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In response to criticisms that the small-group researcher is often not able to put meaning into an experimental situation, attempts have been made in some of the conformity studies to intensify the subject's emotional investment in the stimulus. One way in which this has been accomplished is via the assumption of a correspondence between the value of the stimulus for the subject and his own personal values. The author has conducted an Asch type experiment using a modification of this approach. The stimulus in the experiment consisted of three critical religious items and three critical nonreligious items. The research involved the assumption that these two types of items would be viewed from different perspectives by Catholic subjects. The premise was that they would have more of an emotional investment in the religious items. It is the author's opinion that this approach might prove useful to other investigators who are conducting research of this type.

The central theme of this study is that a relationship exists between an individual's role changes and self changes. This is not a new idea. Lindesmith and Strauss discuss the effects of status changes on personality. Kuhn, building on the work of Mead, Cooley, and others, theoretically implies this. Sarbin cites a considerable body of empirical evidence in support of the statement that role enactments are related to four types of psychological changes, somatic changes, changes in performance, changes in preferences for attention deployment, and changes in cognitive dispositions, attitudes, values, opinions, and beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]