- Social Psychology
Dutton and Aron and the Misattribution of Arousal Theory
The Dutton and Aron experiment
The experiment that Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron conducted is commonly known as the Capilano Suspension Bridge study. As the name suggests, these two psychologists used two bridges to prove their point. The first bridge was small, solid, and modern. The other, on the other hand, was located on the Capilano Canyon, 230 feet above the ground. It was an old bridge that swayed in the wind and trembled at every step.
There were two groups of men. Dutton and Aron asked each group to cross one of the two bridges. Now, both groups met a very attractive woman in the middle of each bridge. She told them that she was doing a study on landscapes, which was an excuse to ask them to describe part of what they saw. In the end, she gave them her phone number in a flirtatious manner.
So what was the result? Basically, the men who crossed the short and safe bridge pretty much didn’t look at the woman twice. Those who crossed the dangerous bridge called the woman and felt very interested in her. What’s behind these two different behaviors?
The suspension bridge experiment was conducted by Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron in 1974, in order to demonstrate a process where people apparently misjudge the cause of a high level of arousal. The results of the experiment showed that the men who were approached by an attractive woman on a less secure bridge were found to experience a higher level of arousal, and had a tendency to attribute this to the presence of the woman.