Subjects in an experiment were given an offensive and highly personal questionnaire which was designed to provoke dissent, defined operationally as leaving the experiment prior to its conclusion. The observed dissent of a companion, strength of the role demands of the experiment, and use of normative invocations were orthogonally manipulated. Results showed that no dissent occurred unless the companion dissented. Under these conditions, dissent was greatest in the weak role demands—no normative invocation condition and the strong role demands—normative invocation condition.
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