The defiance and defense of group norms: why extremism is the bread and butter of social life

Dr. Dominic Abrams presents his research on the way people react to extreme, or 'deviant' members of their own and other groups. Group psychology has long established that deviants tend to be rejected within groups, but there are many times when they serve another important function, namely to define the limits of what it means to be a group member. This way, deviants can on the one hand be used to constrain other members, and on the other to test just how fanatical members can be before they are judged to be 'extreme'. Based on his research, using laboratory experiments and field studies with adults and children, Dr. Abrams states the need to distinguish between different types of deviance (descriptive and prescriptive), and that the magnitude and direction of deviance have separate implications for the way deviant members are treated. The developmental research also shows that responses to deviants require quite complex forms of social reasoning, including advanced perspective taking skills and understanding who the audience is. Taken together, Dr. Abrams' research shows how extremists both create and reduce uncertainty, and why they are so important in relations within and between social groups.