Cohen Et Al (socio)

Question 1

Cohen Et Al (socio)

Procedure

Answer 1

• Approx 170 white college students (half from north, half from south)
• Told study was task performance is various conditions, had to fill out questionnaire to start, participants
  chewed gum the whole time to make sure they couldn’t engage (told to keep mouth shut)
• Experimental condition: walked down hallway to place completed questionnaire on table, an actor would have
  to move for the participant twice (using a filing cabinet in a narrow hallway), calling the participant an
  “asshole” when he had to move again and bumping into his shoulder
• Control condition: no confrontation
• Returning to the room, told they would be performing a test of “general and physical toughness (used by US
  Air Force for fighter pilots)” and had an option to be electrically shocked (actors in the room agreed to be
  shocked at different levels) during the task they completed a questionnaire about their health conditions
• After actors left room, experimenter told participant that one could not participate and asked them if they
  would like to take their spot
• Last task: participant took a “opinion test”, basically at “would you do” based on different situations intended
  to measure their level of aggression, whether actions were considered an insult
• Saliva samples taken before and after “asshole” confrontation (if applicable)

Question 2

Cohen Et Al (socio)

Aim

Answer 2

• To examine how the “culture of honor” manifests itself in the cognitions, emotions, behaviors and physiological
  reaction of southern White males

Question 3

Cohen Et Al (socio)

Findings

Answer 3

• Insulted southerners showed a significant increase in both cortisol and testosterone, no significant increase in
  insulted northerners (hormones associated with elevated levels of aggression)
• Demonstrates that southerners were more likely to respond with hostility compared to Northerners after
  being bumped
• In another experiment in the study, insulted Northerners responded with amusement -laughed
• No effect was found through the “opinion tests”
• Supports theory that culture can influence aggressive behavior

Question 4

Cohen Et Al (socio)

Limitations

Answer 4

• Chewing gum with mouth closed may have
  prevented participants from having a “natural”
  experience of frustration/anger
• Internal validity: difficult to measure “aggression”
  without putting participant at-risk
• Based on assumption that cortisol and
  testosterone are associated with aggression

Question 5

Cohen Et Al (socio)

Ethical considerations

Answer 5

• Use of inducements (paid $10 = approx $16)
• Debriefing (not actually shocked, met the actors,
  “reconciled” with person who insulted them)

Question 6

Cohen Et Al (socio)

Research method

Answer 6

• experiment