Behavioral Effects of Unique Perspective Taking Methods

in Mildly Aggressive Situations

between Strangers

Aviva BannermanMiddlebury College

4 Response Categories• Positive– Voice– Loyalty

• Negative– Exit– Neglect

Aggression

• Zillmann’s (1988) cognitive-excitation hypothesis

• How can we inhibit aggressive responses?

Perspective Taking

Imagine-Self Imagine-Other

Taking another person’s point of view

Method

• Behavioral differences

• Hypothesis

• Participants: 87 Middlebury students

• 3 conditions

Method• Imagine-Self– Imagine how you would think, feel, and behave if you were

the other person in each story

• Imagine-Other– Imagine what the other person is thinking and feeling in each

story

• Control– Imagine how you would think, feel, and behave if something

like this really happened to you

Questionnaire

Bumped by a StrangerWhile walking down the street, a pedestrian, X,is texting on a cell phone and bumps right intoyou. Instead of apologizing, X acts like it’s yourfault. How likely are you to engage in each of thefollowing responses?

Responses• Voice: I’d gently indicate that it was X who hadn’t paid

attention but show it was all right • Loyalty: I’d let the comment pass and hope X’s anger

would soon subside

• Exit: I’d comment on X’s rudeness and keep on walking

• Neglect: I’d ignore X and keep walking

Behavioral Measure

• “Research assistant”

• 8-minute wait

• Out of time

• Survey

Results - Questionnaire

Exit Neglect Voice Loyalty0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Imagine-Self

Imagine-Other

Control

Response Type

Mea

n R

espo

nse

F(2, 83) = 2.40, p < .10

Results - Behavioral

Series10

5

10

15

20

25

30 Imagine-SelfImagine-OtherControl

Surv

eys

Ret

urne

d

ConditionX2 (2, N=81) = .22, P > .05

Discussion Points

• No differences between groups

• Neglect Finding

• Why?– Manipulation Check

• Future directions

Acknowledgments

• Professor Gurland• Committee Members– Prof. Kimble– Prof. Campbell

• Yuki Shinoda• Joanna Wood• Psychology Department• Senior Work Fund• Tara Panthi - Illustrations