Effect of Majority Consensus on Preferences for Recorded Orchestral and Popular Music

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of statements of group preferences on the verbal responses of individual group members, using a paradigm developed by Asch (1951, 1952, 1956) in which the responses of a "minority of one" were tested within the context of a "unanimous majority." One hundred sixty university music (n = 72) and nonmusic (n = 88) majors participated in the study. Subjects in Experiment 1 (n = 80) listened to two paired versions of each of 10 popular music excerpts and identified a preferred version in each pair. In 8 of the 10 pairs, either the frequency or tempo (or both) of one of the two versions was increased or decreased from the original recorded version by 12%. Subjects in Experiment 2 (n = 80) listened to paired versions of 10 orchestral excerpts presented in an arrangement identical to that of the popular music excerpts in Experiment 1. Experimental subjects were tested individually in the presence of three confederates, who gave unanimous verbal preference responses according to a predetermined response list. The control group used written forms on which to indicate preference in each pair. Results of Experiment 1 (popular music) indicated no significant differences across all items between music and nonmusic majors (p > .75) and showed no significant conformity effects concerning comparisons of altered and unaltered excerpts (p > .50). Results of Experiment 2 (orchestral music) indicated no significant differences (p > .70) between music and nonmusic majors in the control group, although music majors responded differently than did nonmusic majors in the experimental condition (p < .01); nonmusic majors' publicly stated preferences were significantly affected by the preferences of others.