Effects of discussion on opinions concerning illegal behavior.

Abstract

Summary In an attempt to generalize recent research on the effects of group discussion and to further elucidate mechanisms responsible for discussion-induced response change, 15 groups of institutionalized males convicted of felony and 14 groups of college males responded, before and after discussion, to three choice dilemma items and three ethical-legal dilemmas. It was predicted that (a) the enhancement of mean initial tendency observed on choice dilemma items would extend to the ethical-legal dilemmas, and (b) shift to increased risk on both types of items would occur if, and only if, subjects tended to perceive themselves as initially riskier than their average peer. On the choice dilemmas (with a Likert type response format) only small nonsignificant shifts occurred. On the ethical-legal dilemmas both the inmate and the college samples significantly increased their preference for the legally deviant action following discussion, although initially perceiving themselves to favor it less than their peers.