Works
- The Effect of Severity of Initiation on Liking for a Group (with Elliot Aronson), Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1959
In Thinking Tools
Known for
A social psychologist who, with Elliot Aronson, showed that people who went through a more embarrassing initiation to join a dull discussion group rated the group more favorably, the classic demonstration of effort justification in cognitive dissonance theory.
Caveat: Later researchers have offered other explanations for the effect, such as a contrast that makes what follows an unpleasant experience seem better.