SOME SITUATIONAL AND COGNITIVE DETERMINANTS OF ROLE PLAYING: A REPLICATION AND AN EXTENSION.
Abstract
In a study by Harvey (1963) representatives of each of the four principal conceptual systems posited by Harvey, Hunt and Schroder (1961) were required to construct and present either in public or in private arguments that ran counter to their own beliefs on the issue of whether or not philosophy should be required as a minor for all college undergraduates. The present study, in addition to its aim of providing predictors for performance of Peace Corps volunteers in training, sought to determine if the findings of Harvey would hold for a different issue and for arguments that were consonant with an individual's beliefs as well as for arguments that ran counter to his stand. To determine this generalizability, 174 Peace Corps trainees, classified into conceptual systems, were required to construct and present aloud arguments that were both in accord and contradiction with their beliefs about the American way of life. This condition approximates the public condition of the Harvey study. However, performance in the present study probably induced more stress because not only were the subjects playing the role in the presence of representatives of institutional authority, they had been led to believe that their remaining in the Peace Corps depended to some extent upon the battery of tests they were given, of which the role playing experiment was one.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1965
- Accession Number
- AD0627590
Entities
People
- James A. Kline
- O. J. Harvey
Organizations
- University of Colorado Boulder