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Student Research Day Abstracts and Posters
Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative
Activity
Spring 5-14-2015
Come Closer: Cognitive Dissonance Between
Strangers
Melissa Bond
Chapman University, bond111@mail.chapman.edu
Connie Shears
Chapman University, shears@chapman.edu
Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cusrd_abstracts
Part of the Cognitive Psychology Commons, and the Gender and Sexuality Commons
Recommended Citation
Bond, Melissa and Shears, Connie, "Come Closer: Cognitive Dissonance Between Strangers" (2015). Student Research Day Abstracts
and Posters. Paper 103.
http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cusrd_abstracts/103
This Poster is brought to you for free and open access by the Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity at Chapman University Digital
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C O M E
C L O S E R
MELISSA BOND
CONNIE SHEARS
Physical touch and warmth
create closeness (Williams
and Bargh, 2008; Parker,
2011)
F/F M/F
GENDER COMBINATION
F(4,89)=2.545, p<.05
20
15
10
5
0
-5
F/F M/F
neutral
familial
romantic
male-male
POSE
CHAIRS
3 chairs away
IAS
(Interpersonal
Attraction Scale)
We could never
establish a personal
friendship with
each other.
My partner is very
sexy looking
2 chairs away
1 chair away
My partner would
be a poor problem
solver.
My partner just
wouldn’t fit into my
circle of friends.
90
participants
Participants
posed for a
photograph
for 30
seconds
Pre-post
measures of
chairs and
IAS taken
M/F combo follows expected hierarchy of pose,
while M/M and F/F combo do not
Supports Sielski (1979)
Male/female interactions need least personal space
and are most conducive to generating closeness
Male/male interactions need most space, generate
least closeness
F/F combo generating significant closeness in
neutral pose
Dissonance created by study not as great as
necessary to have desired effect
More studies needed to assess dissonance
between people
REFERENCES
Felipe, N. J. and Sommer R. (1966). Invasions of Personal Space. Social Problems, 14(2), 206-214
Khan, A.Y., & Kamal, A. (2010). Exploring reactions to invasion of personal space in university
students. Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 20(2), 80-99.
McCroskey, J., & McCain, T. (1974). The Measurement Of Interpersonal Attraction. Communication
Monographs, 41(3), 261-266.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press
Parker, R. A., (2011). The effects of physical touch and thermal warmth on interpersonal trust,
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, 66.
Sielski, L. M. (1979). Understanding Body Language. Personnel & Guidance Journal, 57(5), 238.
Williams, L. E., & Bargh, J. A. (2008). Experiencing Physical Warmth Promotes Interpersonal
Warmth. Science, 322(5901), 606-607.
D I S C U S S I O N
GENDER
MEASURES
PROCEDURE
F(4,89)=2.074, p=.09
MANIPULATIONS
male-female
M/M
GENDER COMBINATION
M E T H O D S
female-female
M/M
KEY
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
NEUTRALFAMILIALROMANTIC
If participants are
placed in male/female
combination, then they
will feel closer to their
partner following the
photograph than if
placed in female/female
combination or male/
male combination.
PERCENT CHANGE
Invasion of personal space
causes compensatory
behaviors (Felipe and
Sommer, 1966; Khan and
Kamal, 2010)
CHAIRS
Missing pieces?
Cognitive dissonance has
not been applied to issues of
personal space, or physical
touch.
R E S U L T S
IAS
Cognitive dissonance
states that behaviors dictate
attitude (Festinger, 1957)
If participants are placed
in romantic pose, then
they will feel closer to
their partner following
the photograph than if
placed in the neutral or
familial pose.
HYPOTHESES
I N T R O D U C T I O N
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE BETWEEN STRANGERS