University of Twente Student Theses
Dangerous minds : understanding the relation between fixation and violence
Groeneveld, L.H. (2019) Dangerous minds : understanding the relation between fixation and violence.
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Abstract: | This study aimed to find out what causes fixation to lead to an increased risk of violence caused by an individual. A total of 50 participants joined a week-long experiment in which they performed several tasks: the goal was to let one group of participants become fixated on a quest against air pollution. It was expected that participants in the fixation group would hold harsh attitudes towards anyone who endangers their quest, and that those participants are more willing to cause harm to people who endanger their quest. Lastly, it was expected that participants in the fixation group would encounter a wide range of (morally questionable) opportunities to achieve their highly desired objective. Feelings of identification were also explored, because it was believed that these could influence attitude forming. Unfortunately, none of the expectations have been met. This could be explained by the fact that the manipulation only partly succeeded: although significant differences were found between the fixation group and the control group considering one aspect of fixation (time), it was not found that the participants in the fixation group experienced the quest to be more of personal importance, as opposed to participants in the control group. |
Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
Subject: | 77 psychology |
Programme: | Psychology MSc (66604) |
Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/77997 |
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