title: Changing Attitudes Through Social Influence: Does Social Distance Matter?
abstract: To test the effects of social influence and social distance on attitudes, we assessed judgments of gay and lesbian targets in various contexts over three studies (n = 814, 51% female). We compared the impact of a derogatory message to a relatively favorable message ostensibly written by another participant. Participants were robustly moved by the feedback; social influence was a significant predictor in final evaluations of the target, as was social distance. Discrimination against gay men and lesbian women appears not to be a fixed behavior; seemingly anyone can be persuaded to discriminate or not to discriminate by mere peer suggestion.
authors: a Department of Psychology and Neuroscience , University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.|b Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE -IUL) , Centro de Investigação e Intervenção Social (CIS -IUL) , Lisboa , Portugal.
authors: Amanda L
authors: AL
authors: Mahaffey
authors: a Department of Psychology and Neuroscience , University of Colorado Boulder , Boulder , Colorado , USA.
authors: Angela D
authors: AD
authors: Bryan
mesh_terms: D001290:Attitude; D005260:Female; D018452:Homosexuality, Female; D018451:Homosexuality, Male; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012929:Psychological Distance; D063508:Social Discrimination; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Antigay attitudes; attitude change; discrimination; homophobia; malleability; peer influence; social distance; social influence