@article{0cade61d43cd47a3984975fb9b8fff68,
title = "Facilitation of physical aggression through objective self-awareness",
abstract = "Based on a theory of self-awareness it was hypothesized that induced attention to the self would facilitate aggression if the salient standard of behavior was one in which high aggression was positively valued. Female subjects were given an opportunity to shock a male confederate of the experimenter in a presumed learning experiment. Self-awareness was induced in half the subjects by the presence of a mirror. The Mirror group delivered significantly higher shocks to the confederate than did the No-Mirror control group.",
author = "Carver, {Charles S.}",
note = "Funding Information: It has recently been shown that self-focused attention can inhibit aggression (Scheier, Fenigstein, & Buss, 1974). Male subjects shocked female victims in a presumed “learning” experiment, with no experimental manipulation to justify aggression. Attention was self-directed by means of a mirror which was in view of and oriented toward the subject. The Mirror group produced a significantly lower shock level than did a No Mirror control group, in accordance with prediction. The authors interpreted this result in terms of a recent theory of self-awareness (Duval & Wicklund, 1972), in which a distinction is made between attention directed toward the environment and attention directed toward the self (objective self-awareness). The theory suggests that under conditions of induced objective self-awareness (OSA) an individual till tend to alter his behavior, when possible, to conform more closely to whatever norm or standard is salient in the situation. The theory makes no distinction between personally held standards and those provided by an external agent but accepted by the subject as his own. Rather, it suggests that relative salience determines what standard will be utilized. Operationally, standards can be invoked in two ways: the subject{\textquoteright}s own standard can be left intact or emphasized, or an external standard can be {\textquoteleft}The author expresses his gratitude to Arnold H. Buss for the use of his laboratory and to Robert A. Wicklund and Michael Scheier for their assistance in the preparation of this manuscript. The research was facilitated by NSF Grant GS 31890 to Robert A. Wicklund.",
year = "1974",
month = jul,
doi = "10.1016/0022-1031(74)90032-8",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "10",
pages = "365--370",
journal = "Journal of Experimental Social Psychology",
issn = "0022-1031",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",
number = "4",
}