- Pluralistic ignorance
In
social psychology , pluralistic ignorance is a process which involves several members of a group who think that they have different perceptions, beliefs, or attitudes from the rest of the group [Berkowitz AD. The Social Norms Approach: Theory, Research and Annotated Bibliography. August 2004. Available at http://www.higheredcenter.org/socialnorms/theory/misperceptions.html Accessed 5/24/2007] [Miller, Dale T. Pluralistic ignorance: When similarity is interpreted as dissimilarity.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 1987, vol. 53, issue 2, p 298, ISSN 00223514. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.53.2.298] . While they do not endorse the group norm, the dissenting persons behave like the other group members, because they think that the behaviour of the other group members shows that the opinion of the group is unanimous. In other words, because everyone who disagrees behaves as if he or she agrees, all dissenting members think that the norm is endorsed by every group member but themselves. This in turn reinforces their willingness to conform to the group norm rather than express their disagreement. Because of pluralistic ignorance, people may conform to the perceived consensual opinion of a group, instead of thinking and acting on their own perceptions.Consequences of Pluralistic Ignorance
In a series of studies conducted to test the effect of pluralistic ignorance, Prentice and Miller [Citation
last1 = Prentice | first1 = Deborah A.
author1-link = Deborah A. Prentice
last2 = Miller | first2 = Dale T.
author2-link = Dale T. Miller
title = Pluralistic Ignorance and Alcohol Use on Campus: Some Consequences of Misperceiving the Social Norm
journal = Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
volume = 64
issue = 2
pages = 243–256
publisher = American Psychological Association
year = 1993
issn = 0022-3514
doi = 10.1037/0022-3514.64.2.243] studied the consequences of pluralistic ignorance atPrinceton University . They found that, on average, private levels of comfort with drinking practices on campus were much lower than the perceived average. In the case of men, they found a shifting of private attitudes toward this perceived norm, a form ofcognitive dissonance . Women, on the other hand, were found to have an increased sense of alienation on the campus but lacked the attitude change detected in men, presumably because norms related to alcohol consumption on campus are much more central for men than for women.Pluralistic ignorance may partially explain the
bystander effect : the observation that people are more likely to intervene in an emergency situation when alone than when other persons are present. If people monitor the reactions of others in such a situation, they may conclude from the inaction of others that other people think that it is not necessary to intervene. Thus no one may take any action, even though some people privately think that they should do something. On the other hand, if one person intervenes, others are more likely to follow and give assistance.ee also
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Conformity
*Groupthink
*Abilene Paradox References
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