Reinforcement of Majority and Minority Conformity in a Single-Subject Design

Conformity can be understood as an increased probability of imitating the most frequent peer behavior observed within a group. Empirical research on the direct reinforcement or punishment of conformity and nonconformity has shown greater conformity after the reinforcement of conformity and punishment of nonconformity, and lower levels of conformity after the reinforcement of nonconformity. The present study investigated the effects of feedback on a task as reinforcement for conforming to a majority or a minority in a single-subject design. Eight undergraduates, each grouped with four confederates, were tasked with analyzing the prevalence of black or white in images (unknowingly with the same color proportion). Four participants were exposed to an ABACA and four to an ACABA reversal design, in which A is a baseline, B is reinforcement of minority conformity, and C is reinforcement of majority conformity. The results suggest that majority conformity can be more easily reinforced than minority conformity and that those participants who received reinforcement for majority conformity first were less sensitive to the reinforcement of minority conformity. The research highlights the importance of studying the direct reinforcement of both minority and majority conformity to understand the complexity of social behavior and the social environment. This study advocates for further exploration of conformity within culturo-behavioral science to enhance dialogues with other fields investigating cultural evolution.