RyleighRepass

SocialPsychology210
HampshireCollege

ALiteratureReviewofSharedExperiencesAreAmplifiedbyBoothby,
Clark,andBargh(2014)

Ihadtheopportunitytoreadaveryinterestingsocialpsychologyarticleregarding
sharedexperiences.Inthisarticle,Boothbyetal.(2014)hypothesizedthatengagingin
anactivityatthesametimeasanotherpersonwouldamplifytheexperienceofthe
activity.Specifically,theyarguethatpleasantactivitieswouldbemorepleasantwhen
performedatthesametimeasanotherthanwhenperformedalone.Theyalsoargued
theoppositenegativeactivitieswouldbemorenegativewhenperformedatthesame
timeasanotherthanwhenperformedalone.Boothbyetal.(2014)citeddifferentarticles
regardingthishypothesistofurtherarguetheirpoint.Theyusedliteratureshowingthat
sharedexperiencesenhancememoryforthestimuli,intensifiesgoalpursuitand
increasesimitationofmodeledbehavior.However,Boothbyetal.(2014)arguethattheir
experimentdiffersfrompreviousonesbecauseitlackscommunicationbetween
subjects.
Boothbyetal.(2014)designedtheexperimentsothatsubjectswereinthesame
roomsittingsidebysidetoeliminatethepossibilityofvisualcommunication(i.e.eye
contact).Theywerealsoinstructednottotalktoeachotherbytheexperimenter.There
weretwoconditionswhichweretestedsharingtheexperienceofeatingpleasant
chocolatewiththeothersubject(inthiscase,aconfederate)andeatingthesame
chocolatebutwhiletheconfederatelookedatabookletofpaintings.Theydesignedthe

experimentsothesubjectthoughttheyweretryingdifferentchocolateseachtimeand
thattheytoowouldbelookingatthebookletofpaintings(thoughtheyneverdid).This
designeliminatedthepossibilityofthesubjectrealizingtheotherpersonwasa
confederate.Theexperimentersalsoperformedanidenticalexperimentbutused
chocolatesubstitute(actually90%cocoa)insteadofpleasantchocolateandabookof
computationalproductsinsteadofabookofpaintings.Thisway,theywereabletotest
theirtheorythatunpleasantexperiencesbecomemoreunpleasantwhensharedthan
whendonealone.Theparticipantsincluded23femalesfromYaleUniversityforthefirst
testandaseparategroupof22femalesfromYaleforthesecondtest.Theethnicity
variedthoughitwasdeterminedthatitwouldhavenoeffectonthefinalresults.The
researchersgathereddatabygivingparticipantsaclipboardwithtwopagesof
questionsregardingtheirexperiencetobeansweredimmediatelyafterthechocolate
tasting.
Theresultswereverystraightforwardandwelldisplayedinabargraph.Inboth
conditions,sharedexperiencesweresignificantlymoreamplifiedthannonshared
experiences.Inthefirstexperiment,thesharedexperienceresultedinamorelikingof
thechocolatethannonsharedexperience.Furthermore,sharedexperiencesshoweda
higherflavorfulnessofchocolateratingthannonshared(mindyou,thechocolatewas
exactly
thesame).Similarly,inthesecondtest,thesharedexperienceresultedina
lowerratingoflikingforthechocolate,aswasexpected.Inadditiontotestingtheir
liking,theyaskedparticipantshowabsorbedtheywereintheexperienceandiftheyfelt
onthesamewavelengthwiththeconfederate.Intheunpleasanttest,theyratedhigher

forbothquestionsinthesharedexperiencescomparedtotheunsharedexperience.
Theseresultssupportedtheirinitialhypothesis.
Thescientistsdidagoodjobofdesigningthestudysothattheycouldcontrolfor
almosteveryvariable.Ithinkthefactthattheparticipantslackedcommunicationwasan
importantaspectbecauseitcontrolledforthepossibilityofevenmoreamplifiedresults
duetoasharedconnectionfromtalking/lookingattheothersface.Eventhoughthey
claimedtheresultswouldmostlikelynotbeaffectedbygender,Ithinktheyshouldhave
triedtoincludebothsexes.Afuturestudycouldincludehowheterosexualindividuals
mightratethechocolatewhensharingtheexperiencewiththesamesexv.theopposite
sex.Althoughthisisnotwhattheywereintendingtotestfor,Ithinkitcouldprovequite
interesting.Overall,Iwouldratethisarticleaswellconstructedandwellperformed.I
agreethattheirhypothesisissupportedbythetestingandresults.Theyprovidedan
easilyunderstooddiscussionwheretheyarguedtheirpointswell.Ingeneral,Iwould
saythisarticlewaswelldone!

References:
Boothby,E.J.,Clark,M.S.,&Bargh,J.A.(2014).Sharedexperiencesare
amplified.
Psychologicalscience
,
25
(12),22092216.