RAW Data and Figures for "Reinforcement of Conformity to the Majority or Minority: Effects of Task Ambiguity and the Salience of Reinforcing Stimuli"

Social conformity has been extensively studied in both social psychology and behavior analysis. From a behavioral perspective, conformity is shaped by contingencies of reinforcement and punishment within social groups (Skinner, 1953; Guerin, 1995). The present study aimed to replicate and extend Angelo and Andery’s (2024) findings by examining how reinforcement contingencies influence majority and minority conformity. Using a single-subject reversal design, participants engaged in a perceptual task while confederates provided consensus responses. Experimental conditions reinforced either majority or minority conformity, with an increased number of response options and heightened consequence salience compared to previous studies. Findings aligned with prior research, indicating that reinforcement effectively shaped conformity, with majority reinforcement exerting a stronger influence. Moreover, initial exposure to majority reinforcement made later shifts to minority conformity more difficult. These results contribute to a behavioral understanding of conformity, emphasizing the role of reinforcement contingencies in social influence dynamics.