Date of Award
2012
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Abstract
The current study investigated the interpretation of an agent's actions under the influence of external forces. Participants viewed a series of videos of an agent making a varying series of decisions and forced behaviors and were asked to predict future behavior. Firstly, we found evidence that suggests that perceivers make inferences about an agent that once they have shown a preference toward an object, they will persist with those initial desires, despite, external forces leading them to a different object. Secondly, we found evidence that suggests that submitting to a coerced choice will be perceived as reflecting a conflicting combination of pragmatic behavioral choice (due to concession to external forces) and maintenance of original desires, or, simply put, perceivers infer multiple underlying intentions in others.
Extent
v, 27 p. : ill. (some col.)
Recommended Citation
Vail, Brian., "Interpretation of forced and unforced choice behavior" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 559.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/559
Identifier
FADT3352877
Comments
by Brian Vail.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2012.|Includes bibliography.|Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2012. Mode of access: World Wide Web.|by Brian Vail.