The effect of severity of initiation on liking for a group.

“be less valued [1].”

“A basic tenet of classic dissonance theory is that people prefer consistency over inconsistency (Abelson et al., 1968; Aronson & Carlsmith, 1963; Aronson & Mills, 1959; Brehm, 1956; Festinger, 1957; Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959).”

“We have been exploring a similar effect using a simpler withinsubject design (Klein, Bhatt, & Zentall, 2005) than that used by Aronson and Mills (1959). At the start of each trial, human”

“Plotting pranks cemented group cohesiveness among the planners; enduring these initiation rites enhanced the commitment of the new initiate to the group and ensured eventual absorption into the team ( Aronson & Mills, 1959 ).”

“An alternative explanation would suggest that UTAs with heavy responsibilities may have been experiencing cognitive dissonance, or psychological tension caused by contradictory beliefs or attitudes (Festinger 1957 ), in the form of effort justification (Aronson and Mills 1959 ).”

“…has been studied in psychology by studies on “effort heuristics” (Kruger et al., 2004) and in social psychology by studies on “effort justification” (Aronson & Mills, 1959); a closely related idea is also suggested by studies on the “Ikea effect” (see Norton, Mochon, & Ariely, 2011), according…”

“Indeed, Brandt and Reyna (2012) showed that a preference for inequality was related to support for the status quo in unequal countries, but not in countries with high levels of equality.”

“Instead of optimizing their responses [32e34], participants may have filled out the then-test questions in a biased manner consistent with existing theories, such as effort justification [28,35], implicit theory of stability or change [36,37], or social desirability bias [38,39].”

“Since the theoretical assumption tested by Aronson and Mills implied a specific effect of a severe initiation, the fact that half a century ago, severity of an initiation would have to be manipulated differently from today does not invalidate the general conclusion. Similarly, the fact that different cartoons are cons…”

“…occasion (Boyer 2001; Morinis 1985; Siran 2002), while still others have emphasized the psychological mechanisms they bring into play, proposing interpretations along Freudian (Heald 1986; Ottenberg 1989), behavioralist (e.g., Bourdieu 1986, relying on Aronson and Mills 1959) or cognitive lines.”

“Indeed, classic paradigms in CDT manipulated, for instance, the pay for a discrepant behavior (Festinger and Carlsmith, 1959), the severity of the pressure to inhibit a behavior (Aronson and Carlsmith, 1962), or the deployed effort to join a group (Aronson and Mills, 1959).”

“According to this theory, once a subject is induced to expend effort on a challenging task, the worth of the task is revalued upward (Aronson & Mills, 1959).”

“The usual effect is that people begin to value the goal more, the more unpleasant the behavior–to guard against post-behavioral regret (Aronson and Mills, 1959).”

“Prior research has shown that customer perceptions of relationship marketing investments result in positive affective and behavioural responses in favour of the service organisation (Aronson and Mills, 1959, De Wulf et al., 2003).”

“…compliance (Festinger & Carlsmith, 1959), forbidden toy (Aronson & Carlsmith, 1963), free-choice (Brehm, 1956), and effort justification paradigms (Aronson & Mills, 1959), between beliefs and attitudes and new information, as in the belief disconfirmation paradigm (Batson, 1975; Burris,…”

“People place great value on things that require effort (Aronson & Mills, 1959; Festinger, 1962; Norton, Mochon, & Ariely, 2012) and, while they rate their job as one of their least pleasurable activities, they also rate it as one of the most rewarding (White & Dolan, 2009).”

“For example, using a design quite similar in principle to that used in the present research, Aronson and Mills (1959) invited female college students to join a discussion group.”

“Moreover, if a partner who sees me more negatively also treats me worse—a plausible correlation—I might, through cognitive dissonance, escalate my commitment to the relationship.([47]) In addition, if a partner fails to see me as I see myself, then it will subjectively seem to me that my partner is mistaken, and there…”

“A social context such as that used by Aronson and Mills (1959) may elicit learned strategies that can evoke unintended differences in the value of reinforcement.”

“Drawing on the psychological theory of cognitive dissonance, Aronson and Mills (1959) suggest that unpleasant initiation ceremonies can prepare group members for future disappointment and strengthen their identification with the group.”

“…fact, gangs have produced documents (e.g., the Latin King Bible, laws) that detail these organizational features and group rules, and many have concocted severe ritualized initiation rituals to produce tight-knit social bonds among members; a common tactic among many groups (Aronson & Mills, 1959).”

“On this note, it could be that the employees rate the effect higher, in terms of the “Justification-of-Effort-Theory” (see Aronson & Mills, 1959).”

“A study by Aronson and Mills ( 1959 ) showed that exposure to a highly embarrassing initiation procedure for joining a social group produced more liking for the group than a less-embarrassing initiation (for a replication see Gerard & Mathewson, 1966 ).”

“It would assume that intervention participants experienced dissonance to the degree that their training was demanding (Aronson and Mills 1959) and reduced the dissonance by altering”

“For example, Aronson and Mills (1959) demonstrated that individuals value group membership more if they have to undergo a severe initiation to join the group, and Aronson and Carlsmith (1963) showed that children valued a forbidden toy more when they were threatened with severe punishment if they…”

“The first, the “ severity-attraction hypothesis ” (Aronson & Mills, 1959), assumes that severity of initiations is positively related to liking of a group.”

“’ For example, Aronson and Mills (1959) had participants read aloud different types of material as an initiation test prior to listening to a group discussion.”

“Classic dissonance and self-perception psychological theories [34, 35], and more recent work on the “ effort heuristic ” [36], demonstrate that as individuals exert more effort toward a goal, judgments of the outcome of that effort become more positive.”

“Individuals experience dissonance arousal when they consider abandoning a project, task, or even a relationship into which they have put extensive time, effort, and resources (Aronson & Mills, 1959; Festinger & Aronson, 1960).”

“Research on “cognitive dissonance” [1,9] predicts that requiring more work will make users who do complete the entry barrier value MovieLens more, and thus (we hope) contribute more.”

“Many findings in the behavior–attitude literature and on the relationship between job attitude and turnover support this theory (e.g., Aronson & Mills, 1959; Axsom, 1989; Hom & Griffeth, 1991).”

“…Serpe, 1985, 1987; Stryker, 2000), being in a minority or having distinctive characteristics (Ethier & Deaux, 1994), experiencing discord between current and past social contexts (McGuire, McGuire, Child, & Fujioka, 1978), or experiencing a harsh initiation into the group (Aronson & Mills, 1959).”

“According to cognitive dissonance theory, greater effort also predicts greater internalization of attitudes and beliefs (e.g., Aronson & Mills, 1959).”

“From an experimental perspective, cognitive dissonance is usually tested through the five following paradigms: induced-compliance [2], belief-disconfirmation [3], effort justification [4], misattribution [5] and free-choice paradigms [6].”

“One way to achieve this may be by strengthening their current support for the club and their affiliation with their fellow fans (Aronson & Mills, 1959; Festinger, 1962; Gerard & Mathewson, 1966).”

“Using the free-choice paradigm, Brehm (1956) found that after making a difficult choice between two items, participants’ rating of their chosen alternative tended to rise and the rating of their rejected alternative tended to fall (the classic ‘spreading of alternatives’). Using an induced compliance paradigm, Festing…”

“As a result, subjects focus on the positive aspects of the discussion group at the expense of the negative aspects (Aronson and Mills 1959).”

“Typically, socialization takes the form of training or mentoring, although initiation ceremonies and informal social pressure are also sometimes used (Aronson & Mills, 1959; Lois, 1999; Moreland & Levine, 1989, 2000; Van Maanen, 1976).”

“The severityattraction hypothesis (Aronson & Mills, 1959) posits that the more effort one expends in achieving a goal (e.g., group membership), the more desirable the goal becomes.”

“For example, Aronson and Mills (1959) used cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) to study the effects of harsh initiation practices on bonds between group members.”

“Development of the contrast model proposed to account for the present findings, as well as those of Clement et al. (2000), Clement and Zentall (2002), and DiGian et al. (2004), was prompted by analogous findings in the human literature ( Aronson & Mills, 1959 ).”

“In one classic experiment, Aronson and Mills (1959) had female participants undergo an initiation to gain access to a group discussion.”

“A good illustration that historical or social change can make a manipulation inappropriate is the classic study by Aronson and Mills (1959) on the effects of the severity of initiation on the liking of a group.”

“…Götz, & Irle, 1974; Steele & Aronson, 1995); in cases of hypocrisy (e.g., E. Aronson, 1999; Fried & Aronson, 1995; Thibodeau & Aronson, 1992); or when the individual has invested unjustifi ed costs to reach a certain goal (e.g., E. Aronson, 1999; E. Aronson & Mills, 1959; Gerard & Mathewson, 1966).”