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43 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Conformity |
Change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined group pressure |
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Two types of Conformity |
•Compliance •Acceptance |
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Compliance |
•Conforming to other people's behavior publicly without necessarily believing in what we are doing or saying. •Obedience °Acting in accord with a direct order or command |
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Acceptance |
•Conforming to other people's behavior out of a genuine belief that what they are doing or saying is right. |
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Muzafer Sherif (1935, 1937) |
•Used autokinetic phenomenon then asked groups of men to determine how much the point of light had moved •First trial - alone •Rest of trials with others |
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Solomon Asch (1951, 1956) |
•A group of 7 to 9 men, all college students •Psychological experiment on "visual judgment" •12 out of 18 trials, confederates provided wrong answers •If the subjects showed suspicion, the experiment was stopped |
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Solomon Asch (1951, 1956) |
Procedure: •Had participants geuss which line in the right box is the same length as the line on the left •Almost everyone easily gets this right -when alone |
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What was found during Asch's study |
•75% of the participants conformed on at least one trial
•There was no tipping point
•Conformity even worked when there was a difference of 7 inches |
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Results of Asch's Study |
• When surrounded by individuals all voicing an incorrect answer, participants provided incorrect responses on a high proportion of the questions (32%). •Reported Reasons for Conformity ° I am wrong they are right ° Not to spoil your results ° "Perhaps there is something wrong with me - but don't let them know" |
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Results of Asch's Study |
•25% of the participants never conformed °I am right, I can overcome my doubt with confidence °"The others might be right - but I'm going to call it as I see it" |
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Obedience |
•Is a social norm valued in most cultures •We internalize the social norm of obedience •People will obey the orders of an authority figure to hurt or even kill others °Holocaust, My Lai |
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Stanley Milgram's Study of Obedience |
•40 males from community °Told participanting in a learning and memory experiment °Assigned "teacher" role -Required to move up a lever with each wrong answer. |
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Stanley Milgram's Study of Obedience |
•No actual shock °Required to announce the voltage level •Dependent Variable °Highest voltage administered °Observations of tension |
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Milgram's Study of Obedience: Results |
•26/40 administered lethal shock °14 defied the experiment •All went to shock level where clients kicks on the wall and stops providing answers •All subjects reported they thought the experiment conditions were real |
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Milgram's Study of Obedience (Ethics) |
•Critics said the Milligrams experiment stressed the participants against their will •They argued that the participants self-esteem may have been altered |
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Milgram stated that the critic's controversy "terribly overblown" |
•84% we're glad they participated •1% regretted •40 years later, no harm done |
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Breeds Obedience |
•Victim's distance or depersonalization °Implications for abuse, war, gas champers •Closeness and legitimacy of the authority °Medical Docs -Rear vs Rear |
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Breeds Obedience |
•Institutional authority °45% vs 65% •Liberating effects of group influence |
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Why Conform |
•Social Norms °Rules for social behavior -Elevator Rules •Informational Social Influence °Occuring when people accept evidence about reality provided by other people •Most likely to use when: °Other information is not available °The situation is ambiguous °The situation is a crisis °Other people are experts |
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Normative Social Influence |
•Based on a person's desire to fulfill others expectations, often to gain acceptance |
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Classic Studies of Conformity and Obedience |
•Reflections on the Classic Studies °Behavior and attitudes are up mutually reinforcing -A small act of evil to foster the attitude that leads to a larger evil act. •Power of the situation °Herosim can occur as well as evil |
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Researcher: Sherif |
Topic: Norm Formation Method: Assessing suggestibility regarding seeming movement of light |
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Researcher: Asch |
Topic: Conformity Method: Agreement with others obviously wrong perceptual judgments |
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Researcher: Milgram |
Topic: Obedience Method: Complying with commands to shock another |
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Is Conformity Good or Bad? |
•Obedience and Conformity research creates undertones of moral judgment •Asch and Milgram's work suggest Conformity is wrong b/c it leads to error |
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Is Conformity Good or Bad? |
•Crimes of Obedience °Should a physician perform an abortion if one is requested |
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Nonconformity |
•Walking on the "wrong" (left) side of the sidewalk or staircase |
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What Predicts Conformity |
•Group Size •3 to 5 people will elicit more conformity than just 1 or 2 |
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Unanimity |
•Observing another's dissent can increase our own independence °Application: Juries, public committees |
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What Predicts Conformity?
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•Status °Higher-status people tend to have more impact |
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What Predicts Conformity? Cohesion |
•"We feeling" extent to which members of a group are bound together, such as by attraction for one another •The more cohesive a group is, the more power it gains over its members •Music Preference |
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What Predicts Conformity? Public Response |
•People conform more when they must respond in front of others rather than writing their answers privately |
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What Predicts Conformity?
No Prior Commitment |
•Most people having made a public commitment stick to it °Teens virginity until marriage pledge °Referees and Umps rarely reverse their calls |
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Normative Social Influence |
•Based on a person's desire to fulfill others expectations, often gain acceptance °Produced by social image |
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Why Conform? Brain Research |
•Areas associated with negative emotion light up when disagreeing with the group. |
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Informational Social Influence |
•Occuring when people accept evidence about reality provided by other people °Produced by desire to be correct |
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Why Conform? |
•Informative and Normative Influence often go together •Sometimes can lead us to be quite wrong |
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Who Conforms? |
•Personality • Is a poor predictor of conformity • Situations are better |
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Who Conforms? |
•Social Roles °Conforming to expectations is an important task when taking on a new social role |
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Who Conforms? |
•Culture °Different cultures socialize people to be more or less socially responsive •Individualistic vs Collectivistic |
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Reactance |
•Motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom
-Can produce boomerang effect |
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Reactance and the Romeo and Juliet Effect |
•Driscoll, David, and Lipitz (1972) °140 Colorado Couples °More parental inference - romantic love °Reactance: desire to protect one's sense of freedom |
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Asserting Uniqueness |
•We act in ways that perserve our sense of individuality |