Abstract

It was hypothesized that an increase in the strength of disliking compared to that in the strength of liking would have a greater effect on perception of the pleasantness and the stability of the triadic social situations. All subjects were instructed to write the names of several persons whom they liked strongly, considerably, fairly, and mildly. While one experimental group wrote the strongly liked and disliked persons into the triadic social situations, the other experimental group wrote the mildly liked and disliked persons. The hypothesis was supported in stability ratings but not in pleasantness ratings. The overall pattern of the balance effects did not support the Heider's(1958) and Newcomb's(1968) theories. A new model similar to the conflict model was suggested to explain these data.