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This version was published on October 1, 2007
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Vol. 33, No. 10, 1327-1339 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0146167207303949

Cultural Evolution: Interpersonal Influence, Issue Importance, and the Development of Shared Attitudes in College Residence Halls

Jerry Cullum

University of Wyoming, jcullu78{at}uwyo.edu

Helen C. Harton

University of Northern Iowa

This article investigates cultural evolution in four college residence halls. Up to four attitude surveys were completed by 1,252 participants in a semester. Participants' attitudes became more similar to those living closest to them over time as a result of localized interpersonal influence processes. Correlations between attitudes also increased with time as these cultural attributes grew increasingly interdependent. These basic findings support the predictions of dynamic social impact theory. However, these effects were stronger for more important issues even when controlling for discussion. These findings are likely the result of (a) individual-level selective attention to personally important information, (b) greater attitude-behavior consistency for important issues, and/or (c) nonlinear attitude change processes for important issues as suggested by the catastrophe theory of attitudes. These results suggest that intrapsychic processes as well as interpersonal processes contribute to cultural evolution.

Key Words: culture dynamics • attitude-change dynamics • social influence • social networks • longitudinal research


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