POWRE: Systematic Investigation of Effects of Media and Change in Social Attitudes on Status-Organizing Processes in Task Groups

最近对社会影响过程的实验研究表明，与先前的研究相比，社会影响水平较低。本项目侧重于系统地调查这种差异的三个来源：(1)关于影响影响过程的社会特征的文化态度的变化，(2)进行社会影响研究实验的媒介的差异（即，视频媒介与计算机媒介的实验），以及(3)实验者遵循的程序的差异。在这个实验中，受试者完成一项决策任务，表面上是通过与搭档合作完成的。在现实中，伴侣是通过电脑软件或录像带来模拟的。合作伙伴的行为被操纵，在任务解决方案上引入分歧。评估影响的方法是确定在发生分歧后，当事人拒绝遵守伴侣立场的频率。为了测试性别和媒体效应，使用2（受试者性别：男性vs女性）x 2（伴侣性别：男性vs女性）x 2（媒介：电脑vs视频）析因设计。该项目基于地位特征理论的论点，该理论描述了区分人们的社会属性（如年龄、种族和性别）如何对应于人们对彼此的能力期望差异并影响行为。能力期望源于对社会特征的文化信仰。因此，这种信念的转变可能导致影响过程的变化，解释了在最近的理论测试中发现的较低的影响水平。此外，最近的实验是在计算机环境中进行的，而早期的研究是在视频环境中进行的。因此，媒体效应是影响程度降低的另一种解释。对以前和最近关于社会影响的实验的检查也揭示了所使用的协议的差异。因此，目前尚不清楚近期研究中较低的影响率是否源于(1)文化态度的变化，(2)媒介效应，和/或(3)实验管理程序的变化。这个项目将有助于加深对文化态度对人际交往的影响，以及传播媒介对社会交往的影响的理解。还将获得有关计算机媒介实验的宝贵信息。研究者一直致力于计算机软件的开发，通过该软件可以进行状态特征理论实验。媒介和程序效果的衔接对这项工作至关重要。在取得理论和实证进展之前，必须将媒体的影响与对社会属性的文化理解的影响分开。因此，这种探索性研究对研究者的研究议程和学术生涯的发展至关重要。

Experimental research on social influence processes has recently revealed lower levels of social influence compared to prior research. This project focuses on systematically investigating three sources of this variation: (1) changes in cultural attitudes regarding social characteristics that affect influence processes, (2) differences in the medium through which experiments studying social influence are conducted (i.e., video-mediated vs. computer-mediated experiments), and (3) differences in the procedures that experimenters have followed. In this experiment, subjects complete a decisionmaking task, ostensibly by working with a partner. In reality, the partner is emulated via computer software or videotape. The partner's behavior is manipulated, introducing disagreements regarding the task solution into the interaction. Influence is assessed by determining how often the subject refuses to comply with the position of the partner following the disagreements. To test gender and media effects, a 2 (subject gender: male vs. female) x 2 (partner's gender: male vs. female) x 2 (medium: computer vs. video) factorial design is used. This project rests on arguments from Status Characteristics Theory, which describes how social attributes (like age, race, and sex) that differentiate people correspond to differences in competency expectations that people hold for one another and influence behavior. Competency expectations arise from cultural beliefs regarding social characteristics. Thus, shifts in such beliefs may lead to changes in influence processes, accounting for the lower influence levels found in recent tests of the theory. Also, recent experiments were conducted in a computerized context, while earlier studies were conducted in a video context. As such, media effects represent an alternative explanation for reduced influence levels. Examination of previous and recent experiments on social influence also reveal differences in the protocols that were used. Consequently, it is unclear whether lower influence rates in recent research arise from (1) changes in cultural attitidues, (2) media effects, and/or (3) variations in the procedures followed in administering the experiments. This project will lead to enhanced understanding of the effect of cultural attitudes on interpersonal interaction, as well as the effects of communication media on social interaction. Valuable information on computer-mediated experimentation will also be gained. The investigator has been engaged in the development of computer software through which Status Characteristics Theory experiments can be conducted. The articulation of media and procedural effects is critical to this work. The effects of media must be disentangled from the effects of cultural understandings of social attributes before theoretical and empirical advances can be made. Consequently, this exploratory research is critical to the development of the investigator's research agenda and scholarly career.