Going along versus going alone: When fundamental motives facilitate strategic (non)conformity.

Abstract

Three experiments examined how 2 fundamental social motives-self-protection and mate attractioninfluenced conformity. A self-protective goal increased conformity for both men and women. In contrast, the effects of a romantic goal depended on sex, causing women to conform more to others' preferences while engendering nonconformity in men. Men motivated to attract a mate were particularly likely to nonconform when (a) nonconformity made them unique (but not merely a member of a small minority) and when (b) the topic was subjective versus objective, meaning that nonconformists could not be revealed to be incorrect. These findings fit with a functional evolutionary model of motivation and behavior, and they indicate that fundamental motives such as self-protection and mate attraction can stimulate specific forms of conformity or nonconformity for strategic self-presentation.

Influence of primed social roles on gender differences in conformity

“…There is some reason to suggest that the activation of social roles can lead to roleconsistent behavior. Previous research has found that the activation of a norm can lead to normconsistent behavior (Griskevicius et al, 2006), and thus we might expect the same for social roles.…”

“…Given the changes in social roles and the subtle changes in gender stereotypes, it seems plausible that gender differences in conformity may be waning. Furthermore, gender differences that have been reported recently in the literature (Collin et al, 1994;Ellis, Nel, & Van Rooyen, 1991;Larsen, 1990;Lee, 2006;Griskevicius et al, 2006;Reysen & Reysen, 2004) may have been caused by variables other than social role differences.…”

“…Since group pressure is one moderator of gender differences in conformity (Cooper, 1979;Eagly, 1978;Eagly & Carli, 1981;Eagly & Chrvala, 1986;Eagly, Wood, & Fishbaugh, 1981), it is plausible that the null results may have resulted from the chat room removing the salience of group pressure. Although more recent research on conformity has used a chatroom paradigm (Griskevicius et al, 2006), there may be certain features and attributes of the chat room paradigm that increase or attenuate group pressure in online contexts. Furthermore, recent research has shown that women are less likely to be persuaded in online communication compared to face-to-face communication (Guadagno & Cialdini, 2002, 2007.…”

“…After the participants completed the priming task, participants completed the conformity task on a computer (adapted from Griskevicius et al, 2006). All instructions were presented on the computer.…”

“…Specifically, men have a tendency to conform less or dissent when they are under surveillance (Eagly, Wood, & Fishbaugh, 1981), when they can choose an equally positive, but different alternative (Maslach, Santee, & Wade, 1987), or when they have been primed with a mating motive (i.e., asked to think about meeting a desirable mate on vacation) and can be viewed in a positive light (i.e., a desirable, independent mate) by dissenting from the group (Griskevicius et al, 2006). This suggests that closer attention should be paid to the exact pattern of means in relation to an appropriate comparison group in order to discern whether differences are being driven by a higher likelihood of women going along with the influence agent or higher likelihood of men going against the influence agent.…”