ABSTRACT
Can people influence others solely by virtue of shared group membership?
To address this and related questions, we offer a theory of group-mediated
social influence and then test it in a standardized collective task
setting. The theory capitalizes on uncertainty reduction principles
found in two longstanding social psychological traditions: social
identity theory and status characteristics theory. Our primary hypothesis
was that in-group members would be more influential than out-group
members. Results from the experiment indicate that in-group members
were indeed more influential than out-group members. These findings
supported a key derivation of our theory, and demonstrated that
the integration accounts for phenomena that are not addressed by
either of the motivating theories.
INTRODUCTION
Social influence in its many forms has been a central focus of research
for decades. Building from traditions in social psychology, sociologists
have developed rigorous, empirically validated theories to explain
how larger group structures affect events at the levels of individuals,
small groups and networks.[1] In this vein, we build upon existing
theories to help understand how group membership determines the
emergence of social influence hierarchies. We offer a theory of
group-mediated social influence and test key implications in an
experimental setting.
Theories in structural social psychology generally explain how group
or network structures affect individual outcomesself-identities,
exchange profits, locations within status hierarchiesas social
interaction plays out in an interpersonal arena (Lawler, Ridgeway
and Markovsky 1993).
Sometimes individuals are unaware of the source of influence, as
when the effects of distal changes in a network propagate through
its connections and alter opportunity structures. Other times individuals
may recognize and respond to relatively "macro" factors,
such as strengthening ties in one's primary group under the perceived
threat posed by a real but faceless group of outsiders. In either
case, theoretically accounting for the impact of non-local factors
provides a more accurate and complete understanding of the experiences,
behaviors and consequences transpiring among a focal set of social
actors.
The new theory integrates elements and ideas from two long-standing
traditions in social psychology: self categorization theory and
status characteristics theory. The integration permits us to examine
the effects of status and group membership in collective task settings.
Typically these settings are small face-to-face groups in which
people interact in order to solve a problem.
Examples range from formal work groups such as business or academic
committees to informal assemblages such as a group of strangers
working to free a stuck car from a snow bank. These settings share
a common feature: Participants have a strong desire to reach a correct
solution.
Frequently however, there are complexities and ambiguities in the
course of reaching this solution. Social psychologists have long
argued that people is such settings look to one another for guidance.
In the absence of more explicit knowledge, people readily make inferences
about one another's task-relevant abilities on the basis of observable
characteristics. For example, the group of strangers working to
free the stuck car may use physical size as a cue to solve the problem
and so decide to place the smallest member behind the wheel of the
car to steer it, and the largest members at the rear of the car
to push it.
continua
>>>>>
|