A 2 (anticipated initiation or control) by 2 (male or female) laboratory study (N = 72) sought to delineate factors explaining the effects of severe initiations on group attraction. Building upon Schachter’s affiliation theory, the authors formulated a severity-affiliation-attraction hypothesis (SAAH). SupportingSAAH, an anticipated-initiationconditionincreased participants’level of affiliationtendencyandgroupattractioncompared to a control condition. Also supporting the hypothesis, affiliation tendency significantly mediated the severity-attraction relationship. Interaction effects further indicated that SAAH held only for males, not for females, for whom a mere affiliation-attraction relationship was observed. Results suggest that, contrary to males, the anticipation of a threatening initiation does not appear to be effective in strengthening group attraction via affiliation-related processes for females.
Aronson, E., & Mills, J. (1959). The effects of severity of initiation on liking for a group. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 177-181.
2.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss (Vol. 1). New York: Basic Books.
3.
Brown, R. (2000). Group processes (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
4.
Cannon, W. B. (1932). The wisdom of the body. New York: Norton.
5.
Dornbusch, S. M. (1955). The military academy as an assimilating institution. Social Forces, 33, 316-321.
6.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
7.
Finer, W. D., Hautaluoma, J. E., & Bloom, L. J. (1980). The effects of severity and pleasantness of initiation on attraction to a group. Journal of Social Psychology, 111, 301-302.
8.
Gaertner, L., & Schopler, J. (1998). Perceived ingroup entitativity and intergroup bias: An interconnectionofself andothers. EuropeanJournalof SocialPsychology, 28, 963-980.
9.
Gerard, H. B., & Mathewson, G. C. (1966). The effects of severity of initiation on liking for a group: A replication. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 2, 278-287.
10.
Gump, B. B., & Kulik, J. A. (1997). Stress, affiliation, and emotional contagion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72, 305-319.
11.
Hautaluoma, J. E., Enge, R. S., Mitchell, T. M., & Rittwager, F. J. (1991). Early socialization into a work group: Severity of initiation revisited. Journal of Social Behavior & Personality, 6, 725-748.
12.
Hautaluoma, J. E., & Spungin, H. (1974). Effects of initiation severity and interest on group attitudes. Journal of Social Psychology, 93, 245-259.
13.
Hogg, M. A. (1992). The social psychology of group cohesiveness. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
14.
Kulik, J. A., Mahler, H. I. M., & Earnest, A. (1994). Social comparison and affiliation under threat: Going beyond the affiliate-choice paradigm. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 301-309.
15.
Leonardelli, G. J. (1999). The motivational underpinnings of social discrimination: A test of the self-esteem hypothesis. Unpublished master’s thesis, Ohio State University, Columbus.
16.
Levine, J. M., & Moreland, R. (1994). Group socialization: Theory and research. European Review of Social Psychology, 5, 305-336.
17.
Lodewijkx, H. F. M., & Akkersdijk, N. L. (1995). Ontgroening en groepsattractiviteit: Affiliatiebehoefte of dissonantiereductie [Initiation and liking for the group: Need for affiliation or dissonance reduction]. In P. van Lange, F. Siero, B. Verplanken, & E. van Schie (Eds.), Sociale Psychologie en haar toepassingen (Vol. 7, pp. 55-68). Delft, The Netherlands: Eburon.
18.
Lodewijkx, H. F. M., & Syroit, J. E. M. M. (1997). Severity of initiation revisited: Does severity of initiation increase attractiveness in real groups?European Journal of Social Psychology, 27, 275-300.
19.
Lodewijkx, H. F. M., & Syroit, J. E. M. M. (2001). Affiliation during naturalistic severe and mild initiations: Some further evidence against the severity-attraction hypothesis. Current Research in Social Psychology, 4(7), 90-107.
20.
Lodewijkx, H. F. M., & Van Zomeren, M. (2003). Severity of initiation: A utility affiliation perspective. Unpublished manuscript, Open University, Heerlen, The Netherlands.
21.
Mackie, D. M., Devos, T., & Smith, E. R. (2000). Intergroup emotions: Explaining offensive action tendencies in an intergroupcontext. Journalof Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 602-616.
22.
Moreland, R. L., & Levine, J. M. (1982). Socialization in small groups: Temporal changes in individual-group relations. In C. Hendrick (Ed.), Review of personality and social psychology: Group processes (Vol. 8, pp. 80-110). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
23.
Moreland, R. L., & Levine, J. M. (1989). Newcomers and old-timers in small groups. In P. B. Paulus (Ed.), The psychology of group influence (pp. 143-186). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
24.
Ondrack, D. A. (1975). Socialization in professional schools: A comparative study. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2, 172-191.
25.
Østvik, K., & Rudmin, F. (2001). Bullying and hazing among Norwegian army soldiers: Two studies of prevalence, context, and cognition. Military Psychology, 13(1), 17-39.
26.
Rabbie, J. M. (1963). Differential preference for companionship under threat. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67, 643-648.
27.
Rofé, Y. (1984). Stress and affiliation. A utility theory. Psychological Review, 91, 235-250.
28.
Rohlen, T. P. (1973). “Spiritual education” in a Japanese bank. American Anthropologist, 75, 1542-1562.
29.
Schachter, S. (1959). The psychologyof affiliation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
30.
Schopler, J., & Bateson, N. (1962). A dependence interpretation of the effects of a severe initiation. Journal of Personality, 30, 633-649.
31.
Sitton, S. C., & Wagoner, D. (1978). Females’response to fear in the stress-affiliation paradigm. Journal of Social Psychology, 104, 147-148.
32.
Taylor, S. E., Cousino Klein, L., Lewis, B. P., Gruenewald, T. L., Gurung, R. A. R., & Updegraff, J. T. (2000). Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend and befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological Review, 107(3), 411-429.
33.
Van Duueren, F., & Di Giacomo, J. P. (1997). Degrading situations, affiliation and social dependency. European Journal of Social Psychology, 27, 495-510.
34.
Vaught, C., & Smith, D. L. (1980). Incorporation and mechanical solidarity in an under-ground coal mine. Sociology of Work and Occupations, 7, 159-187.
