Length of Group Membership, Assumed Similarity, and Opinion Certainty: The Dividend for Veteran Members

Newcomer and veteran fraternity members indicated their own attitudinal position on each of 10 issues and then estimated the positions of either prospective or full in-group members or they received no opportunity to project. All subjects then rated their certainty about their own position on each issue. As expected. both newcomers and veterans assumed greater attitudinal similarity to in-group members than to prospective members. Moreover, projection onto in-group members only increased the opinion certainty of veteran members. Their certainty correlated with the percentage of their friends who were in-group members. Newcomers' certainty increased only after projection onto the lower status recruits. Membership tenure and social identity are discussed in relation to attitudinal projection and the goals of social comparison.