Previous research has shown that thinking about some attitude object results in more polarized attitudes than being distracted from thinking about the object. In this study, 64 subjects indicate their attitudes toward fictitious persons. After thinking about the person or being distracted from thinking about the person, they again scaled their…

Personal dispositional variables conflicting with social pressure and the resulting behavior, which follows a cusp catastrophe, were investigated. Female undergraduates (N=200) completed a set of attitude questionnaires using a Crutchfield console. Results indicate that: (1) when social pressure is low, behavior is a smooth, monotonic function of…

This paper describes the self-evaluation maintenance model (SEM) which suggests that much social behavior can be understood by assuming that persons are motivated to maintain a positive self-evaluation. The two processes by which one's social circumstances may affect self-evaluation, i.e., reflection and comparison, are described. The relationship…