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Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
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Article

What Motivates Nonconformity? Uniqueness Seeking Blocks Majority Influence

Roland Imhoff1* and Hans-Peter Erb2

1 University of Bonn
2 Helmut-Schmidt University Hamburg

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rimhoff{at}uni-bonn.de.


  Abstract
A high need for uniqueness undermines majority influence. Need for uniqueness (a) is a psychological state in which individuals feel indistinguishable from others and motivates compensatory acts to reestablish a sense of uniqueness. Three studies demonstrate that a strive for uniqueness motivates individuals to resist majority influence. In Study 1, the need for uniqueness was measured, and it was found that individuals high in need for uniqueness yielded less to majority influence than those low in need for uniqueness. In Study 2, participants who received personality feedback undermining their feeling of uniqueness agreed less with a majority (vs. minority) position. Study 3 replicated this effect and additionally demonstrated the motivational nature of the assumed mechanism: An alternative means that allowed participants to regain a feeling of uniqueness canceled out the effect of high need for uniqueness on majority influence.

First published on December 19, 2008, doi:10.1177/0146167208328166

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 2009;35:309.

A more recent version of this article appeared on March 1, 2009

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