Abstract
An effect of expectancy violation on choice behavior was studied in a helping context to extend understanding of expectancies to behavioral choice and to fill a need in altruism research. Subjects were required to choose between tutoring a student who performed well (needing less help) vs one who performed poorly (needing more help). It was hypothesized that confirming expectancies would lead to choosing the recipient needing more help, whereas violating them would result in choosing the one needing less. Expectancies for students' performance, induced by instructions, were confirmed or violated by videotape recordings of “actual” performances either congruent with or discrepant from those expected. Results strongly supported predictions.
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