Extreme members and group polarization

摘要

Participants rated their opinion about the decriminalization of marijuana on a 1 to 9 scale and then discussed the issue in three-person groups. Group members who used more extreme ends of the scale to rate their opinion talked more and took more turns. Groups did polarize on their consensual opinion from the mean of individuals' pre-group opinions. Groups containing a more extreme member did not polarize more than groups not containing an extreme member. No differences in polarization were found between groups in which members were in consensus coming into the discussion and groups containing a minority and majority opinion.