1. The study of Dutton and Aron (1974):Dutton and Aron (1974): The two-factor theory of emotion by Schachter and Singer (1962) makes the following prediction:emotion Schachter and Singer (1962) If an emotional event elicits physiological arousal and a person does not know where this arousal comes from, it can be attributed to a recent event that has nothing to do with the original source of arousal. Dutton and Aron tested this assumption in the following experiment: When fear becomes attraction Contributor© POSbase 2003

2. Participants were men who crossed one of two bridges: -A stable bridge without any reason to be worried. -A wobbly bridge with a tendency to tilt and sway, with very low handrails and a 70 m drop to rocks and shallow rapids below the bridge. When fear becomes attraction After these men crossed the bridge, they were asked by an experimenter if they are willing to answer some questions. The experimenter was female for half of the participants and male for the others. © POSbase 2003

3. After some filler questions, the experimenter showed the picture of a woman covering her face with her hand. The respondents were instructed to invent a story to this; the picture did not have any obvious sexual content. At the end, the experimenter offered his or her phone number so that the respondent can call in for results if interested. When fear becomes attraction © POSbase 2003

4. When fear becomes attraction The dependent variables were:dependent variables (1) How many respondents accepted the phone number; (2) How many respondents actually called; (3) Sexual imagery score for the story. © POSbase 2003

5. When fear becomes attraction Condition ______________________________________________________ Female Stable bridge Wobbly bridge Male Stable bridge Wobbly bridge ______________________________________________________ Accepted phone no. Called Sexual imagery 16/22 18/23 6/22 7/23 2/16 9/18 1/6 2/7 1.41 2.47.61.80 x / y means „x from a total of y“ (Dutton and Aron, 1974) © POSbase 2003

6. When fear becomes attraction The arousal from crossing the wobbly bridge was attributed to the attraction of a female person who asked the survey questions. However, it is possible that only risk-seeking men crossed the wobbly bridge that is a tourist attraction. These men may be more prone to sexual adventures and therefore call more frequently than men who crossed the stable bridge. © POSbase 2003

7. When fear becomes attraction In another experiment, Dutton and Aron (1974) told male participants that they would receive either a strong or a weak shock and that another, female participants, in fact a confederate of the experimenter, would receive a strong or a weak shock. © POSbase 2003

8. When fear becomes attraction If participants attributed their arousal due to fear of shock to the attraction of the female confederate, those who expect a strong shock would give higher attraction ratings than those who expect weak shock. Moreover, if attraction ratings were caused by seeing “a lady in distress”, attraction ratings would be higher when the female confederate expects a strong rather than weak shock. © POSbase 2003

9. When fear becomes attraction ParticipantFemale confederate expects expects:strong shockweak shock ________________________________________ Strong shock Weak shock ________________________________________ 3.17 2.42 3.05 2.28 Scale: 1 to 5, with higher values denoting higher anxiety (Dutton and Aron, 1974) Reported anxiety: © POSbase 2003

10. When fear becomes attraction ParticipantFemale confederate expects expects:strong shockweak shock ________________________________________ Strong shock Weak shock ________________________________________ 3.7 2.9 3.4 2.4 (Dutton and Aron, 1974) Attraction ratings: Scale: 1 to 5, with higher values denoting higher attraction © POSbase 2003

11. Expecting that oneself will get a strong versus weak shock influenced attraction ratings. Thus, arousal due to fear of getting a strong shock was attributed to the attraction of a female person. In contrast, expecting that another person will get a strong versus weak shock did not influence attraction ratings. Conclusion: When fear becomes attraction © POSbase 2003

12. The arousal due to a fear inducing situation was attributed to the attraction of a female person. This is further support for a two-factor theory of emotion (Schachter & Singer, 1962).Schachter & Singer, 1962 General discussion: When fear becomes attraction Other studies demonstrated that arousal due to physic activities, was attributed to anger toward another person, but only some minutes after training; otherwise, a person knows that activity elicited arousal (Zillmann et al., 1972). © POSbase 2003