The effects of exclusion and reintegration on the evaluation of deviant opinion holders

It seems likely that treatment of deviants within a group will be determined not just by the nature of their deviance but also by the history of their treatment. In two experiments, participants read cases in which group members advocated for change in a way that was non-normative for the group and were marginalized as a result. Participants were further informed that either the deviant was psychologically reintegrated or remained marginalized. Results showed that when deviants were reintegrated group members were more negative toward the deviant the more they identified with the group. Where the deviant remained excluded, this effect either disappeared or reversed. These effects were mediated by participants' perceptions of the destructiveness of the deviant's message, suggesting that ongoing exclusion can defuse threat. Reintegration into the group can have ironic costs in a person's ability to communicate a deviant opinion successfully.