Influence in Small Groups: Direct Experience and Attitude Behavior Consistency, Minority Influence, Choice Shift, Social Combination Models, Prevailing Norms and Demonstrability

88 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1988.A theoretical integration of the direct experience and attitude-behavior consistency literature, the minority influence and choice shift literatures, and the social combination models literature was made in an attempt to more fully understand influence processes in small groups. The role of individual differences among group members and of a prevailing norm on influence in a group setting was studied. University undergraduates participated as two-person minorities of four-person majorities in groups in which the majority opinion differed from that of the minority on the issue of abortion rights. In addition, minority group members were chosed on the basis of the amount of direct interpersonal exposure they had with the attitude object. Direct interpersonal exposure was defined as direct behavioral interaction with an individual who was directly affected by the attitude object and is theoretically tied to the direct experience and attitude-behavior consistency literature. It was hypothesized that individuals with greater direct interpersonal exposure would exert greater influence in a group setting (as a minority) than would a majority consisting of individuals with little or no direct interpersonal exposure. The results partially support this hypothesis but also indicate that the impact of individual differences on group influence is mediated by the impact of a prevailing norm.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD