Interviews as catalysts in a community setting

Abstract

Examined the effects of interviews about community experience on subsequent attitudes and behavior of adult residents in 2 new condominium communities. Volunteer (23 households) and randomly selected experimental (17 households) groups of respondents were interviewed in their homes. Questionnaires about community experience were administered shortly after the interviews (at 1 condominium) and 6 mo later (at both), and observers rated the activism of community leaders during the interim. Interviewed respondents gave less socially desirable and more extreme responses to the first questionnaire, reported more involvement in the community, and were rated more active in community affairs than uninterviewed controls (103 households). The dynamics of interviews as catalytic events are considered, and the implications of these findings for future use of interviews are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)