The Change of Individual Opinions Through Gender-Related Group Influence: An Empirical Study of College Students (open access)

The Change of Individual Opinions Through Gender-Related Group Influence: An Empirical Study of College Students

The opinions of individuals may be influenced by groups of different gender configurations. This influence was studied by asking college students to respond to a series of statements in pretest and post-test settings. Post-test settings included the use of manipulatively constructed confederate groups to influence the subjects' responses. A pretest was administered in an anonymous nonthreatening environment. Within a week, the subjects were post-tested in a setting with four "confederates" who had previously been instructed to unanimously voice opposite answers to the subjects' initial responses to pretest questions. The objective of this experiment was to determine the number of opinions that were changed when confronted with opposing views. Change of opinions between pretest and post-test were considered to be operational definitions of "conformity."
Date: December 1986
Creator: Blodgett, Billy P. (Billy Paul)
System: The UNT Digital Library