In Experiment 1, subjects were told that they were either the "only one" (low consensus) or "one of several" (high) consensus) writing a discrepant essay and received high choice for the essay. High consensus attenuated attitude change and led to situational attributions. Under low choice (Experiment 2), attitude change, attributions of causality, perceptions of the importance and usefulness of the essay did not vary between consensus conditions, providing little support for alternative interpretations.
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