Chapter 6 Flashcards
Know the difference between conformity, compliance, and obedience
conformity - person’s modification of behavior to make it consistent with the norms of the group
compliance - a person’s modification of behavior in response to a request by other persons
obedience - a person’s modification of behavior in response to the command of an actual or perceived authority
Know the conformity studies done by Asch
different sized lines. At first they give the right answers and everyone follows, then when the wrong answer is given they still follow—although they may defy a few times they eventually give in.
The more people that were answering incorrectly, the more likely the subject was to give the incorrect answer too
Know the obedience studies done by Milgram
shocking experiment - shock person if they got a word wrong, and then the administrator will tell “teacher” to increase the electric shock amount to see if they would obey or not
this experiment was done many times, but how close the experimenter was to the teacher and how close the learner was to the teacher affected how far the teacher would go. If the experimenter was outside the room and phoning in instructions, the teacher would often lie to the experimenter about how far they were going, but if the experimenter was close, the teacher was more likely to go farther. If the learner was removed from the teacher, the teacher was also likely to go farther, but if the learner was very close or the researcher had to physically make the learner put their hand on a shock pad, they teacher would stop sooner
How does group size, unanimity, status, prior commitment and cohesion influence conformity?
group size - as it increases, so does conformity, but there are diminishing returns
unanimity - If the group is unanimous, then a single person is less likely to dissent from the group consensus, but when a person views someone else dissenting, they become more likely to dissent themselves
status - average class are most likely to conform, high status people can afford to be noncomforming and have high selfworth, low status people might feel like they have nothing to lose from not conforming, but Milgram found the most sway with people of high status
prior commitment - when people commit themselves to a position, they usually don’t change their position later. This is seen in sporting events, where referees and umpires usually don’t change their initial calls
cohesion - the more cohesion in the unit, the more likely you are to conform to expected standards, also, you are more likely to listen to a minority opinion if it’s from your own group than if its from an outsider
Know the difference between normative and informational influence
normative social influence - people like us more if we agree with them (you want to be liked)
information social influence - other people serve as sources of information for appropriate behavior (you want to be right)
Know how people resist social pressure (e.g. reactance)
reactance - people act to protect their sense of freedom when they feel their freedom to act in some way is being threatened. Example: kids who are underage have a higher percentage of getting drunk and more often drink to an excess than those who are legally able to drink
people like to assert their uniqueness - depending on what group they’re in, they’ll define themselves by what makes them more different (Ex: a black woman is more aware that she is black when with a group of white females, she’s more likely to focus on the fact that she’s black, but if she’s with a group of black men, she will be more likely to focus on the fact that
