Fifteen years of foot-in-the-door research: A meta-analysis
Beaman and colleagues meta-analysed foot-in-the-door studies, covering 120 experimental groups and a subset of studies that tested the hypothesis directly. Across the analyses, the effect was replicable but weak, considerably less dependable than commonly assumed. Nearly half of the studies found no effect or an effect in the opposite direction. The widely cited self-perception explanation was too vague to generate clear predictions, although the data had some implications for it. The authors also examined several possible mediating variables and called for new theoretical development and clearer identification of the underlying processes.
Beaman and colleagues meta-analysed foot-in-the-door studies, covering 120 experimental groups and a subset of studies that tested the hypothesis directly. Across the analyses, the effect was replicable but weak, considerably less dependable than commonly assumed. Nearly half of the studies found no effect or an effect in the opposite direction. The widely cited self-perception explanation was too vague to generate clear predictions, although the data had some implications for it. The authors also examined several possible mediating variables and called for new theoretical development and clearer identification of the underlying processes.
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Beaman, A. L., Cole, C. M., Preston, M., Klentz, B., & Steblay, N. M. (1983). Fifteen years of foot-in-the-door research: A meta-analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 9(2), 181-196. doi:10.1177/0146167283092002.