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Abstract

Male college students were induced either to assist or not to assist their partner under conditions where they had previously established a norm of assistance or nonassistance. They then were in formed of either a bad news (experimen tal group) or a good news (control group) message intended for their partners. As predicted, subjects who learned of good news transmitted more completely/ spontaneously than those who learned of bad news (p < .001). Greater transmission of bad news by subjects who initially agreed to assist their partner (p < .025) was explained in terms of Ss perception of the role relationship betuveen Ss in the experimental situation. The finding that the effects of both actual (behavioral) assistance, which resulted in a marginally significant increase in the transmission of bad news (p < . 10), and the establishment of a norm of assistance were additive in their effect on the transmission decision is explained in terms of increasing salience of the social responsibility norm.

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The Effect of Prior Assistance/Nonassistance and Norms Regarding Assistance On Transmission of Valenced Messages

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