Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of fear and embarrassment-inducing situations on affihiative preferences and choice behavior. Sixty male subjects were threatened with either the prospect of putting their finger into water, the prospect of electric shock, or the prospect of sucking on infantile oral objects. They ran individually but met another subject before engaging in the experiment. The major findings were: (a) embarrassment manipulation was effective on self-ratings but not on affihiative preferences and choice behavior (b) subjects who met with a familiar partner showed affihiative choice (c) among the subjects who met with an unfamiliar partner those in the first run chose to be alone, but those in the second showed affiliation. The results were discussed in terms of the needs for self-evaluation and for cognitive clarity.
