Understanding the foot‐in‐the‐door effect as a pseudo‐effect from the perspective of the Campbell paradigm

Compliance with a small request (a metaphorical foot‐in‐the‐door) promotes compliance with a subsequent big request. Whereas some explanations expect a drop in the behavioural costs of the big request, others suspect that the effect comes from boosting the underlying attitude. However, evidence for both explanations is equivocal and circumstantial, at best. Drawing on what Kaiser et al. (2010) call the Campbell paradigm, we present an integrative account: Compliance with any request demands a corresponding attitude to counterbalance the costs of the request. In our research, 229 participants were randomly assigned to either a foot‐in‐the‐door (i.e., initially asked to sign a pro‐environmental petition) or a control condition. Small‐request‐compliant participants were more likely than control participants to also comply with the big request and to continue filling out environmental‐issues‐related questionnaires. However, this foot‐in‐the‐door effect occurred without diminishing behavioural costs or increasing attitude levels. Accordingly, the greater likelihood of small‐request‐compliant participants to also comply with the big request can be parsimoniously explained by baseline variability in people's attitude levels that manifests in their compliance with the initial request. We conclude that several of the foot‐in‐the‐door effects reported in the literature carry the risk of representing mere pseudo‐effects.     

Speech‐perception‐in‐noise deficits in dyslexia

Speech perception deficits in developmental dyslexia were investigated in quiet and various noise conditions. Dyslexics exhibited clear speech perception deficits in noise but not in silence. Place‐of‐articulation was more affected than voicing or manner‐of‐articulation. Speech‐perception‐in‐noise deficits persisted when performance of dyslexics was compared to that of much younger children matched on reading age, underscoring the fundamental nature of speech‐perception‐in‐noise deficits. The deficits were not due to poor spectral or temporal resolution because dyslexics exhibited normal ‘masking release’ effects (i.e. better performance in fluctuating than in stationary noise). Moreover, speech‐perception‐in‐noise predicted significant unique variance in reading even after controlling for low‐level auditory, attentional, speech output, short‐term memory and phonological awareness processes. Finally, the presence of external noise did not seem to be a necessary condition for speech perception deficits to occur because similar deficits were obtained when speech was degraded by eliminating temporal fine‐structure cues without using external noise. In conclusion, the core deficit of dyslexics seems to be a lack of speech robustness in the presence of external or internal noise.     

Effects of in‐group and out‐group ethnicity on children's attitudes towards members of the in‐group and out‐group

This study tested predictions drawn from social identity development theory (SIDT) (Nesdale, 1999a) concerning the development of young children's ethnic attitudes. 5‐7‐ and 9‐year‐old children (N = 159) participated in a minimal group study in which they were assigned to a team which had higher drawing ability than a competitor team. The team members were revealed to be of the same (Anglo‐Australian) vs. different (Pacific Islander) ethnicity (in‐group ethnicity). The ethnicity of the competitor team was varied in the same way. The children subsequently rated their liking for, and similarity to, the in‐group and the out‐group, and the extent to which they wished to change groups. Children liked in‐group members more than out‐group members. Liking for in‐group members was unaffected by the ethnic composition of the groups, but liking for outgroup members was reduced when the ethnic composition of the out‐group differed from that of the in‐group. Children felt most similar to same‐group, same‐ethnicity members and least similar to different ethnicity out‐group members. The desire to change teams increased with age but there was no intention to align with same ethnicity individuals. The extent to which the findings provide support for SIDT is discussed.     

Perceived in‐group threat as a factor moderating the influence of in‐group norms on discrimination against foreigners

Within the framework of an intergroup relations paradigm, three studies analysed the role of in‐group threat in intergroup discrimination and the influence of in‐group norms on intergroup discrimination. The first study showed that perceived socio‐economic threat underlies Swiss nationals' prejudice and discrimination toward foreigners in Switzerland. The second and third studies experimentally tested the hypotheses, first, that variations in perception of in‐group threat will produce change in initial discrimination, and, second, that the influence of an in‐group norm (pro‐ vs. anti‐ discriminatory) is moderated by the perception of in‐group threat. In support of these predictions, results of both studies indicated that discrimination was reduced when perceived in‐group threat was low. However, the anti‐discriminatory in‐group norm reduced discrimination only when perceived in‐group threat was low. No influence was observed for the pro‐discriminatory in‐group norm. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parental choice: What parents want in a son‐in‐law and a daughter‐in‐law across 67 pre‐industrial societies

Parents are influential over mate choice, and in most human societies they choose spouses for their offspring according to their own preferences. However, surprising little is known about the qualities which make a woman desirable as a daughter‐in‐law and a man desirable as a son‐in‐law. Using evidence from 67 societies such traits are identified and three hypotheses are tested: first, the hypothesis is tested that parents desire in an in‐law qualities which are beneficial to them and their kin. Second, it is hypothesized that such preferences are contingent upon the sex of the in‐law, as traits are weighted differently in a daughter‐in‐law and in a son‐in‐law. The third hypothesis tested is that parental preferences vary according to the subsistence type of a given society, as traits are valued differently in agropastoral societies and foraging societies. The evidence presented here provides support for all three hypotheses.     

Interparental disagreement over in‐law choice

Parents are influential over their children's mate choices, which raises the question of whether mothers and fathers agree when it comes to selecting spouses for their daughters and sons. Based on evolutionary reasoning, this article hypothesizes that there is interparental disagreement over in‐law choice. In particular, it is predicted that fathers are more willing than mothers to make in‐law choices so as to benefit themselves at the expense of their children. Evidence from 2 independent studies provided support for this hypothesis. Two interaction effects were also found—namely, mother–father disagreement is higher when the cost of mate selection is higher for their children than when it is lower, and disagreement more often occurs over the mate choices of daughters.