Authority in the Public Eye
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Patrick Cushen
Presentation Format
Event
Abstract/Description
Recent research has suggested that watching others behave in an inconsistent or inappropriate manner can cause dissonance, particularly when one identifies with the person behaving inappropriately (Norton, Cooper, Monin, & Hogg, 2003). This research project investigated whether that vicarious dissonance would be influenced by whether the person behaving inappropriately was an authority or non-authority. Undergraduate students (N = 123) participated in an experimentwhere they were asked to write about either a friend or teacher they respected. They then read athe either read about a random teacher or student behaving in this way orin. Participants also completed an assessment of emotional state and the Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale (Aron, Aron, & Smollan, 1992), ameasure or perceived closeness between individuals, both before and after reading the story. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to evaluate whether ratings on the IOS changed from first to second administration and as a function of condition. The analysis revealed a significant interaction between administration time and condition, F (4, 118) = 50.81, p < .001. Planned follow-up analyses indicated that ratings on the IOS decreased significantly between first and second when having read about a respected teacher behaving inappropriately, F (1, 31) = 129.78, p < .001, but did not change significantly in any other conditions, all ps > .05
Location
Ohio Room, Curris Center
Start Date
April 2016
End Date
April 2016
Authority in the Public Eye
Ohio Room, Curris Center
Recent research has suggested that watching others behave in an inconsistent or inappropriate manner can cause dissonance, particularly when one identifies with the person behaving inappropriately (Norton, Cooper, Monin, & Hogg, 2003). This research project investigated whether that vicarious dissonance would be influenced by whether the person behaving inappropriately was an authority or non-authority. Undergraduate students (N = 123) participated in an experimentwhere they were asked to write about either a friend or teacher they respected. They then read athe either read about a random teacher or student behaving in this way orin. Participants also completed an assessment of emotional state and the Inclusion of Other in the Self Scale (Aron, Aron, & Smollan, 1992), ameasure or perceived closeness between individuals, both before and after reading the story. A repeated measures ANOVA was used to evaluate whether ratings on the IOS changed from first to second administration and as a function of condition. The analysis revealed a significant interaction between administration time and condition, F (4, 118) = 50.81, p < .001. Planned follow-up analyses indicated that ratings on the IOS decreased significantly between first and second when having read about a respected teacher behaving inappropriately, F (1, 31) = 129.78, p < .001, but did not change significantly in any other conditions, all ps > .05