The effect of commitment to future interaction on reactions to norm violations 1

Social norms are important, m part, because they prevent harmful or anarchic social mtercourse, enable persons to agree on a common definition of the social situabon (see Goffman, 1959), and lower the cost of social exchange (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959). It follows, then, that those who violate social norms will be negabvely evaluated (e g, S. Kiesler, 1966) But one's covert evaluabon and overt treatment of an mappropnate other depend on a number of situabonal vanables, including the expectabon of future mteracbon with the other. There is akeady considerable evidence that strong anticipabon of future mteracbon with others profoundly affects social attitudes and behavior (eg., Kiesler, Zanna, & De Salvo, 1966) C. Kiesler (m press) has argued that commitment to future mteracbon makes certam responses to others more difficult, and, therefore, less probable. Certam alternative reacbons to a person who acts mappropnately should also be more difficult when one IS committed to future mteracbon with him Intuibvely, when one must interact with another over time it should be more difficult to discoimt or "forget" the violabon because the present violabon may have predicbve importance. Therefore, covert negabve feelmgs toward a norm violator should be greater when