Principal investigator: Christianne Morrison Contact information: [email protected]
Thank you for your participation in this study.
The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of interpersonal closeness on persuasion and conformity. First, you were given mixed information about a fake increase in fees that the London Transit Commission might undertake to create a state of ambivalence. You underwent either an interpersonal closeness or casual condition with “another participant”. This participant was actually a confederate, a person helping run the study. This was through an adapted version of an established questionnaire, “The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness”, by Aron et al. (1997) and Relationship Closeness Induction Task (Sedikides, 1999). You then were entered into a new chatroom where the moderator asked both you and your chatroom partner your feelings on the investment after undergoing either the close or casual condition. The
chatroom was also made up of confederates. You then completed a post-interaction questionnaire that assessed your interaction with the confederate and then assess your levels of ambivalence. The predictions of the findings of the study are that interpersonal closeness will cause individuals who are ambivalent toward a specific attitude object to then gravitate toward the answers of someone they feel close to (Moore, 1921). It was also predicted that this effect will be greater for women than men. This is suggested by persuasion and conformity literature which supports the notion that women are more persuadable and tend to conform to the attitudes of others more (Whittaker, 1965). A study by Ubando (2016) found that in relationships, women had higher scores on levels of supportiveness than their male counterparts in supportiveness within close personal relationships. It is suggested that supportiveness could lead to being more persuadable as females would want to demonstrate their supportiveness by agreeing with a male participant, thus being more persuadable. This is complimented by the finding that men tend to overestimate the extent to which they are warm and supportive in relationships, which suggests they may not get as objectively close to their partner as they think they are, and also would not feel the need to be as supportive. In contrast, women did not think as highly about their levels of intimacy, which may lead them to overcompensate and try even harder to achieve interpersonal closeness.
Here are some references if you want to learn more about this research:
Aaron, A. et al. (1997). The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23.
Asch, S. E. (1951). Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgment. In H. Guetzkow (ed.) Groups, leadership and men. Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Press.
Brown, S. M. (1979) Male versus female leaders: A comparison of empirical studies Sex Roles, 5(5), pp 595–61.
Eagly, A. H., & Chrvala, C. (1986). Sex differences in conformity: Status and gender role interpretations. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 10(3), 203-220.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1986.tb00747.x
Hebl, M. R. (1995). Gender bias in leader selection. Teaching of PsychologyVol. 22, Iss. 3, 186-
188. doi:10.1207/s15328023top2203_6
Important Information Related to Your Participation
There will be just one session for this experiment. The study will not take more than 40 minutes of your time. Participation is voluntary and you may refuse to participate, refuse to answer any questions or withdraw from the study at any time. A refusal to participate will have no adverse consequences on your school grades or status. If you complete a survey and then decide that you would like to withdraw from the study, your data is impossible to individually delete as it is not tied to you. Because of this, any complete data sets will be used in the analysis.
Confidentiality
All information and data provided by you will remain confidential. You will not be identified in any reports of this study. In addition, your responses will be anonymous. Your professors or classmates will not see your responses. Your responses will be identified with a number and will not be linked with your name in any way. The responses that you provide will only be used for research purposes. All data collected from the study will only be accessible by the authorized researchers and will be stored electronically in a secure location in the Psychology Department at Huron University College for a minimum of 5 years. Any data reported from this study (e.g., conference presentations or publications) will be reported in the aggregate.
Risks, Costs and Benefits to You
It is possible you might be uncomfortable or embarrassed about answering personal questions on the survey. Some questions asked are quite personal but not outside of what you may experience in your day to day life and ask that you open up in the chat room. Participation in the study is voluntary. You will not be required to answer any question that makes you uncomfortable. You may refuse to participate, refuse to answer any questions, or withdraw from the study at any time with no effect on your school involvement. You will also be given the contact information for the researchers in case you have any additional concerns and/or questions. Although not anticipated, you will also be provided with counselor contact information should any negative effects from this study persist.
We think that you will enjoy participating in the chatroom as it is an opportunity to explore your own thoughts and feelings. This research may provide significant social and scientific benefits through the knowledge that will be gained about how individuals change the way they make decisions after undergoing an interpersonal closeness manipulation.
Psychology Department: [email protected].
Mental Health & Wellness Support at Huron and at Western
Students who are stressed, emotionally distressed or in mental health crisis please refer to: huronuc.ca/student-life-campus/student-services/health-wellness for a complete list of options about how to obtain help, or email [email protected] to access your wellness staff directly.
Additional supports for Health and Wellness may be found and accessed at Western through: www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/.
Huron is committed to providing a safe, welcoming campus for students, staff and faculty by providing confidential assistance to those who have personal safety concerns. Providing a safe and welcoming campus for students, staff and faculty is one of Huron’s top priorities. The Student Emergency Response Team (SERT) provides medical response to 9-1-1 calls on Main, Brescia and Huron campuses which operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week during the academic year. SERT is dispatched through the campus community Police Service (CCPS) to any medical emergency on campus at (519) 661-3300. For more information about SERT please visit: sert.uwo.ca/about-sert/about- sert/.
Curriculum Vitae
Name: Christianne Morrison
Place and Year of Birth: Calgary, Canada, 1997
Secondary School Diploma: Senior Matriculation, West Island College, Calgary, Canada
Awards: Hellmuth Scholarship, Huron University College,
2015-2020
RBC Diversity Scholarship, Toronto, 2019 Ron and Nancy Clark HBA Entrepreneurship Award, Richard Ivey Business School, 2020