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1.1C People in Groups Summary Problem 1
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This is a summary of the literature provided for problem 1 in the course People in Groups.
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People in Groups 1Information for problem 1
What is the link between fear of heights and sexual arousal?
Two-Factor-Theory of Emotion
• Stanley Schachter (1959) & Singer (1962)
o When people are frightened, they seek the company of people in the same situation
o Probably want to compare themselves with others
o two factors are necessary to feel a specific emotion
§ physiological arousal
§ cognitive interpretation
o experiment: injected men with epinephrine
§ Group 1: were correctly informed that this causes arousal
§ Group 2: were given no explanation
§ Group 3: injected a placebo, were given wrong information about symptoms
• Group 3 looks at the other groups to identify their sensation
• Group 1 & 2 were unaffected by the behaviour of others
o Group 1 had an explanation & Group 2 had no symptoms
• Conclusion: When people are unclear about their own emotions, they sometimes
interpret their emotional state by watching others. (Reisenzein, 1983)
• Passionate love
o According to the two-factor-theory, love consist of
§ Heightened state of physiological arousal
§ Belief that this arousal is triggered by the beloved person
Excitation transfer theory (Dolf Zillmann 1984)
• Arousal triggered by one stimulus can be transferred/ added to the arousal from a
second stimulus
o Combined arousal is perceived as caused by only the second stimulus
o Physiological symptoms can be misattributed
o you respond overly aggressive to someone stealing your parking spot because
you are still aroused from working out
§ excitation from working out is transferred to the current situation
o the reaction towards the second stimulus may be intensified
o you do not realize that your anger sourced from another situation
• Expression of aggression is a function of
o A learned aggressive behaviour
o Arousal or excitation from another source
o the person’s interpretation of the arousal state
• applied on sexual arousal & attraction
o nervous system activation triggered by anger induction, emotional roleplay, fear-
arousing situation, exercise, etc. enhance perceptions of sexual attractiveness
• Sexual attraction-emotion link may even occur when the emotions are unambiguous
, People in Groups 1
Experiments by Donald Dutton & Arthur Aron (1974)
Experiment 1
• tested Zillmann’s theory on two bridges
o Capilano bridge: narrow, wobbly, 230 feet high
o Other bridge: wide, sturdy, 10 feet high
o Attractive woman asked men from 18 to 35 to fill out a questionnaire on a
Thematic Apperception Test picture & gave them her contact details
o Participants needed to write a short, dramatic story based on a picture (TAT)
• More men from the scary bridge called her compared to the stable bridge
• The written stories from the man on the scarier bridge contained more sexual content
• Sexual attraction occurs with increased frequency during states of strong emotion
Experiment 2
• Same circumstances as in experiment 1
• Two different groups: male visitors who had not crossed the bridge & males who had crossed
the bridge
• Showed the same results as in experiment 1
Experiment 3 (University of British Columbia)
• Subjects entered a room with electrical equipment
• Experimenter left the room & left articles on effects of electric shocks on learning
• Experimenter re-entered the room with an attractive female confederate who is presented
as another participant
• Experimenter explains that they will use two levels of shock: quite painful & mere tingle
• Participants need to flip a coin to determine who gets which level of shock
• Experimenter leaves the room while participants fill out a questionnaire
o “How much would you like to ask her out for a date?” (assessment of attraction to
the confederate)
o Questions about the TAT picture
o “How do you feel about being shocked?” (5-point scale, assessment of anxiety)
• Results: sexual imagery was higher when both the subject & the confederate expected strong
shock
• Strong emotion generally increases the subject’s sexual attraction to the confederate
Experiment by Gregory white
• Male participants
• Group 1 ran for 2 min
• Group 2 for 15 sec
• Showed them a video of an attractive or unattractive woman
• Group 2 rated the woman as even more attractive or unattractive
• Arousal intensifies emotional reactions -> arousal attraction effect
• Effect also occurs when there is no misattribution
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