Effects of Initiation Severity and Interest on Group Attitudes

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Abstract
This experiment examined some conditions of the generality of the finding that a severe initiation leads to liking for a group. Sex, interest in joining a group, and severity of initiation were included in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design. It was found that females liked the group members most following a severe initiation, but this was not true for males. Males had the least interest in continuing with a group following a severe initiation, while the females' interest was almost unaffected by their initiations. Subjects who were most interested in joining in the beginning perceived the initiation as most severe. The perception of the meaningfulness of the initiation was influenced by all three independent variables in a triple interaction.

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