Influence of the majority group on individual judgments in online spontaneous conversations

Abstract: This study investigates how the majority group influences individual judgment formation and expression in anonymous, spontaneous online conversations. Drawing on theories of social conformity and anti-conformity, we analyze everyday dilemmas discussed on social media. First, using digital traces to operationalize judgments, we measure the conversations' disagreement and apply Bayesian regression to capture shifts of judgments formation before and after the group's exposure. Then we analyze changes in judgment expression with a linguistic analysis of the motivations associated with each judgment. Results show systematic anti-conformity behaviors: individuals preserve the majority's positive or negative orientation of judgments but diverge from its stance, with persuasive language increasing post-disclosure. Our findings highlight how online environments reshape social influence compared to offline contexts.