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Department of Psychology Ph: (619) 594-5358 Life Sciences 110
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Department of Psychology Office Location: LS-277 Mail Code: 4611 Research Interests My research interests are in the areas of social influence and social change, group dynamics in the aftermath of social change, attitudes and persuasion, and the evaluation of public health programs. Social Influence and Group Dynamics Laboratory Groups, especially those in the minority, influence others for various reasons. For example, others' support may be instrumental toward other goals (e.g., getting elected), or it may be a goal in itself (e.g., getting accepted). How do motives that drive social influence affect targets' reactions to influence. How do successful groups (e.g., minorities that become majorities) react to their success depending on what motivated their efforts to influence others? This research focuses on motivated social influence and group dynamics in the aftermath of successful social influence that restructures numerical positions, power, and status within a group (minority <---> majority, powerless <---> powerful, low status <---> high status). Selected Publications Book: Crano, W.D. & Prislin, R. (in press). Attitudes and Persuasion . New York : Psychology Press. This is an edited book to be published in the Frontiers of Social Psychology series. Frontiers in Social Psychology is a new series of social psychology books, which aims to bring together the latest research in the discipline. The book provides an overview and integration of the diverse perspectives that inform research on attitudes and attitude change. Journal Articles: Prislin, R., Levine, J. M., & Christensen, P. N. (2006). When reasons matter: Quality of support affects reactions to increasing and consistent support. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 42 , 593-601. (Abstract 1) Link to pdf Crano, W. D., & Prislin, R. (2006). Attitudes and persuasion. Annual Review of Psychology, 57 , 345-374. (Abstract 2) Link to pdf Prislin, R., & Christensen, P. N. (2005). Social change in the aftermath of successful minority influence. European Review of Social Psychology , 16 , 75-111. (Abstract 3) Link to pdf Prislin, R., & Christensen, P. N. (2005). The effects of social change within a group on membership preferences: To leave or not to leave. Personality & Social Psychology Bulletin , 31 , 595-609. (Abstract 4) Link to pdf Prislin, R., & Christensen, P. N., & Jacobs, E. (2005). Group size, power allocation, and change: Effects on conceptual representations of group interaction. Review of Psychology, 12 , 81-89. (Abstract 5) Link to pdf Prislin, R., & Christensen, P.N. (2002). Group conversion versus group expansion as modes of change in majority and minority positions: All losses hurt but only some gains gratify. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83 , 1095-1102. (Abstract 6) Prislin, R., Brewer, M., & D. J. Wilson (2002). Changing majority and minority positions within a group vs. an aggregate. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 28 , 640-647. (Abstract 7) Prislin, R., Limbert, W. M., & Bauer, E. (2000). From majority to minority and vice versa: The asymmetrical effects of losing and gaining majority position within a group . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79 , 385-397. (Abstract 8) Book Chapters: Prislin, R. (in press). Dynamics of change: Minority influence makes the world go around. In M. Hewstone & R. Martin (Eds.), Minority influence and innovation: Antecedents, processes, and consequences . Psychology Press. Prislin, R., & Christensen, P.N. (in press). On becoming a majority: Former minorities' reactions to change. In F. Butera & J.M. Levine (Eds.), Coping with minority status: Responses to exclusion and inclusion . NY: Cambridge University Press. Prislin, R., & Wood, W. (2005). Social influence: The role of consensus in attitudes and attitude change. In D. Albarracín, B. T. Johnson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The Handbook of Attitudes and Attitude Change (pp. 671-706). Erlbaum. Evaluation of Public Health Programs Applying social psychology to the public health domain, my colleagues and I have implemented and evaluated programs aimed at increasing immunization rates among children. Selected publications from this line of research include: Zuniga, M.L., Nader, P.R., Sawyer, M.H., De Guire, M., Prislin, R., & Elder, J. (2003). A prenatal intervention study to improve timelines of immunization initiation in Latino infants. Journal of Community Health, 28 , 151-165. Mattingly, D. J., Prislin, R., McKenzie, T. L., Rodriguez, J. L., & Kayzar, B. (2002). Evaluating evaluations: The case of parent involvement programs . Review of Educational Research, 72 (4), 549-576. Prislin, R., Sawyer, M.H., Nader, P.R., Goerlitz, M., De Guire, M., & Ho, S. (2002). Provider-staff discrepancies in immunization knowledge and practices. Preventive Medicine, 34 , 554-561. Prislin, R., Sawyer, M.H., De Guire, M., Brennan, J., Holcomb, K., & Nader, P. (2002). Missed opportunities to immunize: Psychosocial and practice correlates . American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 22 , 165-169. Prislin, R., Nader, P.R., De Guire, M., Hoy, P.L., Pung, M.A., Ross, S., Goerlitz, M.J., & Sawer, M.H. (1999). Physicians' immunization knowledge, attitudes, and practices. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 17 , 151-152. Prislin, R., Suarez, L., Simpson, D.M., & Dyer, J.A. (1998). When acculturation hurts: The case of immunization. Social Science and Medicine, 47 , 1947-1956. Prislin, R., Dyer, J.A., Blakely, C.H., & Johnson, C.D. (1998). Immunization status and sociodemographic characteristics: The mediating role of beliefs, attitudes, and perceived control. American Journal of Public Health, 88 , 1821 – 1826. Research Opportunities for Undergraduate Students Each semester, up to 15 undergraduate students join my research laboratory to work on one of several projects that my graduate students and I are running. Undergraduate research assistants are informed about theoretical background and previous research leading to a specific study in which they are involved. Their major task is to assist with data collection. All students are required to write an APA-style final paper summarizing their research experience at the end of their first semester in the laboratory. Students receive detailed feedback on their papers, which serve as an initial training in professional communication. Additionally, students have an opportunity to analyze data and present their findings at professional conferences. Listed below are some of my undergraduate research assistants' recent presentations: Filson, J., Bloch, D., Peterson, L., Sawicki, V., & Prislin, R. (April 2006). Sure today, conflicted tomorrow: Attitudes weaken without social support. Poster presented at Western Psychological Association Annual Conference . Palm Springs , California . Jacobs, E., Farley, A., Filson, J., Huang, C., Miller, M., Page, B., & Prislin, R. (April, 2005). Tower of power: Motives for consensus among minorities Poster presented at the Western Psychological Association Annual Conference , Portland , Oregon . Boyle, S. M., Isaacs, H.D., Jacobs, E. Sakamoto , A.Y., Christensen, P.N., & Prislin, R. (April, 2004). Type of support moderates reactions to social change within groups. . Poster presented at the Western Psychological Association Annual Conference , Phoenix , Arizona . Barrett, C., Prieto, R., Zandian, F., Prislin, R., & Christensen, P.N. (April, 2004). Effects of Social Change on Group Membership: The Exodus Chapter. Poster presented at the Western Psychological Association Annual Conference , Phoenix , Arizona . Diaz, R., Laguna, J., Barrett, C., Christensen, P. N., & Prislin, R. (May, 2003). New majority's preference for the group increases over time. Poster presented at the Western Psychological Association Annual Conference , Vancouver , Canada . Research Abstracts When Reasons Matter: Quality of Support Affects Reactions to Increasing and Consistent Agreement Prislin, R., Levine, J. M. & Christensen, P. N. Evidence indicates that moving from a minority to a majority position has little impact on group identification. The present study investigated how reactions of former minorities and stable minorities to the group as a whole and their own faction were moderated by the quality of support they received for their position (genuine vs. superficial vs. unexplained). Former minorities identified more strongly with the group when others converted to their position for genuine than for superficial (or unexplained) reasons. The group identification of stable minorities did not vary as a function of the quality of support. Both former minorities and stable minorities identified more with their own faction when they received genuine than superficial (or unexplained) support. These findings clarify the important role of quality of support in group and faction identification. Moreover, they show that former minorities do identify with the group when they receive support they can trust. Attitudes and Persuasion Crano, W. D., & Prislin, R Study of attitudes and persuasion remains a defining characteristic of contemporary social psychology. This review outlines recent advances, with emphasis on the relevance of today's work for perennial issues. We reiterate the distinction between attitude formation and change, and show its relevance for persuasion. Single- and dual-process models are discussed, as are current views on dissonance theory. Majority and minority influence is scrutinized, with special emphasis on integrative theoretical innovations. Attitude strength is considered, and its relevance to ambivalence and resistance documented. Affect, mood, and emotion effects are reviewed, especially as they pertain to fear arousal and (un)certainty. Finally, we discuss attitude-behavior consistency, perhaps the reason for our interest in attitudes in the first place, with emphasis on self interest and the theory of planned behavior. Our review reflects the dynamism and reach of the area, and suggests a sure and sometimes rapid accumulation of knowledge and understanding. Social Change in the Aftermath of Successful Minority Influence Prislin, R., & Christensen, P. N. A program of research on group dynamics in the aftermath of successful minority influence that reverses minority and majority positions within a group is presented. Supporting the authors' gain-loss asymmetry model of change, converging evidence suggests that loss of the majority position generates strong disidentification from the superordinate group whereas gaining the majority position does not yield comparable identification. This overall decrease in identification is associated with a general increase in hostility, reduced helpfulness, and a desire to exit the group. Thus groups may be especially fragile following internal changes in the majority-minority positions. Additional research suggests that such a pattern of reactions to majority-minority change is a specifically group phenomenon (versus aggregates of individuals) and occurs when majority-minority reversals follow the attitude change of existing group members (versus an influx of new members). New majorities will increase their identification with the group when converts provide genuine support or when their new majority position persists over time. Implications of these findings for intra-group relations in the aftermath of social change are discussed. The Effects of Social Change within a Group on Membership Preferences: To Leave or Not To Leave? Prislin, R., and Christensen, P.N. Two studies examined immediate (Study 1) and long-term (Study 2) behavioral consequences of previously documented asymmetries in cognitive and evaluative reactions to change in majority and minority positions within a group. Study 1 found an overall decrease in preferences for group membership immediately following change, which was preceded by de-categorization and devaluation of the group in response to loss, together with lack of categorization and positive evaluation in response to gain of the majority position. Study 2 found a gradual increase in preference to stay with (versus exit) the group among former minorities with prolonged interactions that confirmed their gained majority position. A gradual increase in preference for group membership was paralleled with gradual increases in perception of both inclusion within and differentiation from the group. Group size, power allocation, and change: Effects on conceptual representations of group interaction Prislin, R., Christensen, P.N., & Jacobs, Elizabeth This study examined conceptual representations of interactions between stable and changed minority and majority factions within groups that allocated power either according to size (power = size) or randomly. In support of the hypothesized moderating effect of power allocation, it was found that both stable and changed minority and majority factions represented their interactions at low levels of inclusiveness when power was allocated according to size. When, however, power was not associated with size, stable majorities, but not stable minorities, represented group interactions at the inclusive level of a single group. Loss of the majority position significantly decreased this inclusive level of representation but gain of the majority position did not result in the corresponding increase. Nevertheless, the new majority in the random power condition represented its interaction with others at a significantly higher level of inclusiveness than did the new majority in the “power = size” condition. These results suggest that associating power with size invariably places interactions between the majority and the minority into the inter-group domain. Dissociating power from size, however, places such interactions within the intra-group domain for the stable majority and creates a potential for a similar socio-categorical structuring for the new majority (former minority). Group conversion versus group expansion as modes of change in majority and minority positions: All losses hurt but only some gains gratify Prislin, R., & Christensen, P.N This study examined reactions to minority and majority positions that were either stable or reversed via group conversion that transformed opponents (supporters) of the minority (majority) into supporters (opponents) or via group expansion that brought new supporters (opponents) for the minority (majority) into the group. Minorities who became majorities via group expansion, compared to those who changed via group conversion, perceived their supporters and the overall group as significantly more similar to the self, and had significantly higher expectations for future positive interactions within the group. Perception of similarity with the supporters mediated the effect of the experimental conditions on perception of the overall group-self similarity. Implications of changes via conversion and expansion for the functioning of social groups are discussed. Changing majority and minority positions within a group vs. an aggregate. Prislin, R., Brewer, M., & Wilson, D. J. The study examined reactions to stable and reversed majority and minority positions within a group or an aggregate of individuals. In support of the hypothesized asymmetrical reactions to changes within a group, it was found that change away from the majority position within a group decreased attraction and expectations for beneficial interactions with others whereas change toward the majority position did not increase them. Change away from the majority position also increased appreciation for differences in opinions and perceptions of others' mutual conformity within a group. As expected, preference for the majority position was weaker in an aggregate than in a group; in addition, there was no significant difference in the measured reactions to changes away and toward the majority position within an aggregate. Implications of changes for the functioning of social groups are discussed. From majority to minority and vice versa: The asymmetrical effects of losing and gaining majority position within a group Prislin, R., Limbert, W.M., & Bauer, E. Two studies examined the effects of stable, partially changed, and completely changed majority and minority status within a group on participants' perception and evaluation of the group. It was hypothesized that loss of majority status (majority-to-minority change) would have stronger effects on reactions toward the group than gain of majority status (minority-to-majority change). The hypothesized asymmetrical effect was demonstrated in that loss of majority status decreased participants' perception of group-self similarity, group attraction, expectations for positive interactions with the group, and group-specific collective self-esteem whereas a corresponding gain of status did not increase them. New minorities' and continuous minorities' reactions toward the group were both negative. New majorities' reactions were more similar to continuous minorities' than to continuous majorities' reactions. Dramatic reactions to loss and cautious reactions to gain of majority status are presumably functional in that they protect against potentially costly misjudgments of a changing social environment.
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