Conformity, Gender and the Sex Composition of the Group

Abstract: In light of the current debate of the sex distribution in Swedish company boards we study how a proportional increase of women would affect conformity behavior. We compare conformity levels between men and women as well as conformity levels between same-sex and mixed-sex groups. The results suggest that same-sex groups conform significantly more than mixed-sex groups due to higher levels of normative social influence. No differences are found in the levels of informational or normative social influence between men and women. These finding possibly suggest lower levels of normative social influence in company boards with more equal sex distribution.