and training) designed to rehabilitate them to society. One year after
their release, a check of the records revealed that (except for heroin
addicts) those given the cosmetic surgery were significantly less likely
to have returned to jail. The most interesting feature of this finding was
that it was equally true for those criminals who had not received the
traditional rehabilitative services as for those who had. Apparently,
some criminologists then argued, when it comes to ugly inmates, prisons
would be better off to abandon the costly rehabilitation treatments they
typically provide and offer plastic surgery instead; the surgery seems
to be at least as effective and decidedly less expensive.
The importance of the newer, Pennsylvania data (Stewart, 1980) is
its suggestion that the argument for surgery as a means of rehabilitation
may be faulty. Making an ugly criminal more attractive may not reduce
the chances that he will commit another crime; it may only reduce his
chances of being sent to jail for it.
- The negligence-award study was done by Kulka and Kessler (1978),
the helping study by Benson et al. (1976), and the persuasion study by
Chaiken (1979). - An excellent review of this research is provided by Eagly et al.
(1991). - The dime-request experiment was conducted by Emswiller et al.
(1971), while the petition-signing experiment was done by Suedfeld et
al. (1971). - The insurance sales data were reported by Evans (1963). The
“mirroring and matching” evidence comes from work by LaFrance
(1985), Locke and Horowitz (1990), and Woodside and Davenport (1974).
Additional work suggests yet another reason for caution when dealing
with similar requesters: We typically underestimate the degree to which
similarity affects our liking for another (Gonzales et al., 1983). - See Drachman et al. (1978) for a complete description of the find-
ings. - Bornstein (1989) summarizes much of this evidence.
- The mirror study was performed by Mita et al. (1977).
- For general evidence regarding the positive effect of familiarity
on attraction, see Zajonc (1968). For more specific evidence of this effect
on our response to politicians, the research of Joseph Grush is enlight-
ening and sobering (Grush et al., 1978; Grush, 1980), in documenting a
strong connection between amount of media exposure and a candidate’s
chances of winning an election. - See Bornstein, Leone, and Galley (1987).
- For an especially thorough examination of this issue, see Stephan
(1978). - The evidence of the tendency of ethnic groups to stay with their
218 / Influence