Group Norms, Prototypicality, and Persuasion

This chapter focuses on the analysis of social influence provided by self-categorization theory and on the framework provided by the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic systematic model. As a consequence, group members might be expected to be motivated to systematically process the message from a prototypical group member as a source of information about ingroup normative attitudes. Prototypicality refers to the extent to which a category instance is of both within-group similarities and betweengroup differences. Ingroup prototypicality of the message was manipulated by introducing either the pro or the con message as representative of undergraduate attitudes to the issue in a recent attitude survey, and labeling the other message not representative. Persuasion through systematic or central processing is contingent on the contents of the message alone and independent of noncontent cues, whereas persuasion in the heuristic or peripheral mode is independent of message contents.