Sex, nonconformity and influence.

Abstract

Laboratory studies of status and deviance have concentrated on achieved rather than ascribed status. Ascribed status has been investigated in the laboratory in the context of such things as status congruence (Sampson, 1969), performance expectations (Berger et al., 1972), and prejudice and discrimination (Katz, 1970). These studies indicate that low ascribed status tends to handicap individuals who want to achieve status within a group. The concern in this study is less a question of what it takes for people having low ascribed status to gain "acceptance", but rather what they must do in order to be permitted the same defects, flaws, and privileges allowed those we truly consider equals. This study explores the ascribed status of "female" in an all male group, and the effect of such ascribed status on ability to violate group procedural norms. Previous studies suggest that one earns the right to violate certain norms by contributing such valued behaviors as conformity and competence to the group, and that the amount of behavioral leeway permitted a given member is a function of the value of his actual or