Group size, prior experience, and conformity.

An effort was made to validate the findings of 2 previous workers regarding the effect of the size of a group (Asch, 1952) and prior experience (Mausner, 1953, 1954, 1957) upon conformity in the judgment of the length of lines. The results of Asch and Mausner were reproduced; there is a curvilinear relationship between size of a group (from 2 to 5) and influence on S to conform to what he believes are the estimates of the lines made by others. Prior experience in making judgments of the lines was also found to influence the accuracy of judgment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group participation and conformity.

Contends that the mass media perceive the treat of subliminal perception as a way psychologists are considered engineers of conformity. Psychologists who work with problems of groups and group development have received particular attention in this regard. In general the kinds of experience which people undergo in group training laboratories and in sensitivity training are said to make for slavish adhesion to the group. The author discusses conducting a 2-day group training laboratory for leaders of student organizations at a small college. Small groups with the trainer were thrown upon their own resources and allowed to work on the problems they chose. Intermittently the trainer interpreted what was going on in the way of group process. There were reports of a good bit of subjective involvement on the part of the student leaders who participated. The purpose of the training laboratory was to determine whether there were attitude changes concurrent with the training. It is concluded that this kind of group experience which is designed to open people's receptors to the reactions of others may actually make the persons more independent in their attitudes. Perhaps it was that these young people, who were all social acquaintances of each other, had enough doubt about where they stood with each other to inhibit the frankest kind of interaction. Once they developed more sensitivity to each other and clearer perceptions of other's feelings, their attitudes changed to favor franker and freer self-expression. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group cohesiveness as interpersonal attraction: A review of relationships with antecedent and consequent variables.

The cohesiveness of small groups is defined in terms of intermember attraction and the rationale for such an approach is discussed. The empirical literature, restricted primarily to investigations published 1950-1962, is reviewed with the aim of evaluating the status of variables hypothesized as having antecedent or consequent relationships with interpersonal attraction. To this end, studies from diverse fields, for example, group dynamics, personality, and learning, are brought together and categorized. Theoretical positions concerned with the development of liking between persons and the effects which liking has upon subsequent behavior are also examined by specifying predictions from systematic formulations and comparing them with the research data. The major intent of this paper is to document relationships which have been clearly established and to identify those which are still equivocal or unexplored. (7 p. ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Involvement and communication discrepancy as determinants of opinion conformity.

"This research studied the relationship between conformity and (a) the extent of the discrepancy between the opinions of a communicator and a recipient and (b) the degree of involvement of the recipient. These variables are central to a dissonance theory analysis of the social influence process, as well as to many previous investigations of attitude change. It can be derived from the theory that opinion change increases with increases in both involvement and discrepancy between communicator and recipient." "… opinion conformity [did increase]… as a function of involvement and discrepancy. This theory with its consideration of the tension-producing effects of these variables, provides a sound framework for the understanding of some of the dynamics of social influence." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effects of threat and frustration on group cohesiveness.

A field experiment concerned with the effects of threat and frustration upon cohesiveness seemed to justify several conclusions. (a) A reduction in threat seems to increase cohesiveness. (b) A reduction in frustration does not increase cohesiveness. (c) A catharsis of hostility may increase the attractiveness of teams toward which hostility is directed. (d) Strong frustration may produce "a withdrawal symptom consisting of reduced interteam competition and increased intrateam cooperation." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of group cohesiveness and training upon creative thinking.

In the formation of creative thinking groups, how well does brainstorming work? 48 Ss were divided into trained and untrained samples; and cohesive, noncohesive, and "nominal" subgroups of 2 persons each were formed, based on sociometric choice. Several hypothetical problems were discussed. An analysis of variance statistical technique was used to compare number of responses and number of unique responses between the groups. "Brainstorming by pairs of superior adults will produce more unique ideas when the groups are trained in the method and composed of people who like to brainstorm together. This is true, however, only when they are working on ego-involving problems." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Taylor MAS and group conformity pressure.

Ss with low anxiety "tend to question their own judgment more but still show 'normal conformity,' under strong pressure conditions… [those with high level of anxiety] become somewhat hostile and rigid and less amenable to conformity influence. Some general support is thus given to the findings… that increase in emotional tension reduces the effectiveness of persuasive communications." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Unit-level voluntary turnover rates and customer service quality: Implications of group cohesiveness, newcomer concentration, and size.

Despite substantial growth in the service industry and emerging work on turnover consequences, little research examines how unit-level turnover rates affect essential customer-related outcomes. The authors propose an operational disruption framework to explain why voluntary turnover impairs customers’ service quality perceptions. On the basis of a sample of 75 work units and data from 5,631 employee surveys, 59,602 customer surveys, and organizational records, results indicate that unit-level voluntary turnover rates are negatively related to service quality perceptions. The authors also examine potential boundary conditions related to the disruption framework. Of 3 moderators studied (group cohesiveness, group size, and newcomer concentration), results show that turnover’s negative effects on service quality are more pronounced in larger units and in those with a greater concentration of newcomers. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and situational determinants of conformity.

"This study investigated the relationships between dispositional tendencies to respond to interpersonal communications in terms of either (a) the source of the communication, or (b) the message or content of the communication, and yielding to group influence as a function of (a) the amount of discrepancy between group judgment and the individual's own judgment, and (b) the difficulty of the behavioral task in which the individual is engaged. A source-oriented group and a message-oriented group of S's were differentiated on the basis of their habitual manner of interpreting interpersonally communicated information by means of objective analysis of sentence completions." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Competence and conformity in the acceptance of influence.

"A study was conducted to test the relationship between competence on a group task and conformity or nonconformity to procedural norms in determining a person's ability to influence other group members… . Influence was measured by the number of trials… in which the confederate's recommended solution was accepted as the group's choice… . a significant increase in his influence occurred as the trials progressed… . Past conformity… was also found to be positively and significantly related to the acceptance of his influence… . there was a statistically significant interaction between past and current nonconformity." From Psyc Abstracts 36:02:2GE65H. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Determinants of conformity and attitude change.

"College males varying in affiliative motivation were subjected to a group-influence situation where their previously measured attitudes toward divorce was either unanimously opposed, or opposed with the exception of one supporter. The subject's public reaction (conformity) was measured, and also his private response (attitude change). The results indicated conformity to be a joint function of affiliative motivation and conditions of social support, with roughly similar but less significant results for attitude change." 19 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of person-group relationships on conformity processes.

"An experiment was designed to test hypotheses derived from assuming distinctive processes called social reality and group locomotion, each of which generates forces to conform under specified conditions. Four types of person-group relations were created by experimentally varying subject's attraction to the group and acceptance as a member. A modification of Asch's line problem and experimental situation was used to test the conformity behavior of subjects. The results are in accord with hypotheses advanced about the conformity behavior of highly accepted persons, thus supplying evidence in favor of the assumptions about social reality and group locomotion processes." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group Cohesiveness, Group-Derived Collective Self-Esteem, Group-Derived Hope, and the Well-Being of Group Therapy Members.

I. D. Yalom's (1995) hypothesis that group therapy cohesiveness is the precursor to the development of group-derived collective self-esteem (CSE), hope for the self (HS), and psychological well-being (personal self-esteem and depression) was tested. Participants were 102 university counseling center group therapy clients from process (n = 54) and theme (n = 48) groups. Path analyses supported Yalom's theory that cohesiveness is the primary group factor and that it directly related to curative group factors such as CSE and HS. Additional path analyses showed that the relationship between group therapy CSE and personal self-esteem was moderated by HS, such that a significant relationship between CSE and personal self-esteem was no longer found once HS was entered into the model. Implications of these findings for research and practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of perceived dependency relationships upon conformity to group expectations.

The study was designed to test the hypothesis that "group members perceiving themselves as interdependent for their reward attainment become highly motivated toward the group task." Results generally are in accord with several predictions, one of which is that: "Members of groups who are instrumentally interdependent become more highly motivated toward the group task than Ss who can achieve their goals independently of the others in the group." Another prediction supported by results is that: "Under conditions of instrumental independence, Ss who are told that both they and their teammates can attain a valued goal through the group activity become more highly task motivated than Ss who are told either that only S or Ss partner can attain this goal." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Birth order, need achievement, and conformity.

"… first born persons have a higher need for achievement than later born persons; first born females exhibit greater resistance to influence… and first born males exhibit less resistance to influence than later born males." The results are explained in terms of the psychological significance of order of birth. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Two forms of social conformity: Acquiescence and conventionality.

The "study was designed to obtain some objective measure of both kinds of conformity… the dynamic process of immediate conformity, termed acquiescence; and long term results of conformity to cultural norms, termed conventionality." 22 references. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group pressure and action against a person.

A distinction is made between action conformity and signal conformity; the former refers to group-induced behavior that has more than an informational impact on the environment. A study of action conformity is described in which the effects of group pressure are measured by comparing the amount of electric shock administered by a naive S to a person, under experimental and control conditions. In the experimental condition the S performs in the midst of 2 confederates who call for increasingly more powerful shocks against a victim. The naive S has control over the level of shock and can hold down the punishment or yield to group influence. In the course of 30 critical trials the mean shock levels rise in response to the confederates' pressure. The structure of the experimental situation is examined by a comparison with Asch's study of verbal compliance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Task difficulty and conformity pressures.

This study using 60 Ss showed that conformity pressures are more easily exerted when the person is poorly informed with respect to questions of general information. When certain of the correct answers, the person is more easily able to resist pressures, but when uncertain he is more prone to use supplemental external information as the basis for making responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Group cohesiveness and creative performance.

This study examined the effects of task cohesiveness and interpersonal cohesiveness on group performance on a novel group creativity task. S. J. Zaccaro and M. C. McCoy (see record 1989-04984-001) suggested that cohesiveness is 2-dimensional and that the effects of task cohesiveness and interpersonal cohesiveness depend on the task type and the way in which performance is evaluated. The creativity task used here was more interactive than classic idea-generation tasks. Three-person groups were asked to draw a single projected image created by superimposing the images from 3 separate overhead projectors. Drawing performance was judged for creativity and technical quality. The predicted interaction between task and interpersonal cohesiveness was found such that groups in the high task-cohesive and high interpersonal-cohesive conditions produced the most creative group drawings for 1 of the 2 objects presented. Also as predicted, high task cohesiveness alone improved technical quality of the drawings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Authoritarianism, leader acceptance, and group cohesion.

An examination of the validity of the Frommian compromise between leader-centered and member-centered theories of group cohesiveness is made, using a sample of enlisted men of the Air Defense Command. The variables of authoritarianism and leader-acceptance were measured in this sample by means of Likert-type scales. The Frommian hypothesis is supported to some extent, since, as expected, under conditions of military organization, more high authoritarians than low apparently accept or idealize their formally designated leader; and, attractive force of the group is apparently stronger for high than for low scorers on the authoritarianism scale. The strong positive association between leader acceptance and group cohesion, for high authoritarians, that is expected on the Frommian hypothesis is not found. A discussion of the Frommian compromise is then made. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)