Systematic Variation in the Clarity of Demand Characteristics in an Experiment Employing a Confederate
- 1 August 1970
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Psychological Reports
- Vol. 27 (1) , 55-60
- https://doi.org/10.2466/pr0.1970.27.1.55
Abstract
60 female Ss were randomly assigned to observe an autokinetic light under one of three conditions, a no-confederate condition, a silent-confederate condition, and a talking-confederate condition. Predictions derived from Orne's construct of demand characteristics were generally confirmed, including the following: Variance of social influence scores was greatest for Ss with a confederate whose estimates were unknown to S; conformity to the verbal estimates of a confederate was greatest for Ss who believed E expected conformity. The findings could not be explained by achievement striving or self-persuasion.Keywords
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