Charlan Nemeth

Differential contributions of majority and minority influence

In most studies comparing majority and minority influence, there is an emphasis on influence in the sense of “prevailing.” Within this context, evidence exists that majorities exert more public influence and that minority influence, when it occurs, tends to operate primarily at the latent level. In the present formulation, it is proposed that the differences between majority and minority influence are in fact more extensive once influence is considered in a broader context. In particular, it is proposed that exposure to persistent minority views fosters greater thought about the issue. Furthermore, this thought tends to be divergent rather than convergent, and as a result, people tend to be better decision makers because they attend to more aspects of the situation and reexamine premises. By contrast, it is proposed that exposure to persistent majority views fosters convergent thinking and leads to an unreflective acceptance of the majority position. Three experimental studies are reported that directly test some of the propositions, and the formulation is linked to available knowledge in the areas of social cognition, creativity, and problem solving both at the individual and group levels. Finally, some practical implications of this formulation for small group decision making and for society at large are offered.

The Tradeoffs of Social Control and Innovation in Groups and Organizations

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the description of research on social influence that moves rather freely between laboratory settings and organizational contexts. The laboratory studies follow several well-developed research paradigms, with variations in conditions and resultant findings occurring in a cumulative fashion. The organizational studies of social influence have tended to draw on a wide variety of psychological and sociological theories, resulting in a more disparate set of findings that have rarely been drawn together. Whereas the social psychological work has typically been experimental, the organizational research ranges from quantitative experiments and surveys to more qualitative case studies. Thus, the integration of work on social control and innovation will necessitate mixing results with varying levels of internal and external validity. The chapter explains the discussion of social control and innovation that moves freely between the microscopic and the macroscopic. The chapter explores the way the studies of organizational behavior can profit from knowledge of more basic social influence processes and the way experimental group research can be enriched by an understanding of more complex organizational processes.

A Simulated Jury Study: Characteristics of the Defendant and the Jurors

Summary In the present study, two samples of subjects differing in class and political orientation were tested in a simulated jury situation. The defendant, accused of negligent homicide, varied in the characteristics of race and attractiveness. Mean sentencing of the defendant was found to be a function of the characteristics of the jurors and of the attractiveness of the defendant. No main effect for race of the defendant was found. Further, a significant interaction between the subject sample—i.e. the jurors—and attractiveness of the defendant and between the subject sample and race of the defendant was found. The latter findings were discussed with reference to the child-rearing literature on class differences.

A Critical Analysis of Research Utilizing the Prisoner's Dilemma Paradigm for the Study of Bargaining

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews and compares the significance of research utilizing a Prisoners Dilemma game with reference to variables intrinsic to the Prisoners Dilemma paradigm. Uncertainty about the meaning of the responses, the difficulty of assessing the motives behind particular strategies, the barriers against conveying or interpreting preferences or acceptable solutions, the lack of incentive for maximizing gains or perhaps even for taking the task seriously, and the absence of interaction with another human being all tend to make this a situation of possible irrelevance, certain ambiguity, and perhaps even incomprehensibility for the subject. Not only do these variables generally make concepts like reciprocity irrelevant, they tend to draw into question what is actually being studied in the Prisoners Dilemma game. It appears that research on the Prisoners Dilemma game may have little transferability to a naturally occurring bargaining situation. This is not because it is too simple or too minimal a situation to be relevant to the complex situations that one might wish to comprehend. Rather, the Prisoners Dilemma game is not really a simulation of even a very simple bargaining situation. The chapter highlights the historical perspectives of the Prisoners Dilemma.

Consistency and modification of judgment

Abstract In an investigation of minority influence, it was predicted that a consistent preference for paintings based on nationality by a confederate would cause previously neutral subjects to increase their preference in the direction of this minority viewpoint. Further, it was predicted that ethnic origin of the confederate could be seen as a biasing factor which could diminish influence. Four naive subjects were paired with one experimental confederate who was presented as being of either Italian, German, or unknown ethnic origin. On every trial, subjects were asked to indicate their preference between two paintings, one labeled “Italian” and the other labeled “German.” Labels were actually assigned at random. The confederate consistently chose the Italian or the German paintings on every one of the 19 trials. Results indicate that Control subjects rather than being neutral, exhibited a preference for the Italian paintings. Further, the presence of a confederate who took a consistent standard, whether it was Italian or German, had the effect of making subjects significantly more pro-German (or less pro-Italian) than the control group. The findings are explained on the basis that the German position was actalternative minority position, whereas the Italian position was actually an extreme of the majority position. While the former situation leads to minority influence as predicted, the latter situation appears to have polarized subjects. An alternative in terms of a norm of fairness is suggested, also.

Creative collaborations from afar: The benefits of independent authors

The number of times that an article is cited has served as an indicator of both its creativity and impact. In this study, we investigated the relationship between citations and 2 very simple variables-the number of authors and the number of separate locations. Previous research, on balance, would support the notion that an increased number of collaborators would increase the quality of the product, at least to some asymptote. Research on the effect of separate locations is more sparse. Most work favors collaborations at the same locale, given a sharing of perspective and benefits in terms of coordination and motivation. However, research from the minority influence literature documents the stimulating effects of independent and differing views, leading to the conclusion that independent locations would be an asset. Results from an analysis of 6 journals and 5,113 articles over a 10-year period show the benefit of both the number of authors and the number of independent locations. Journals also differed in their citation average, Psychological Review being cited significantly more often than any of the other 5 journals.

Selected Factors Impacting Decision Making in Prereferral Intervention and Other School-Based Teams: Exploring the Intersection between School and Social Psychology.

Abstract Many of the most important decisions and recommendations made by school psychologists occur within the context of school-based teams. Despite this, research and theory regarding group decision making has attracted little attention in the school psychology literature (Conoley & Gutkin, 1995; Gutkin & Conoley, 1990). To begin addressing this problem, this paper reviews group-based social psychological work with both extensive empirical support and important pragmatic implications for school psychology practitioners and researchers. Primary foci include the need for improved outcome criteria with which school psychologists can assess the quality of group decision making, the power of majorities in groups, the value of minority dissent, group polarization, and the establishment of shared norms. Although far from an exhaustive list, these social psychological phenomena exemplify the kinds of issues needing greater attention by school psychologists as they work with school-based teams.

The Midpoint as an Anchor: Another Look at Discrepancy of Position and Attitude Change.

Both Festingers (1957) dissonance theory and Sherif and Hovlands (1961) social judgment theory predict a curvilinear relationship between discrepancy of position and attitude change under some circumstances. Mixed results in the literature seem to be due to variations in the range of discrepancy tested, confounds of initial position and discrepancy and confounds between side of issue and discrepancy. Studies vary with regard to the presence or absence of a psychological midpoint, a position which separates the judgments into two basic orientations. Assuming that the midpoint operates as an anchor, much as the subjects own position, it was hypothesized the subjects would use the anchor of the scale midpoint as well as the anchor of their own position in judging the position of the communicator and in responding to it. It was predicted that the motivational consideration of same side vs. opposite side of the issue would be particularly operative when the discrepancies were large-namely, when the communicators position was far from an anchor. Thus, at small discrepancies, subjects should respond with approximately equal attitude change regardless of the side of the issue. At large discrepancies, subjects should be more likely to respond with attitude change when the communication is on the same side of the issue than when the communication is on the opposite side of the issue. These predictions were supported.

Consequences of Beliefs about the Malleability of Creativity

Attempts to maximize creativity pervade corporate, artistic, and scientific domains. This research investigated how individuals lay beliefs about the malleability of creativity affect several measures of creative potential. Two correlational and 1 experimental study examined the relationship between malleability beliefs about creativity and creative problem-solving and prior creative achievement. In Study 1, incremental beliefs in creativity were associated with interest in creative thinking, self-reported creativity, and creative problem-solving. In Study 2, incremental beliefs were associated with prior creative achievement in a cross-cultural, professional sample. In Study 3, incremental primes of creativity led to improved creative problem-solving. All studies provide discriminant validity and domain-specificity for malleability beliefs in creativity. Specifically, Studies 1 and 2 controlled for individual differences in beliefs about the malleability of intelligence, suggesting that malleability beliefs of creativity and intelligence are meaningfully distinct. Meanwhile, Study 3 found that incremental beliefs of creativity enhance creative problem-solving but not problem-solving more generally.

Jury Trials: Psychology And Law1

Publisher Summary In this chapter, the concentration is on trial by jury. It discusses the difficult interface between psychology and law and describes the numerous empirical studies related to individual differences in conviction proneness and/or punitiveness, extra-evidentiary factors in individual decision-making, and the dynamics of juror interaction that culminate in the verdict. The chapter provides an overview of the psychology and the law in the institution of trial by jury. It outlines the antecedents and historical developments in trial by jury. The jury in America, their competence, representativeness, and qualifications are discussed in the chapter; it also describes the determiners of fact versus interpreters of the law and court decisions and discrimination. The chapter explores demographics and jury verdicts, wherein it has described sex and race of juror or defendant; age, politics, and education of jurors; the characteristics of the defendant; the attitudes and personalities of jurors; jury selection—efficacy and ethics; and attitudes toward capital punishment. Influence and persuasion within the jury in two situations that is the person being the foreperson and the person being in the majority and minority is discussed in the chapter. The chapter reviews evidence related to recent changes in the operation of juries, for example, in the size of jury, the requirements of unanimity, as well as various proposed reforms.