10.2190/BP8D-04W5-7FJ7-C5J5 BP8D04W57FJ7C5J5 6 The Induction of Sustained Recycling Behavior Through the Foot-in-the-Door Technique 355 368 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 BP8D04W57FJ7C5J5.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=BP8D04W57FJ7C5J5 4 Jack Arbuthnot Richard Tedeschi Marc Wayner James Turner Stuart Kressel Robert Rush Department of Psychology, Ohio University Based on Bern's self-perception theory, the "foot-in-the-door" technique was utilized to induce the pro-environmental behavior of recycling in a sample with no prior history of such behavior. The sample consisted of 291 citizens of a small city chosen at random from non-student neighborhoods. Experimental conditions consisted of all permutations of three types of prior requests. Compliance with the final request (recycling), as assessed one to two months later and in an 18-month follow-up, was significantly higher for conditions eliciting compliance with multiple prior requests which required subject-originated actions, and particularly for compliance with a prior request high in task similarity with the final request. The results were discussed in terms of implications for induction of enduring subject-originated behavioral compliance. R. Buckhout, Pollution and the Psychologist: A Call to Action, in <i>Environment and the Social Sciences: Perspectives and Applications</i>, J. F. Wohlwill and D. H. Carson, (eds.), American Psychological Association, Washington, D. C., pp. 75-81, 1972. J. Arbuthnot, The Roles of Attitudinal and Personality Variables in the Prediction of Environmental Behavior and Knowledge, <i>Environment and Behavior</i>, in press, 1977. J. Arbuthnot, Stripminer's Responses to Environmental Issues, Paper presented at annual convention at the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta, March, 1975. J. Arbuthnot and S. Lingg, A Comparison of French and American Environmental Behaviors, Knowledge, and Attitudes, <i>International Journal of Psychology, 10</i>, pp. 275-281, 1975. L. N. Tognacci, R. H. Weigel, M. F. Wideen and D. T. A. Vernon, Environmental Quality: How Universal is Public Concern?, <i>Environment and Behavior, 4</i>, pp. 73-86, 1972. E. S. Geller, J. L. Chaffee and R. E. Ingram, Prompting Paper Recycling on a University Campus, <i>Journal of Environmental Systems, 5</i>, pp. 39-57, 1975. E. S. Geller, J. C. Farris and D. S. Post, Prompting a Consumer Behavior for Pollution Control, <i>Journal of Applied Behavioral Analysis, 6</i>, pp. 367-376, 1973. R. Kohlenberg, T. Phillips and W. Proctor, A Behavioral Analysis of Peaking in Residential Electrical Energy Consumers, Unpublished manuscript, University of Washington, Seattle, no date. W. C. Finnie, Field Experiments in Litter Control, <i>Environment and Behavior, 5</i>, pp. 123-144, 1973. M. C. Dodge, Modification of Littering Behavior: An Exploratory Study, Unpublished master's thesis, Utah State University, 1972. E. S. Geller, J. F. Whitney and A. L. Orebaugh, An Application of Behavioral Technology for Litter Control, Paper presented at the 82nd Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, New Orleans, 1974. J. L. Freedman and S. C. Fraser, Compliance Without Pressure: The Foot-in-the-door Technique, <i>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4</i>, pp. 195-202, 1966. D. Bem, Self-perception Theory, in <i>Advances in Experimental Social Psychology</i>, L. Berkowitz, (ed.), Academic Press, New York, 1972. P. Pliner, H. Hart, J. Kohl and D. Saari, Compliance Without Pressure: Some Further Data on the Foot-in-the-door Technique, <i>Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 10</i>, pp. 17-22, 1974. M. Snyder and M. R. Cunningham, To Comply or Not Comply: Testing the Self-perception Explanation of the "Foot-in-the-door" Phenomenon, <i>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1</i>, pp. 64-67, 1975. A. Cann, S. J. Sherman and R. Elkes, Effects of Initial Request Size and Timing of a Second Request on Compliance: The Foot-in-the-door and the Door-in-the-face, <i>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32</i>, pp. 5, 774-782, 1975. R. B. Cialdini, J. E. Vincent, S. K. Lewis, J. Catalan, D. Wheeler and B. L. Darley, Reciprocal Concessions Procedure for Inducing Compliance: The Door-in-the-face Technique, <i>Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 31</i>, pp. 206-215, 1975. M. B. Harris, The Effects of Performing One Altruistic Act on the Likelihood of Performing Another, <i>Journal of Social Psychology, 88</i>, pp. 65-73, 1972.