Two experiments investigated whether minority influence and conformity operate by the same or by different processes. It was predicted that subjects who were simultaneously exposed to a majority and a minority condition would move towards the minority in private but towards the majority in public. Eighty-four females with moderate attitudes towards gay rights were selected for Experiment 1 by an attitude pretest. In a 3 x 2 design, subjects either read a summary of a discussion in which four participants opposed and one favored gay rights, or one in which four participants favored and one opposed gay rights, or no summary (control group). Subsequently, half of the subjects responded to an attitude posttest on gay rights in private, the other half in public. A 3 (influence condition) x 2 (private/public) ANACOVAR on the posttest scores with pretest scores as covariate supported the predicted interaction between influence condition and private versus public response. Experiment 2 investigated three hypotheses predicting that (1) the above interaction would be replicated, (2) minorities would trigger more arguments and counterarguments, and (3) cognitive activity could mediate internalization but not compliance. Eighteen males and 30 females were exposed to the same procedure as in Experiment 1, but recorded their own thoughts before responding to the posttest. A 2 (influence condition) x 2 (private/public) x 2 (order) ANACOVAR on the posttest scores with pretest and sex as covariates replicated the interaction of Experiment 1. The second hypothesis was not supported. However, a 2 (influence condition) x 2 (order) x 2 (minority/majority) x 2 (arguments/counterarguments) mixed ANACOVAR with sex as covariate revealed that minorities triggered more arguments and fewer counterarguments than majorities. The third hypothesis was supported in a multiple regression / procedure in which influence condition was either entered before or after the cognitive activity scores. If entered second, the effect of influence condition on attitude change was wiped out for the private but not for the public responses. The results were interpreted as supporting the dual process model. Implications for future research and methodological issues are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-03, Section: B, page: 0914. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_74799 |
| Contributors | MAASS, ANNE., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 90 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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