The influence of time stress and location on behavioral compliance

Stress has been shown to affect perceptual processing and decision making in various domains. Two experiments examined the effect of stress on compliance behavior. The first experiment also examined the effect of warning location. In Experiment 1, participants were assigned randomly to one of four conditions in a 2 (stress)x2 (warning placement) l;,etween- subjects design. Participants performed a chemistry task in which they weighed and measured various chemical substances that appeared potentially hazardous, but were actually safe. In the high stress condition, participants were given a time limit to complete the task, and the experimenter stood immediately adjacent to the participant, appearing to be monitoring the participant's performance. In the low stress condition, participants were given as much time as they needed to complete the task and the experimenter stood at a distance, out of the participant's field of view. A warning to wear mask and gloves was present in one of two locations, either as a posted sign or placed within a set of task instructions. Compliance with the warning (wearing of protective equipment) was significantly higher among participants who were under low stress and exposed to the within-instructions warning. In Experiment 2, the stress manipulation was separated into two factors: time pressure (absence vs presence) and social monitoring (absence vs presence). Results showed that time pressure significantly reduced compliance compared with its absence, but social monitoring produced a small but non-significant compliance enhancement. The results point to the need to consider external factors in warning systems. © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.