successful, it was specifically intended, intended to create desired levels
of pride and camaraderie among those who endured and survived it?
At least one reason to accept his assessment comes from unfictionalized
reality—the case of West Point cadet John Edwards, who was expelled
from the U.S. Military Academy in 1988 on charges involving the au-
thorized hazing that all first-year cadets experience at the hands of
upperclassmen to ensure that the newcomers can withstand the rigors
of West Point training. It was not that Mr. Edwards, who ranked aca-
demically near the top of his eleven-hundred-member class, had been
unable to bear up under the ritual when he was subjected to it. Nor was
he expelled because he had been aberrantly cruel in his treatment of
the younger cadets. His offense was that he would not expose the
newcomers to what he felt was “absurd and dehumanizing” treatment.
Once again, then, it appears that, for groups concerned about creating
a lasting sense of solidarity and distinction, the hardship of demanding
initiation activities provides a valuable advantage that they will not
easily surrender—either to aspiring members who are unwilling to take
the harshness or to give it out.
The Inner Choice
Examination of such diverse activities as the indoctrination practices
of the Chinese Communists and the initiation rituals of college fratern-
ities has provided some valuable information about commitment. It
appears that commitments are most effective in changing a person’s
self-image and future behavior when they are active, public, and effort-
ful. But there is another property of effective commitment that is more
important than the other three combined. To understand what it is, we
first need to solve a pair of puzzles in the actions of Communist inter-
rogators and fraternity brothers.
The first puzzle comes from the refusal of fraternity chapters to allow
public-service activities to be part of their initiation ceremonies. Recall
that one survey showed that community projects, though frequent,
were nearly always separated from the membership-induction program.
But why? If an effortful commitment is what fraternities are after in
their initiation rites, surely they could structure enough distasteful and
strenuous civic activities for their pledges; there is plenty of exertion
and unpleasantness to be had in the world of old-age-home repairs,
mental-health-center yard work, and hospital bedpan duty. Besides,
community-spirited endeavors of this sort would do much to improve
the highly unfavorable public and media image of fraternity Hell Week
rites; a survey showed that for every positive newspaper story concern-
ing Hell Week, there were five negative stories. If only for public-rela-
70 / Influence