Who influences lower-status individuals more: People of higher-status outgroups or people of their lower-status ingroup? Examining the difference between matters of opinion and matters of fact

Vincenz Frey*, Andreas Flache, Dieko Bakker, Michael Mäs

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
26 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

People are influenced by members of high-status groups and members of their ingroup. These principles of “status orientation” and “ingroup orientation” can imply opposing forces for people of lower status. Are lower-status individuals more influenced by members of higher-status outgroups or by members of their lower-status ingroup? Engaging status characteristics theory and self-categorization theory, we predict that status orientation is relatively stronger on questions about facts, which have an objectively correct answer, whereas ingroup orientation is stronger when it comes to ‘opinion questions’ that have no objectively correct answer. Results of an online survey experiment confirm that on factual questions, less-educated individuals are more strongly influenced by highly-educated outgroup individuals than by less-educated ingroup individuals. On opinion questions, we observe relatively weaker status orientation, with status orientation and ingroup orientation being about equally strong. These findings suggest that it is harder to reach societal consensus on opinion questions than on factual questions.

Original languageEnglish
Article number103060
Number of pages10
JournalSocial Science Research
Volume123
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Sept-2024

Keywords

  • Beliefs
  • Opinions
  • Social identity
  • Social influence
  • Status

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Who influences lower-status individuals more: People of higher-status outgroups or people of their lower-status ingroup? Examining the difference between matters of opinion and matters of fact'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this