conformity Giving in to social pressure

definitions • Conformity - acting or believing because of social pressure • compliance - doing what someone asks you to do

conformity • Everyone else is doing it • Deliberate social pressure •

not necessarily because you think it is right

Sherif’s study • point of light in dark room • appears to move • Autokinetic effect • impossible to judge distance • someone says 2 inches • subject agrees

• Judgments of lines Asch • easy to make

10 of 15

• First few trials everyone gives right answer • then everyone gives wrong answer • what does the subject do?

• many give the wrong answer

13 of 15

15 of 15

Why do people conform?

• Two main reasons • Information • Normative

Informational • Sherif situation • ambiguous, no experience • others provide information • rational response

Normative pressure • Asch situation – clear, unambiguous • just because other do • not want to be deviant

Obedience and compliance compliance - doing what someone asks you to do Obedience – similar but less choice

Milgram Study • Not conformity - no group pressure • Obedience • but why?

Does it mean people are terrible?

That they will do anything?

That it explains Nazi behavior?

Or Bosnia, Cambodia etc.?

NO!

• Given the right situation people will comply or be obedient • not necessarily bad or weak people

Situational pressure • Authority figure • strange situation • told there was no choice • trust experimenter • also - psychology experiment – very powerful – contract

The power of the experiment • Orne - hypnosis study • hypnotized • pretend to be hypnotized • neither

Ask each person to: • Reach into cage with snake • pick dime out of nitric acid • throw acid in person’s face

results

90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 controls hypnotized pretend

results • Controls did quite a lot • hypnotized did more than controls • pretend did even more than hypnotized

Compliance - other factors

the Hawthorne effect • Move to special room • pay depended on groups of sex • two 5 minute rest periods • two 10 minute rest periods • six 5 minute rest periods • light lunch provided

• Work stopped half-hour early • work stopped an hour early • work stopped an hour and half early • five day workweek (from six) • all original conditions reinstated

results Work increased with

every

change

Why?

• Special treatment felt good • assumed changes were for the better • were happy and wanted to please • were compliant

Foot-in-the-door • Small request first vs. no small request • large request later

• No first contact • agree only • agree and 8 questions • 3 days later - large request

results

20 10 0 60 50 40 30 one contact agree only performance

Safe driving study • Petition for environment • petition for safe driving • Small sign for environment • small sign for safe driving

• huge sign for safe driving

results

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 task different task similar one contact issue different issue similar

door-in-the-face • huge request first • small request second

70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 small only

results

large first

Obligation - favors • Pleasant or unpleasant person • person brings a coke • experimenter brings a coke • no coke • person asks a favor - selling raffle tickets

results

2 1.8

1.6

1.4

1.2

1 0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 no favor irrelevant favor relevant favor unpleasant pleasant

reactance • Jack Brehm • too much pressure or too obvious • resist threats to freedom of action • opposite effect