Work

Entrepreneurs of sustainable identity in groups that value similarity or diversity: trajectories of change

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: This paper proposes that environmental pioneers can drive norm change by adopting an ideological minority position that accentuates the group's distinct sustainable identity. We studied 107 Dutch-speaking participants in three online group discussions with a vegan confederate, using a longitudinal design with 4 timepoints. Contrary to prior work suggesting that vegans evoke resistance, our findings demonstrate shifts towards veg*nism in participants' attitudes, behaviors, and biospheric values. Two change trajectories emerged depending on (experimentally manipulated) group value orientation: diversity-valuing groups demonstrated a gradual norm shift through elaboration on the vegan perspective, while similarity-valuing groups shifted faster to a prototypical vegan pioneer. Group dynamics revealed that consensualisation predicted norm perceptions across conditions, while conformity pressure mattered only in similarity-valuing groups.

Source: Social Influence

DOI: 10.1080/15534510.2025.2540411

Authors: Namkje Koudenburg, Lise Jans, Maaike Nieske Jonker

Institution: University of Groningen

Language: English

Topic: Social and Intergroup Psychology

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek

Award: The Communication Model of Cultural Change.