THE INFLUENCE OF IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT ON CHANGE OF ATTITUDE AFTER FORCED COMPLIANCE
印象整饰对强迫服从后态度改变的影响

The purpose of this experimental study was to verify the experimental result of cognitive consequence of forced compliance (Festinger,L. ,Carlsmith,J M ,1959). 194 university freshmen participated in a test and 40 were selected as subjects with 20 as a high self-monitoring group and 20 as a low self-monitoring group. The results showed that the 2 groups exhibited different attitude changes after forced compliance which did not support the result of Festinger and Coarlsmith's experiment in 1959. This indicated that the impression management-ability of self-monitoring had notable effect on change of attitude after forced compliance. The results of the research didn't imply that the theory of impression management could replace or deny the theory of imbalance of cognition which could well explain attitude of individual and its change, it just indicated that the explanation of complicated social behavior could not be concluded from one psychological factor of the individual. Researches should study not only the factor of the individual but also the effect of the environment. The results enriched the content of the theory of social cognition.