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Sex differences in conformity: Instrumental or communal response?

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Abstract

Male and female introductory psychology students (N=88) were asked to read a clinical case history and the opinion consensus of either (a) their peers, (b) advanced psychology students, or (c) Ph.D. clinical psychologists that the patient should be hospitalized for at least 90 days (an extreme treatment). Subjects then indicated on a scale of 10 to 90 days, the length of hospitalization they thought best. In a significant interaction effect (sex of subject × expertise of source) males were least influenced by the opinions of their peers and increasingly influenced as the source became more expert. Females, however, seemed most influenced by their peer group, recommending longest hospitalization terms in that condition. Results are interpreted in terms of sex-role identification and the emergence of an instrumental (task) or communal set.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Tulsa, 600 South College, 74104, Tulsa, Oklahoma

    Robert O. Hansson, Madalyne M. Allen & Warren H. Jones

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  1. Robert O. Hansson
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  2. Madalyne M. Allen
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  3. Warren H. Jones
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Hansson, R.O., Allen, M.M. & Jones, W.H. Sex differences in conformity: Instrumental or communal response?. Sex Roles 6, 207–212 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287343

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