The effect of anonymity on conformity to group norms in online contexts: A meta-analysis

Guanxiong Huang; Kang Li

The effect of anonymity on conformity to group norms in online contexts : A meta-analysis

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

Overview

21 Scopus Citations

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Author(s)

Guanxiong Huang
Kang Li

Detail(s)

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	398-415
Journal / Publication	International Journal of Communication
Volume	10
Publication status	Published - 2016
Externally published	Yes

Link(s)

	Check@CityULib
Attachment(s)	Documents 7930675.pdf Final Published version, 463 KB, PDF Publisher's Copyright Statement This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Document Link	Links https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/4037 Final Published version
Link to Scopus	https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84953391004&origin=recordpage
Permanent Link	https://scholars.cityu.edu.hk/en/publications/publication(2ee5f0a0-f898-448b-95fe-f87c8747962f).html

Abstract

This research meta-analyzed 13 journal articles regarding anonymity and conformity to group norms. Results showed that there was a positive relationship between anonymity and conformity, with a weighted mean effect size r= 0.16, which was in line with the social identity model of deindividuation effects. This study also investigated the differences between different types of anonymity and found that visual anonymity had a medium magnitude of effect size on conformity (r= 0.33), whereas evidence was lacking in terms of the significant effects of physical anonymity and personal information anonymity. In addition, the presence of an outgroup was also a moderator of the effect of anonymity on conformity. Studies in which participants were aware of the existence of an outgroup (r= 0.22) had larger effect sizes than those with no outgroup (r= 0.10).