Increased conformity to a fellow deviant as a function of prior deviation

Abstract

A subject was induced to publically report his opinions on a variety of issues. A group of confederates disagreed with the subject; one confederate agreed with him. Thus, the subject deviated from the majority of the group, but received social support from one other individual. Each subject was then paired with one individual from the previous group, and regardless of his pairing, was subjected to a constant amount of conformity pressure from the confederate on a new set of judgments. Deviant subjects conformed more to the confederate who had previously given them social support than they did to a previous majority member. This increased conformity was found in two studies, (1) females judging physical realities and, (2) males reporting their opinions on attitudinal issues. Ratings taken in the second study demonstrated that the deviant subject felt increased liking for and similarity to the confederate who initially provided him with social support, but comparisons between various experimental groups indicated conformity to a confederate was not completely predictable from the subject's liking for that confederate. Instead, conformity was greatest following an experience of deviation from the majority.