Nachdem Prof. Klauer anscheinend eine grandiose Diplomfeierrede mit der deutschen Version dieser Geschichte gehalten hatte, bin ich gerade nochmal über das Thema „Wissenschaftliche Untersuchung der Bewegung von Salzstreuern bei Tisch“ gestolpert. Und habe mich daran gemacht, den „Artikel“, der der Sache anscheinend zu Grunde liegt, zu recherchieren. Er steht geneigten Lesern zum herunterladen zur Verfügung.

Hier schon vorab ein kleiner Auszug:

ASCH (1) tested the effects of pressure to conform on salt passage. In an experiment, a subject was seated at a table with seven confederates. The subject and six of the confederates had salt shakers in front of them, one confederate did not. The confederate without the salt shaker said, „Please the salt.“ Asch found that, when one confederate passed the salt, the subject was more likely not to pass the salt; but when all the confederates passed the salt, the subject was more likely to conform to peer pressure and also pass the salt. Asch concluded that conformity was an essential aspect of salt passage.

Festinger (6) tested the effects of substance uncertainty on salt passage. Subjects were placed at a table where salt was loosely piled on a napkin, while sugar was placed in a salt shaker. When a confederate said, „Please pass the salt,“ the overwhelming number of subjects passed the sugar. From this study, Festinger concluded that the salt shaker, not the salt itself, was the crucial factor in salt passage.

Bem (2) extended Festinger’s study by placing two shakers on the table, both clearly marked with the world „SALT.“ One shaker had salt in it; the other, however, was filled with pepper. Bem reasoned that, if the salt shaker were the crucial factor, both the pepper and salt should be passed about an equal number of times. Surprisingly, Bem found that when prompted with the utterance, „Please pass the salt,“ people more frequently passed the shaker with salt in it than passed the shaker with pepper in it. Bem concluded that, in salt passage, there is an interaction effect between substance in the shaker and the shaker itself.