RESEARCH TOOLS:
FAST FRIENDS PROCEDURE
Expanded (3-Session) Fast Friends Procedure
Below is the full protocol to replicate and employ the expanded Fast Friends procedure used in Page-Gould, Mendoza-Denton, & Tropp, which was based off the single-session Fast Friends procedure developed and validated by Aron, Melinat, Aron, Vallone, & Bator (1997). It's a very fun protocol to implement, and the participants love it! Specific questions about the procedure and possible implications of variations should be addressed to Elizabeth Page-Gould.
1. PREPARE MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY
You Will Need:
- 3 Different Colors of 4x5 index cards
- Glue Stick
- Scissors
- A Jenga game (link to Jenga from Amazon)
- A box for Jenga Pieces
- Print that session's Fast Friends questions (4 questions per page)
- Cut questions out, keeping each "set" together (there are 3 sets of 12 Questions per Fast Friends session, indexed in the upper corner)
- Use Glue Stick to glue each question to an index card, using the same color cards for questions from the same "set"
- Print out instructions
- Cut out each of 2 instruction sheets, outlined in boxes (1 instruction sheet for each participant)
- Jenga Sheet (non-reusable) - Each participant pair needs 1 copy of Jenga Score Sheet
2. RUN EXPANDED FAST FRIENDS PROCEDURE
Session 1 (First Interaction)
- Give Fast Friends instructions to each participant, read them aloud with participants
- Leave participants with Session 1 Fast Friends questions
- Let the pair know when they should move to the next set (at end of each 15-minute period)
- Note: We asked the friendship partners not to contact each other during the 2 weeks that they were coming into the laboratory for the Fast Friends procedure.
- Give Fast Friends instructions to each participant, read them aloud with participants
- Leave participants with Session 2 Fast Friends questions
- Let the pair know when they should move to the next set (at end of each 15-minute period)
- Explain Jenga game to participants while demonstrating how to set up the tower
- Give participant pair 1 Jenga Score Sheet
- Return after 30 minutes
- Note: We video taped the participants playing Jenga, and this might be necessary to ensure that everything stays nice and honest. Also, this Jenga is dependent on a final lottery for all participants, so another prize would need to be chosen for the cooperative goal if a lottery is not an option.
CITATIONS
Used as part of an expanded Fast Friends procedure in ...
Disclaimer: The tools, stimuli, and methods provided here are intended for use in academic research and not for commercial use or distribution. Non-original works are excerpted and expanded for non-commercial purposes under terms the fair use exemption to the U.S. Copyright Act.
- Page-Gould, E., Mendoza-Denton, R., & Tropp, L. R. (2008). With a little help from my cross-group friend: Reducing intergroup anxiety through cross-group friendship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 1080 - 1094.
- Aron, A., Melinat, E., Aron, E. N., Vaollone, R., & Bator, R. (1997). The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 363 - 377.
- Stock, G. (1987). The book of questions. New York: Workman Publishing Company.
Disclaimer: The tools, stimuli, and methods provided here are intended for use in academic research and not for commercial use or distribution. Non-original works are excerpted and expanded for non-commercial purposes under terms the fair use exemption to the U.S. Copyright Act.