Studies in forced compliance: I. The effect of pressure for compliance on attitude change produced by face-to-face role playing and anonymous essay writing.

Abstract

Abstract : One half of the experimental subjects (male high school students) were enticed to tell the next subject (a female accomplice) that the experimental task was interesting, exciting, fun, and enjoyable (when, in fact, it was quite dull). The other half of the experimental subjects wrote an anonymous essay to the same effect. Experimental subjects were paid an additional $.50, $1.50, or $5.00 for this counter-attitudinal response. Control subjects merely worked on the experimental task and completed the posttest. The data from the face-to-face condition replicates the original Festinger and Carlsmith experiment; small amounts of money were most effective in convincing Ss that the task was really fun and interesting. Data from the essay condition, however, indicated just the opposite. Large amounts of money produce the most attitude change. (Author)