The Effects of Role and Opinion Deviation on Small Group Behavior

In a two-factor experimental design, a confederate adopted a role in a group discussion which was either typical of or deviated from that expected of a University students: i.e., she was a liberal of a bigot on racial issues. In addition, the confederate maintained an opinion on the issue under discussion which either conformed to or deviated from the opinion shared by her group. An analysis of the group interaction indicated that whereas the opinion deviate received more communication than the opinion conformant, the role deviate received less communication than the role conformant. Furthermore, the role deviate was ranked lower on a sociometric measure than the role conformant, while there was no clear indication that the opinion deviate was less well liked than the opinion conformant. The findings were interpreted in terms of an expectancy congruence model of interpersonal behavior.