INTRAGROUP COHESIVENESS AND RECIPROCAL SOCIAL-INFLUENCE IN MALE AND FEMALE DISCUSSION GROUPS

The impact of intragroup agreement on social pressure in small discussion groups was investigated. Cohesion was induced in 50% of 54 all-male or all-female American college student discussion groups by establishing agreement among group members' opinions on four controversial social issues. Conflict was introduced with a subsequent topic on which one member disagreed with all others. The remaining groups had no opportunity to establish group cohesion prior to encountering group disagreement. The group task was to achieve a consensus opinion on the disagreement topic. Postdiscussion group attraction ratings confirmed that establishing prior agreements among group members increased group cohesion. Opinion rating data indicated that both male and female groups exhibited the greatest opinion change by deviates when cohesion was low and consensus was required. Results provided evidence that increased cohesion attenuated social pressure on the deviate. The findings supported Hollander's theory of idiosyncrasy credits and deviated from Festinger's social comparison account of social pressure.