Anti-norm and pro-norm deviance in the bank and on the campus: Two experiments on subjective group dynamics.

In two experiments, participants evaluated other individuals who deviated in either an anti- or

pro-normative direction relative to normative members of the same group. We predicted that

individuals would prefer group members who contributed to the validity of in-group norms. In

Study 1, anti-norm deviants in an organization attracted more negative evaluations than did pronorm

deviants, even though both were dissimilar to the in-group prototype. Consistent with our

model of ‘subjective group dynamics’, evaluations of such deviants were related to perceivers’

identification with their own group. In Study 2, British and Overseas students were more positive

toward in-group and out-group members who deviated in the in-group normative direction with

respect to university policies for Overseas students. These findings complement the results from

laboratory experiments by Abrams, Marques, Bown, and Henson (2000). Reactions to deviance

reflect more than just the magnitude of deviance; they are also affected by the group

membership of the deviant, and the direction in which that person deviates.