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The effect of severity of initiation on liking for a group.
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1959
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Group PhenomenonBehavioral Decision MakingSocial PsychologySocial InfluenceSocial SciencesPsychologyIntergroup RelationSevere InitiationConformitySocial IdentityBehavioral SciencesCognitive ScienceGroup SocializationApplied Social PsychologySocial Identity TheoryUnpleasant InitiationSocial CognitionPsycinfo Database RecordSocial BehaviorInterpersonal Attraction
An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that persons who undergo an unpleasant initiation to become members of a group increase their liking for the group; that is, they find the group more attractive than do persons who become members without going through a severe initiation. This hypothesis was derived from Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. 3 conditions were employed: reading of before a group, mildly embarrassing material to be read, no reading. The results clearly verified the hypothesis. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)