Group Influence and the Likelihood of a Unanimous Majority

Abstract

The relationship of peer pressure and group size has often been reported as being a negatively accelerating function, with groups of 4 to 6 members producing maximal influence on single deviant minorities. This study was designed to investigate the possibility that this group size effect is related to pre-experimental subject awareness of the likelihood of encountering naturally occurring unanimous opposition. The likelihood of chance occurrence of a unanimous majority opinion with a single minority opinion was studied in groups of 3 to 9 U.S. college students responding to 35 topics of current social interest. Frequencies of occurrence of a unanimous majority opinion opposing a single minority opinion were plotted for the various group sizes and compared with empirical results for social influence and group size reported in the conformity literature. The similarity of present and past results suggested a possible relationship of pre-experimental subject variables to social influence outcomes.