This study was designed to investigate the effects of male versus female deviants on the small discussion group. One hundred undergraduates were assigned to 25 discussion groups, with two male students and two female students in each group. They were presented with a decision-making task, which was presented to group members as an exercise in consensus. They were to reach a decision on which all members could agree as quickly as possible. Ten groups were male deviant groups, ten were female deviant groups, and five were control groups. In the deviant conditions, one person was selected to receive instructions informing them that they should prevent the group from reaching a consensus. Response by group members on post-discussion questionnaires were analyzed to determine the influence of male and female deviants on four dependent variables: group cohesiveness, consensus, member satisfaction, and feelings of disruption. The results of the study supported the theory that consistently deviant behavior will negatively affect a group's ability to reach consensus and its internal sense of cohesiveness. However, female deviant behavior affected these goals less negatively than male deviant behavior. The findings relating male and female deviance to member satifaction and feelings of disruption are inconclusive. (MKM)