COMPLIANCE AND ATTITUDE CHANGE UNDER CONDITIONS OF DIFFERENTIAL SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT.

12 Ss known to have positive attitudes toward the church, as measured by a modification of Thurstone's scale, were induced to read a strongly antichurch essay before 3-person audiences. Unknown to any of the Ss, 4 speakers addressed prochurch listeners, 4 read the speech to neutral groups, and 4 faced audiences composed of antichurch individuals. All of the groups then discussed the communication for 12 min. The speakers as a group showed a change in attitude toward the church consistent with the position taken by the communication. This change toward a less favorable stand was found to come principally from those speakers who had discussed the speech with individuals who were either neutral or negatively disposed toward the church. The results are interpreted as supporting a reinforcement theory of attitude change in an induced compliance situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology is the property of American Psychological Association and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)