Stakes and expertise modulate conformity in economic choice.

Area of Science:

• Social Psychology
• Behavioral Economics
• Decision Sciences

Background:

• Conformity is influenced by group size and expertise, linked to informational and normative processes.
• Informational conformity involves using others' decisions as outcome proxies.
• Normative conformity relates to positive feelings from group belonging.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how expertise and stakes affect alignment with majority opinions.
• To examine the influence of a high-expertise minority opinion against a majority.
• To connect conformity research with valuation and choice literature.

Main Methods:

• A social gambling task was used to pit majority alignment against monetary rewards.
• The study compared alignment with high- vs. low-expertise majorities.
• The influence of a high-expertise minority opinion was probed.

Main Results:

• Minority expertise modulated alignment with a low-expertise majority when there was no cost.
• Participant knowledge of payoff probabilities predicted majority alignment only when stakes were high.
• The costliness of an option influenced the impact of majority expertise.

Conclusions:

• Minority expertise is influential when aligning with a low-expertise majority is not costly.
• High stakes amplify the effect of majority expertise on alignment.
• Expertise and stakes interact to shape conformity behaviors.