Opinion similarity and helping: Three field experiments investigating the bases of promotive tension

Abstract

Previous research has demonstrated that people can develop relationships (called promotive social relationships) which provide a basis for the arousal of tension. In order to reduce this tension they will help another person. The three field experiments reported here are part of a continuing investigation of the social conditions which cause one person to experience such tension coordinated to another's goal attainment. In these three experiments subjects had the opportunity to help a stranger whose opinions varied, in degrees, from 100% agreement with their own to 100% disagreement. The opinions were either of high importance (Experiment I), low importance (Experiment II), or mixed high and low importance (Experiment III). Evidence from the three experiments consistently leads to the conclusion that the formation of promotive social relationships is primarily determined by opinion similarity and subsequent social categorization, not attraction. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed, related research is identified, and additional information about the relationship between opinion similarity and attraction in field settings is provided.