The effects of scope condition-based participant exclusion on experimental outcomes in expectation states research: A meta-analysis

Expectation states theory employs several scope statements to specify the situational conditions that must be met for any test of the theory to be considered valid (Foschi, 1997). Collective orientation and task orientation are two scope conditions that researchers frequently implement as selection criteria for a participant’s inclusion in an analytic sample. Although excluding participants who fail to meet scope conditions is theoretically consistent, researchers have yet to establish how this practice affects experimental outcomes. I employ meta-analysis to compare studies within the expectation states tradition in which participants are excluded for failure to meet scope conditions to studies in which no similar exclusions are made. Results suggest that studies that exclude participants for scope violations demonstrate a decreased baseline tendency to reject influence. I contend that adopting a more universal approach to the measurement and application of scope conditions would be methodologically and theoretically beneficial to expectation states research.

► Scope conditions affect experimental outcomes in expectation states research.
► I examine how scope-based exclusions affect parameters of the P(S) model.
► Scope exclusions significantly reduce the baseline tendency to reject influence.
► Scope exclusions have no significant effect on the q parameter.