Effects of Expected Repeated Interactions on Minority Influence in Small Groups

Two experiments using hidden profile tasks show that, in groups split by majority and minority factions, group decision quality and majorities´ private final decision quality are the highest when majority members expect repeated interactions and minority members do not. These effects occur because majorities are more integrating and minorities are less avoiding in the way they manage interpersonal conflict during group discussions. Experiment 1 was conducted in a multicultural setting and demonstrated that when minorities did not expect repeated interactions, group decision quality and majority´s private decision quality were higher than when minorities expected repeated interactions. Experiment 2 replicated these findings in a mono cultural context (France) and showed that majorities´ expectation of repeated interactions was a necessary condition for minority influence to occur.