Page 51 - The Social Animal

Conformity 33

experience fear? William James would say that we wouldn’t—not un-
less there was an appropriate stimulus around.
Here is where Schachter and Singer enter the picture. In one ex-
periment, they injected volunteers either with epinephrine—a syn-
thetic form of adrenaline, which causes physiological excitation—or
with a harmless placebo. All the participants were told that this chem-
ical was a vitamin supplement called “suproxin.” They told some of
those who received the drug that there would be side effects, includ-
ing palpitations of the heart and hand tremors.These,indeed,are some
of the effects of epinephrine. Accordingly, when these people experi-
enced the epinephrine-produced symptoms, they had an appropriate
explanation. In effect, when the symptoms appeared, they said to
themselves, “My heart is pounding and my hands are shaking because
of this injection I received and for no other reason.” But other partic-
ipants were not forewarned about these symptoms. Thus, when their
hearts started pounding and their hands started trembling, what were
they to make of it? The answer is that they made of it whatever the
people around them made of it. Specifically, a stooge was introduced
into the situation, and the participants were informed that he had also
received an injection of “suproxin.” In one situation, the stooge was
programmed to behave in a euphoric manner; in another, he was pro-
grammed to express a great deal of anger. Picture yourself in this situ-
ation: You are alone in this room with a person who supposedly has
just been injected with the same drug you received.He bounces around
energetically, happily wads up paper into balls, and begins sinking
hook shots into the wastebasket. His euphoria is obvious. Gradually,
the chemical you were given begins to take effect, and you begin to feel
your heart pounding, your hands trembling, and so on. What emotion
do you feel? Most participants in this situation reported a feeling of
euphoria—and behaved happily. On the other hand, imagine that in-
stead of being placed in a room with a euphoric stooge, you were
placed in a room with a stooge programmed to behave in an angry
manner. He complains about a questionnaire you both are filling out,
and eventually, in a fit of extreme annoyance, he rips up the question-
naire and angrily hurls it into the wastebasket. Meanwhile, the symp-
toms of epinephrine are becoming apparent; you feel your own heart
pounding, and your hands begin to tremble. How do you feel? In this
situation, the vast majority of the participants felt angry and behaved
in an angry fashion.