Impact of gendered ingroup/outgroup ostracism on women's academic performances.

This study investigated the impact of ostracism (vs. inclusion) for women in a same-sex vs. opposite-sex group on their cognitive performances. Female participants played Cyberball with other women or men and were either included or excluded. Participants then had to engage in the performance tasks. Results showed that women's performance was decreased by ostracism in a math task (but not a verbal task) yet only in the same-sex condition. Furthermore, this result was obtained only among participants who did the numeric task first. No effect was observed in the verbal task. Two replications of the initial study were conducted using the math task. The result of the first study has been replicated one time. A meta-analysis revealed a small effect of ostracism on performance in the ingroup condition, whereas the effect seems to be non-existent in the outgroup condition. Results are discussed and future perspectives are proposed.

Promising reciprocity: When proposing a favor for a request increases compliance even if the favor is not accepted.

Research has reported that reciprocity is an important social norm in relationships. In previous studies on reciprocity, participants' behavior was examined after receiving a favor from someone. In a series of field studies, we examined the effect of a statement that proved that a solicitor was someone who respected this principle. Confederates solicited participants for money or a cigarette in exchange for stamps or money, respectively. It was found that the participants complied more readily with the request in the promised favor condition, but most of them refused to take the promised favor. We conclude that individuals were led to help those who respected the putative norm of reciprocity in their social interaction.

THE EFFECT OF THE "EVOKING FREEDOM" TECHNIQUE ON AN UNUSUAL AND DISTURBING REQUEST.

The "evoking freedom" technique consists in soliciting someone to comply with a request by simply saying that she is free to accept or to refuse the request. However, previous studies used low cost requests. The present study examined the magnitude of this technique associated with a more disturbing and costly request. Sixty men and 60 women aged approximately 20-25 years walking in the street were asked by a male confederate to hold a closed transparent box containing a live trap-door spider while he went into the post office to pick up a package. In the evoking freedom condition, the confederate added in his request that the participant was "free to accept or to refuse." More compliance occurred in the "evoking freedom" condition (53.3%) than in the control condition (36.7%). These results confirm the robustness and the magnitude of the evoking freedom technique on compliance and show that this technique remained effective even when the request was psychologically costly to perform and was associated with fear.

When Legitimizing a Request Increases Compliance: The Legitimizing Object Technique.

Earlier research reported that using pictures in a fundraising request increases donations by legitimizing the solicitation. The present study tested the effectiveness of a solicitation for money made in the street when an object that legitimated the request was present or not. Male confederates asked passersby for money to buy a stamp while either holding or not holding an envelope in one hand. With a high effect-size, it was reported that the presence of the envelope increased compliance with the request. The legitimation of the request associated with the presence of the envelope is used to explain the results.

Words as environmental cues: the effect of the word "loving" on compliance to a blood donation request.

In a field setting, students (N = 3600) on different campus locations were solicited to give blood during a special one-day drive. Solicitations were made through face-to-face interactions. The solicitors wore a white T-shirt with different inscriptions: no inscription, Loving = Helping, Donating = Helping. Results showed that, when compared to the no inscription condition, the number of donors increased when the solicitor-confederates wore the T-shirt Loving = Helping whereas no effect was found when the confederates wore the T-shirt Donating = Helping. The activation spreading theory is used to explain these results. The practical application of these results for blood donation drives and other health-related fundraising events is explored.

When drivers see red: car color frustrators and drivers' aggressiveness.

Research has found that exposition to red is associated with physiological activation and fighting spirit. A field experiment was conducted to explore whether the color of cars is related to an aggressive response. Drivers waiting at a traffic light were blocked by an experimental car. The color of the car varied (blue, red, green, black, and white). The amount of time that elapsed until the drivers responded by honking their horns or beaming their headlights was the dependent variable. It was found that the red car elicited early aggressive response.

Foot-in-the-door technique using a courtship request: a field experiment.

"Foot-in-the-door" is a well-known compliance technique which increases compliance to a request. Many investigations with this paradigm have generally used prosocial requests to test its effect. Evaluation of the effect of foot-in-the-door was carried out with a courtship request. 360 young women were solicited in the street to accept having a drink with a young male confederate. In the foot-in-the-door condition, before being solicited to have a drink, the young woman was asked to give directions to the confederate or to give him a light for his cigarette. Analysis showed foot-in-the-door was associated with greater compliance to the second request. The theoretical implication of such results with this nonprosocial request are discussed.

Cartoon music in a candy store: a field experiment.

An experiment on consumers' behavior was carried out in a new field context. According to a random assignment, 60 customers from ages 12 to 14 years who entered a candy store were exposed to Top Forty music which was usually played in this store, music from cartoons (Captain Flame, Candy, Olive & Tom, etc.), or no music. Analysis showed that customers spent significantly more time in the store when cartoon music was played, but the two styles of music were not related to the amount of money spent.

Door-in-the-face technique and monetary solicitation: an evaluation in a field setting.

To test the door-in-the-face technique for a private solicitation, 53 men and 37 women in several bars were engaged. In one condition, a female confederate asked the subject to buy her drink because her boyfriend had left without paying the bill. After the subject refused, the confederate requested only 2 or 3 coins. In the control condition, the latter request was the only one. Analysis showed a dramatic increase in compliance for the door-in-the-face condition. A positive effect of the door-in-the-face technique was also observed for the average amount of the donation. The accentuation of the solicitor's dependency in the door-in-the-face condition seemed relevant for explanation.

Foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face: a comparative meta-analytic study.

The so-called foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face techniques have been generally considered as procedures which may consistently influence others' behavior. This study compared efficiency (in terms of compliance rates with various target requests) of both techniques using meta-analysis. It is based on the accumulated studies directly comparing foot-in-the-door (n=22, subjects= 1581) and door-in-the-face (n=22, subjects= 1611) under a similar target request. Analysis indicated no significant differences in efficiency between the paradigms.

Cultural differences in altruistic behavior: quasi replication of Uranowitz's "foot-in-the-door with implicit demand".

A study was designed to validate in France the so-called foot-in-the-door technique with implicit demand described by Uranowitz in 1975, a test of altruistic behavior shown previously to have a positive effect on compliance. However, in conditions of a high-justification request. Uranowitz did not obtain the subjects' compliance. In the present study of foot-in-the-door with implicit demand, subjects complied with the request whatever the justification. This result can be interpreted as differences in perceptions of the justifications among subjects of our study and those of Uranowitz.

Low-ball and compliance to a request: an application in a field setting.

The low-ball refers to a compliance technique in which a demand of someone to agree to a request is followed by telling the person the real cost of the request. The number of people who maintain their first decision is larger than the number in the condition in which the real cost of the request is stated prior to the initial compliance. Researches in this paradigm traditionally included a request addressed by a professor to students but was never tested between strangers. So, an experiment was carried out in which people were solicited to keep a dog (8 kg) on a lead until a male confederate returned from a visit to someone in a hospital. In low-ball condition, the confederate told the subject who agreed to the request that it would take 30 min., whereas in the control condition the confederate gave this information when stating his request. Analysis showed that low-ball technique leads people to maintain their first decision.

Request solicitation and semantic evocation of freedom: an evaluation in a computer-mediated communication context.

The "But you are free of..." technique is a compliance procedure which solicits someone to comply with a request by simply telling him that he is free to accept or to refuse the request. This semantic evocation leads to increased compliance with the request. A new evaluation of the generality of this technique was tested in an experiment in which subjects received an anonymous electronic mail which asked them to consult the site of a humanitarian association for children. Analysis showed that, when the semantic evocation of freedom is included in the message, a higher compliance rate was observed than in a situation in which this evocation was omitted.