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Polarization and discussion context
Author(s) -
McLachlan Angus
Publication year - 1986
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/j.2044-8309.1986.tb00750.x
Subject(s) - referent , psychology , polarization (electrochemistry) , social psychology , interpersonal communication , preference , interpersonal interaction , interpersonal relationship , group decision making , statistics , linguistics , mathematics , philosophy , chemistry
This study sought to demonstrate that the informational influence model of group polarization is valid only in certain discussion contexts. Using measures of confidence in a decision on picture preference, before and after discussion, the experiment demonstrated that groups evenly divided over their picture preference showed as much individual polarization as unanimous groups which shared the same ‘interpersonal’ discussion context. Furthermore, the degree of polarization shown by these divided groups was significantly greater than that of divided groups who discussed their preferences in an ‘intergroup’ context. The results are discussed in terms of Turner's (1982) referent informational influence model.