Healthy Skepticism Library item: 11105
Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.
Publication type: Journal Article
Weaver K, Garcia SM, Schwarz N, Miller DT.
Inferring the popularity of an opinion from its familiarity: a repetitive voice can sound like a chorus.
J Pers Soc Psychol 2007 May; 92:(5):821-33
http://content.apa.org/journals/psp/92/5/821
Abstract:
Despite the importance of doing so, people do not always correctly estimate the distribution of opinions within their group. One important mechanism underlying such misjudgments is people’s tendency to infer that a familiar opinion is a prevalent one, even when its familiarity derives solely from the repeated expression of 1 group member. Six experiments demonstrate this effect and show that it holds even when perceivers are consciously aware that the opinions come from 1 speaker. The results also indicate that the effect is due to opinion accessibility rather than a conscious inference about the meaning of opinion repetition in a group. Implications for social consensus estimation and social influence are discussed.
Keywords:
Publication Types:
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH Terms:
Focus Groups
Humans
Internal-External Control*
Judgment
Mental Recall
Persuasive Communication*
Public Opinion*
Reality Testing*
Reinforcement, Social*
Social Conformity
Social Identification*
