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The Two Factor Theory of Emotion is a social psychology theory that views emotion as having two components (factors): physiological arousal and cognition. According to the theory, "cognitions are used to interpret the meaning of physiological reactions to outside events."
Schachter and Singer Study
Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer gave 184 college students one of two types of injections: adrenaline (also called epinephrine) or a placebo. All experimental subjects were told that they were given vitamins to test their vision. The adrenaline injection caused a number of effects including increased heart rate, rapid breathing, and increased blood flow to the muscles and brain. The saline injection had no such effects.
Some subjects were told about the effects of the adrenaline while others were misled and told that it would produce a dull headache and numbness. A third group of subjects received no information at all.
After the injections the subjects waited in a room with another subject who was actually a confederate of the experimenter. The confederate behaved one of two ways: playful or angry.
Subjects who were misled or naive about the injection's effects behaved similarly to the confederate, taking cues from the situation to interpret their arousal level to determine their emotional state. Subjects who knew what to expect, on the other hand, did not manifest emotion mirroring the confederate.
The high bridge study
Social Psychologists A. Aron and D. Dutton used a natural setting to induce physiological arousal in their test of the Two Factor Theory of Emotion. In their study, an attractive female experimenter asked male passersby to complete a brief survey. She intercepted potential subjects either at the end of a bridge or on the bridge itself. The footbridge used was the Capilano Suspension Bridge, a narrow bridge that spans a deep ravine. Following the survey interview, the experimenter gave the subjects her telephone number in case they had further questions. The dependent variable in this experiment was the number of telephone calls received from the subjects after the experiment.
Male participants were asked to meet an interviewer in the middle of one of two bridges. One was a safe looking bridge and one looked more dangerous. An attractive female researcher interview the each man in the middle of the bridges. She gave them her telephone number in case they wanted to ask about the results. Men on the scary bridge were more aroused by the height of the bridge, and were likely to confuse the feelings for being 'lovestruck'. They were then more likely to call her back, looking for a date.
Sources and additional reading
- Schachter, S., & Singer, J. (1962). Cognitive, Social, and Physiological Determinants of Emotional State. Psychological Review, 69, pp. 379-399.
- Dutton, D. G. and Aron, A. P. (1974). Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30, pp. 510-517
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