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When votes depend on who's listening: Voters' intragroup status and voting procedure predict representative endorsement in intergroup contexts
Author(s) -
Teixeira Catia P.,
Demoulin Stephanie,
Yzerbyt Vincent
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
british journal of social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 2044-8309
pISSN - 0144-6665
DOI - 10.1111/bjso.12106
Subject(s) - psychology , social psychology , voting , active listening , voting behavior , political science , communication , politics , law
Three experiments investigated whether the selection of a representative in intergroup interdependence settings can reflect group members' strategic behaviour. We tested the impact of an individual's intragroup status (normative vs. pro‐out‐group deviant, Experiments 1–3) and of voting procedure (Experiments 2 and 3) on the choice of an in‐group representative. Experiment 1 shows that normative members prefer normative representatives, whereas pro‐out‐group deviant members equally like normative and pro‐out‐group deviant representatives. Experiment 2 extends these results and shows that voting procedure (private vs. in‐group audience) moderates this effect. Pro‐out‐group deviant members' preferences and behaviours appear more strategic and context‐sensitive than normative ones. Specifically, pro‐out‐group deviants vote more for normative representatives than for pro‐out‐group deviants when facing an in‐group audience, whereas the reverse pattern emerges in private. Experiment 3 shows that this moderation effect is specific to in‐group audiences compared to out‐group ones, reinforcing the idea that normative members ‘stick to their guns’. Implications of these findings for leader endorsement and intergroup relations are discussed.