CONFORMING BEHAVIOR AS A FUNCTION OF THE INTERACTION OF SITUATIONAL VARIABLES AND NEEDS FOR AFFILITATION AND ACHIEVEMENT.
Abstract
In order to explore the interactive effects of several variables which have been demostrated, in isolation, to govern the occurrence of conforming behavior, a complex multivariate study was executed. Variables investigated included three situational factors (ambiguity of the judgmental task, goal-orientation of the subject in performing the task, and prestige of the source of social influence pressures) and one motivational factor (relative dominance of achievement or affiliation motivation as measured by the EPPS). Subjects were 112 university students, and social pressures were applied to judgments of word synonyms in a paper-and-pencil task. Greater susceptibility to pressures to conform occurred regardless of other conditions (a) on difficult or ambiguous tasks as compared to easy unambiguous tasks and (b) when subjects were informed that the task was a potential assessment of intellectual ability than when they were told that it was an investigation of conventionality in word associations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0607197
Entities
People
- Frank Sistrunk
- John W. Mcdavid
Organizations
- University of Miami