Brief guided group discussion and classroom lights: normative influence can be limited with a public request for commitment / Breve discusión guiada en grupo e iluminación del aula: la influencia normativa se puede limitar con una petición pública de compromiso

Abstract

An initial survey indicated university students were reluctant to turn off classroom lights in part because of concerns they were not allowed to do so. An intervention was designed to teach students they had the right and responsibility to turn off lights. Short (3–5 min) guided discussions just prior to class periods emphasized that the university requested their help to save money and energy by turning off classroom lights. Classroom lights were observed during baseline, a two-week intervention and a seven-week follow-up period. Results replicated a previous study in that lights were turned off more often in guided-discussion than in no-discussion classrooms, p < .005. In separate analyses, asking students to nod their heads if they supported the programme was associated with significantly more lights left on, compared to the same guided discussion without the head nods request, p < .02. This suggests that rather than enhancing normative influence, asking for public head nods reduced participation, perhaps through diffusion of responsibility, psychological reactance or self-validation processes.