations is discussed.
Two experiments explored the relationship between familiarity, similarity, and attraction. In the first experiment, subjects viewed photographs of faces at various exposure frequencies and then rated them for likeableness and similarity. Familiar people were regarded by the subjects as both more likeable and more similar to themselves. The effects of familiarity on perceived similarity were primarily mediated by changes in attraction, although some evidence of a direct link between familiarity and perceived similarity was also found. In the second experiment, subjects viewed the same stimuli at a single exposure frequency, and received bogus information regarding the similarity of the people shown therein. Subsequent ratings of likeableness and perceived familiarity revealed that people who seemed similar to the subjects were regarded as both more likeable and more familiar. The effects of similarity on perceived familiarity were almost entirely mediated by changes in attraction. Some of the theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.
From childhood to old age people spend increasing amounts of their waking hours alone. This paper examines this enlarging solitary part of daily life as a distinct “experiential niche” having unique potentials and liabilities. The paper synthesizes a program of research in which people of different ages have provided reports on their experiences at random times during the day, including times when they are alone. Findings show that the immediate experience of daily solitude is usually one of loneliness and passivity. This is particularly true in adolescence; for older samples aloneness becomes both more common and less emotionally negative. At the same time, adolescents who spend at least some portion of their time alone appear to be better adjusted, perhaps because solitude facilitates the adolescent developmental tasks of individuation and identity formation, while in adulthood and old age, spending large amounts of time alone is more likely to be correlated with poor adjustment.
This article explores the concept of market embeddedness and its impact on purchasing behavior in a consumer market. Embeddedness exists when consumers derive utility from two sources simultaneously: from attributes of the product and from social capital found in preexisting ties between buyers and sellers. This framework is applied to the home party method of direct sales. We find that the degree of social capital present, as measured by the strength of the buyer-seller tie and buyer indebtedness to the seller. Significantly affects the likelihood of purchase. Copyright 1990 by the University of Chicago.
Two studies investigated the effect of good mood on cognitive processes. In the first study, conducted in a shopping mall, a positive feeling state was induced by giving subjects a free gift, and good mood, thus induced, was found to improve subjects' evaluations of the performance and service records of products they owned. In the second study, in which affect was induced by having subjects win or lose a computer game in a laboratory setting, subjects who had won the game were found to be better able to recall positive material in memory. The results of the two studies are discussed in terms of the effect that feelings have on accessibility of cognitions. In addition, the nature of affect and the relationship between good mood and behavior (such as helping) are discussed in terms of this proposed cognitive process.
Research on the social compliance procedure known as the foot-in-the-door (FITD) technique is reviewed. Several psychological processes that may be set in motion with a FITD manipulation are identified: self-perception, psychological reactance, conformity, consistency, attributions, and commitment. A review of relevant investigations and several meta-analyses support the notion that each of these processes can influence compliance behavior in the FITD situation. I argue that the combined effects of these processes can account for successful FITD demonstrations as well as studies in which the technique was ineffective or led to a decrease in compliance. The experimental conditions most likely to produce an FITD effect are identified.
This article introduces a vocabulary suitable for evolutionary analyses in the human cognitive, social, and behavioral sciences. The vocabulary carves a middle way between advocates and critics of evolutionary perspectives by substituting the concept of repeated assembly for nature-nurture dualism. A model of core configurations-based on human morphology and ecology in human evolutionary history-is presented, and I argue that these configurations of face-to-face groups are the selective context for uniquely human mental systems. Hence, human cognition is "truly social," specialized for group living. The relevance of the core configuration model is illustrated with respect to two areas of interest to social psychologists: the self and social identity, and distributed cognition and shared reality. A final section illustrates the integrative power of the core configuration model with a brief comparison of the social and cognitive tasks faced by scientists and foragers.
- E J Langer
Langer, E. J. (1989). Mindfulness. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.