College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of human nature.

@article{Sears1986CollegeSI,
  title={College sophomores in the laboratory: Influences of a narrow data base on social psychology's view of human nature.},
  author={D. O. Sears},
  journal={Journal of Personality and Social Psychology},
  year={1986},
  volume={51},
  pages={515-530}
}
  • D. O. Sears
  • Published 1986
  • Psychology
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
For the 2 decades prior to 1960, published research in social psychology was based on a wide variety of subjects and research sites. Content analyses show that since then such research has overwhelmingly been based on college students tested in academic laboratories on academiclike tasks. How might this heavy dependence on one narrow data base have biased the main substantive conclusions of sociopsychological research in this era? Research on the full life span suggests that, compared with… Expand
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