While deviance can foster innovation within groups, research does not always find beneficial effects. The current studies provide an information processing account of the influence of deviants in group decision-making. We predicted deviants would undermine decision confidence and promote greater elaboration when tasks were difficult. Study 1 manipulated the strength (systematic cue) and gender (heuristic cue) of a job applicant to investigate the effect of a deviant in a difficult task. As predicted, a deviant was associated with lowered confidence, greater elaboration, and higher decision quality, but also decreased group cohesion and task satisfaction. Study 2 investigated the effect of a deviant during a simple task and found the same decrease in group cohesion and task satisfaction, but this time with no increase in elaboration or improvement in decision outcome quality. Results indicate that deviance, when seen as justified, has the potential to reduce the occurrence of prejudice and produce fairer decision outcomes during decision-making.

Research on the effects of deviance during group decision making has shown that although it can lead to increased innovation and creativity within the group, group members often dislike the deviant member and rate group morale as lower because of dissent during the decision‐making process. The current study (N = 101) uses an information processing approach to examine the effect of deviance on decision outcomes as well as investigate how the perceived position of group members can influence whether they are given leeway to voice dissent. Results found that deviance can improve group decision making without incurring social costs when a deviant group member occupies a central position within the group. These findings are novel within the field of deviance research yet are consistent with research on group criticism and idiosyncrasy credit and therefore have significant implications for literature on the effect of group deviance and the application of deviance techniques within organisational and educational settings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

When deviance occurs during group decision making, it can lead to increased innovation and improved decision outcomes. Group members, however, often rate the group climate as lower for having experienced dissent. The current study used a hidden profile framework to investigate the effects of deviance and decision rule on task outcome and group climate. Results found that working under a unanimous decision rule increases the likelihood of shared information improving the overall decision outcome and also alleviates some of the negative consequences associated with deviance. Results have significant implications for both research on group deviance and the application of deviance techniques within organizational settings.