Developmental study of balance, agreement, and attraction effects in the ratings of hypothetical social situations.

Abstract

A study was conducted in which children in four age groups-5-6, 7-8, 9-10, and 11-12 years-rated eight hypothetical social situations of the P-O-X type for pleasantness and for psychological consistency. The results indicated that children in all age groups based their ratings of both pleasantness and consistency primarily on attraction (i.e., the sign of the P/O bond). Balance and agreement effects, although statistically significant, were small in all groups. The findings were confirmed in a cross-validation study conducted concurrently with the principal study by an independent naive experimenter.Balance involves the interaction of the liking relation between P and 0 and the agreement between them concerning X. Balanced states are those in which P and O like one another and agree or, alternatively, where they dislike one another and disagree. Imbalanced states combine interpersonal liking and disagreement or disliking and agreement. The implication of this principle, according to Heider (1946Heider ( , 1958, is that neither agreement nor attraction alone, but the interaction between them, produces strain for consistency. Zajonc (1968) compared the effect of balance with the effect of attraction (independent of agreement) and agreement (independent of attraction) for eight studies purporting to test Heider's theory. The results of this comparison, according to Zajonc, failed to yield strong support for the balance principle since approximately half of the studies favored agreement over balance as the more critical determinant of the subjects' responses. Inspection of the studies cited by Zajonc indicates, however, that the bulk of evidence in favor of agreement comes from studies which used pleasantness ratings as the

A two‐valued logic or two‐valued balance resolution of the challenge of agreement and attraction effects in p‐o‐x triads, and a theoretical perspective on conformity and hedonism

“…The contact interpretation cannot account for such a difference, and it is clear that any totally adequate interpretation of the attraction and agreement effects must be able to explain their differential magnitudes. Second, consistent with indications from earlier studies (Crockett, 1974;Gutman and Knox, 1972;Gutman, Knox and Storm, 1974;Miller and Norman, 1976) that pleasantness scales reveal larger attraction and agreement effects than do consistency and/or expectancy scales, Insko and Adewole (1979) found in two separate studies that ratings on affective scales (pleasantness and harmony) yield larger attraction and agreement effects than do ratings on relatively more cognitive scales (expectancy, consistency and stability). Again, there is no obvious way in which the contact interpretation of the attraction and agreement effects can account for such results.…”

Positive and Negative Opinion Modeling: The Influence of Another's Similarity and Dissimilarity.

“…People generally like those with whom they agree, in part because having one's view of the world validated is reinforcing (e.g., Byrne, 1961;Clore & Baldridge, 1968;Condon & Crano, 1988;Festinger, 1951;Gutman, Knox, & Storm, 1974;C. E. Miller & Norman, 1976).…”

“…This may be a particularly difficult set of issues to untangle, as research has repeatedly shown that similarity and likability are strongly related (e.g., Bornstein, 1989;Byrne, 1961;Byrne et al, 1966;Byrne et al, 1967;Clore & Baldridge, 1968;Condon & Crano, 1988;Gutman et al, 1974;C. E. Miller & Norman, 1976).…”

The role of assumed reciprocation of sentiment and assumed similarity in the production of attraction and agreement effects in p-o-x triads.

“…One of these factors relates to the type of rating scale. Existing research by Crockett (1974); Gutman and Knox (1972); Gutman, Knox, and Storm (1974);and Miller and Norman (1976) suggests that pleasantness scales reveal larger attraction effects than do consistency and/or expectancy ratings. Experiment 1 contains a scales factor that includes five different rating scales: pleasant-ness, harmony, expectancy, consistency, and stability.…”