Social Support in Absentia
The Effect of an Absentee Partner on Conformity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 9890768 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Vernon L Allen (Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin, 1202 West Johnson Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53706., corresponding author), David A Wilder (0000-0002-6586-4841, University of Wisconsin; Rutgers College-Busch Campus.) |
| Year | 1979 |
| Volume | 32 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 103-111 |
| Publication date | 1979-02-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Human Relations (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X |
| Publisher | SAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/001872677903200201 |
| OpenAlex | W2102212002 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 12 |
An experiment was conducted to test the effectiveness of an absentee social supporter as a way of reducing conformity. Eighty female subjects responded in five-person groups. On the pretext of a mechanical failure in the apparatus, four group members gave answers on 11 trials while the subject observed but did not answer. The same series of 11 trials was then repeated (the apparatus having allegedly been repaired), with the subject answering in one of three conditions: (1) unanimous pressure: during both presentations of the 11 trials all group members gave extremely incorrect or unpopular answers on all critical trials; (2) present social support: during both presentations one person in the group always gave correct or popular answers on critical trials in disagreement with the group; (3) absent social support: during the first presentation one group member always gave correct answers on critical trials, but left the experiment before the second presentation. Results showed that both the physically present supporter and the absentee supporter significantly reduced conformity relative to the unanimous group. The findings have implications for reference group theory. It is suggested that an absentee supporter will reduce conformity only if a person is able cognitively to place the partner in the same role; that is, only if a person believes that the supporter would resist group pressure when facing the same situation
Conformity · Subject (documents · Supporter · Test (biology · Cognitive and psychological constructs research · Personality Disorders and Psychopathology · Psychology · Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications · Social Psychology
Effects of Conformity Pressure on Justice Behavior11This chapter was written while the author was a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences, The Netherlands.
Social Projection to Ingroups and Outgroups
Racial attitude (dis)similarity and liking in same-race minority interactions
Proposal of a four-dimensional model of social response
| Citations per year | 0.09 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1982 - 2015 (34) |
| Highly cited | No |