The Amplification Effect Of Intra-group Emotion

Two experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that an emotional event (e.g., emotional movie ordrawing a lottery) induces more intensified emotions when one is in a group compared to when one is alone. Twoexperiments were conducted. In Experiments1a/b, a funny/sad film clip was presented to participants on a bigscreen using a projector when they were either alone, or in a3-person,5-person,7-person group condition. Theywere then asked to response to a questionnaire, which includes an item to measure their general feelings, aneight-item mood adjective checklist (e.g., cheerful, happy; bored, sad), as well as an item to measure their feelingsabout the film clip. The results showed that, generally, individuals felt much happier (Experiment1a)/sadder(Experiment1b) when they are in a group condition than when they are alone. Moreover, with larger group size,participants felt happier (Experiment1a)/sadder (Experiment1b). Experiment2aimed to further test theamplification effect of intra-group emotion in a more real situation. Participants were told that they have thechance to draw a lottery with the probability of winning20ï¿¥or0ï¿¥in50%to50%. They were then assigned todraw the lottery alone or in a3-person or7-person group condition. In each group condition, the participants weretold that one of them would be chosen randomly to draw the lottery. If s/he won, each one in the group got20ï¿¥.If s/he lose, each one in the group got0ï¿¥. After drawing the lottery, their emotions were assessed on the itemabout general feeling and an eight-item mood adjective checklist. The results showed that, for participants whowon the lottery, those in the3-person and7-person group condition are much happier than those who drew thelottery alone. For participants who lose, those in the3-person and the7-person group condition felt moredisappointed than those alone. As in Experiment1, the results demonstrated a higher emotion rating with largergroup size. These findings provide supporting evidence for the amplification effect of intra-group emotion. Theboundary conditions and underlying processes of this effect were discussed.