Chapter 8: Conformity: Influencing Behavior

Question 1

explain conformity in American culture

Answer 1

-Stresses the importance of not conforming
-Celebrates the rugged individualist
-Marlboro man was the most successful advertisement for smoking ever

Question 2

what is conformity

Answer 2

A change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people

Ex. Elevator: had people start facing the back of the elevator, other people followed suit even though this was not normal behavior

Question 3

what are the two types of conformity and what are they

Answer 3

1) Informational conformity: conforming because we lack info, do not know right answer or what you’re supposed to be doing

2) Normative conformity: conforming because we want to be liked

Question 4

why do people conform to informational social influence

Answer 4

-See others as a source of information (ex. Seeing people look up and look up yourself)
-Believe that others’ interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct than ours

Question 5

what is the autokinetic effect

Answer 5

-Pitch black room, someone is shining a laser dot on the wall; even if the one dot is perfectly still you and your eyes are not perfectly still, so it looks like the dot is moving; an optical illusion
-If you are asked how far the dot moved when you were watching it, any answer you give is wrong

Question 6

explain the study with the autokinetic effect and informational social influence

Answer 6

-Put people in pitch black rooms with a light shining on wall, had people make estimates of how far the light moved on the wall
-When people made estimates alone their estimates were very different from one another, when people were in the same room as others, their estimates were very close to one another and get closer overtime

Question 7

what is private acceptance and does informational influence result in it

Answer 7

-Conforming to other people out of a genuine belief that those people are right
-Informational social influence often results in private acceptance!

Question 8

what is public compliance and does informational influence result in it

Answer 8

-Belief is not necessary for conformity
-Conforming to other people publicly without believing in what we are doing or saying
-Informational conformity does not result in public compliance.

Question 9

how can we tell that the autokinetic study was informational social influence

Answer 9

-It’s an optical illusion
-There’s no “right” answer – it’s an ambiguous situation
-So there’s no reason for people’s estimates to converge

Question 10

explain the Baron et al study about conformity and eyewitness testimony

Answer 10

Told participants the study was about eyewitness identification; everyone sees a perpetrator and then pick them out of the lineup
-In one condition participants are paid $20 and told that it will help develop identification in real life
-In another condition participants are told that it is just another psych study
-The task is difficult for everyone, the slides go too quickly; confederates involved in the study will give the wrong answer

Results: found that people who believed the task was generally important people conformed more than those who were not told the task was important

Question 11

when will people conform to informational social influence

Answer 11

1) When the situation is ambiguous
-Most crucial variable
-More uncertainty = more reliance on others

2) When the situation is a crisis
-Need to take action immediately
-But others may not be acting rationally

3) When other people are experts
-But experts can be wrong

Question 12

explain the war of the worlds event and how it relates to informational social influence

Answer 12

-Orson Welles, renowned actor and director, whose War of the Worlds radio broadcast in 1938 sparked a public scare that spread, in large part, due to informational social influence.
-Radio show that told people the aliens were coming; mock news report on Halloween; at the beginning they said it was not real; but a lot of people missed the beginning
-People started leaving, packing up their belongings, radio station eventually made announcement that this was all fake
-This happened because of informational social influence

Question 13

what is normative social influence

Answer 13

-Humans are a social species – our groups are important to us (so we do things that we might even know are wrong, just to bolster our relationships with others)
-When we’re rejected, physical pain centers of brain light up
-deviant members are often punished

Question 14

what are social norms

Answer 14

implicit or explicit rules that outline expectations for group members

Question 15

explain what can happen when someone violates social norms

Answer 15

If you disregard the group norms of your friends:
-Group would try to bring you “back into the fold”
-Long discussions, teasing comments

If discussions don’t work
-Friends may say negative things to you and about you
-Start to withdraw from you

Question 16

explain the Schachter et al study about the discussion of a juvenile delinquent

Answer 16

-Group of people were brought together to discuss a juvenile delinquent; had to decide what the best treatment was
-Most members thought he should receive middle-of-the-road treatment
-One group member (confederate) advocated harsh treatment (lock the kid up and put him in prison for the rest of his life); interested in measuring the reaction to that person

People eventually began to ignore the confederate; at the end of the study people voted to eliminate the guy from the group

Confederate
-At first got all questions, then ignored
-Other group members recommended him for elimination
-Or for boring tasks (taking notes)
-Recommended the confederate to take notes

Shows that people do not like deviant group members

Question 17

explain Asch’s line judgment study

Answer 17

-Participants guessed which line in the right box is the same length as the line on the left.
-Almost everyone gets this right—when alone.
-But not when they heard other people (confederates) giving the wrong answer

People conformed
-On about 75% of the trials people conformed on at least one trial; people did vary on how often they conformed, but the majority of people did conform at least once (stimuli with an obvious answer)

Question 18

what does normative social influence usually result in

Answer 18

Usually results in public compliance without private acceptance
-Go along with the group even if you think the group’s actions are wrong so they’ll like you
-Not necessarily private acceptance

Question 19

how do we know the Asch study is normative social influence

Answer 19

-It’s not an ambiguous situation
-The right answer is obvious
-And Asch asked people why they conformed
-They said they didn’t want to seem weird; did not want to stick out

Question 20

what are some variations they put on the Asch study

Answer 20

1) Participants wrote answers on paper (didn’t say it out loud)
-Answers were private, not public
-Conformity dropped dramatically
-Occurred on average of only 1.5 of the 12 trials

2) Number of people
-Increasing number of people increased conformity
-But no increase after 4 or 5 people
-After 4 or 5 people the amount of conformity levels off and it does not matter how many people are there

Question 21

what is social impact theory

Answer 21

The idea that conforming to social influence depends on:

-Strength: importance of group to person (conform less to a group of strangers than to a group of best friends)

-Immediacy: closeness in time and space
-Ex. People in your immediate area wear masks, you are more likely to wear a mask than people wearing a mask in California

-Number of people in the group
-More people who are around you, the more likely you are to conform

Though diminishing returns

Question 22

what is the variation on the Asch study when the decision is not unanimous

Answer 22

6 of 7 confederates selected incorrect line
-Not unanimous – participant had an “ally” (one person there is giving the right answer)
-Conformity dropped to 6% of the trials (compared to 32% when the person was the only dissenter)

Question 23

explain the study about conformity in the US supreme court

Answer 23

US Supreme Court (person studying conformity in the supreme court)
-Analysis of decisions from 1953 to 2001

Most common decision ratio (35%)
-Unanimous, 9–0

Least common decision ratio (10%)
-8–1 (single dissenter)

Question 24

different between Asch line study and Sherif autokinetic study

Answer 24

Sherif
-Ambiguous stimuli
-Informational Conformity
-Private acceptance

Asch
-Unambiguous stimuli
-Normative Conformity
-Public compliance

Question 25

what happens to conformity in a collectivistic culture

Answer 25

Greater conformity in collectivist cultures
-Asch’s line judgment task
-Norway showed more conformity than France

Collectivistic cultures view conformity as a valued trait, not as a somewhat negative one.
-But group identity can be important
-People who know each other increases conformity than people who are complete strangers

Question 26

what are idiosyncrasy credits

Answer 26

-The tolerance a person earns, over time, by conforming to group norms
-If enough credits are earned, the person can, on occasion, deviate from the group without retribution

Question 27

explain minority influence and when it can work

Answer 27

This can work, but it’s difficult
-Consistency is key
-People with minority views must express the same view over time
-Members of the minority opinion must agree with one another

Majorities: normative influence

Minorities: informational influence

Question 28

what are the two types of social norms

Answer 28

1) Injunctive norms
-perceptions of acceptable behavior

2) Descriptive norms
-perceptions of what people actually do

Question 29

explain the Reno et al study about the parking lot and the two different kinds of social norms

Answer 29

-trying to see which of these is more effective in changing people’s behaviors, had a parking lot and were interested in what kinds of norms would change people’s behavior
-gave people to a flyer to see if they would litter it or not; had a parking lot that was either clean or dirty (manipulating descriptive norms); manipulated injunctive norms (had a confederate walk in front of them and litter or pick up litter or do nothing)

results:
-people were most likely to litter with confederate walking by and doing nothing (equal in clean and dirty lot)
-people were more likely to litter in a dirty parking lot when seeing a confederate litter than in a clean lot
-people were not likely to litter when seeing a confederate pick up trash in either group

Question 30

explain the boomerang effect and the binge drinking example

Answer 30

Invoking descriptive norms
-May backfire, depending on preexisting behavior

Example: Binge drinking
-One reason college students drink so much because they think that college students drink, most people assume how much college students drink is more than they actually do
-Wanted to see if people know the average is less, will they drink less; found that this worked
-Also, when people do not drink a lot realize they drink less than the norm, they are more likely to drink more

Question 31

explain what happens when you invoke descriptive norms plus an injunctive

Answer 31

Most successful

Example: Energy use
-Comparing your energy use to your neighbors, if you are less than average you are likely to use more; if you use more you are likely to use less
-To offset people starting to use more when they are below average; people will give them a compliment like “great job on saving energy!” and this works

Question 32

what are three other tactics for compliance

Answer 32

foot in the door, door in the face, propoganda

Question 33

explain foot in the door technique

Answer 33

-If you want someone to do a large favor, get them to do something small first and then they will be more likely to do something bigger in the future
-Ex. Take the car out for a drive before you buy it, going through with the small request makes it more likely that you will buy the car in the future

Question 34

explain door in the face technique

Answer 34

-Make a really big request of someone that you know they are going to refuse, when they say absolutely not to the first request, they are more likely to say yes to a smaller request
-Ex. Buy a $80,000 sports car, then ask to buy a station wagon that is much cheaper, people are more likely to agree to the smaller request

Question 35

explain propoganda

Answer 35

-A deliberate, systematic attempt to advance a cause by manipulating many people’s attitudes and behaviors
-often through misleading or emotionally charged information

Question 36

explain Nazis and propoganda

Answer 36

Joseph Goebbels
-Nazi Ministry of Popular Enlightenment (made to create propaganda)
-Controlled all forms of media
-Posters and public rallies to promote loyalty and patriotism
-Taught in school
-Tapped existing anti-Semitism
(Propaganda is most effective when it accesses pre-existing beliefs)

Nazis on Parade
Nazi propaganda permeated all facets of German life in the 1930s and 1940s. Here, huge crowds attend the 1934 Nuremberg rally. Such large public gatherings were a technique frequently used by Goebbels and Hitler to promote loyalty and conformity to the Nazi party.

Question 37

explain informational social influence and Nazis

Answer 37

-Germany was in crisis
-No one knew what to do
-situation was ambiguous (people told that it was the Jewish people’s fault and people started to believe them)
-Government (experts) were spreading propaganda
-New information (though it was false)

Question 38

explain normative social influence and Nazis

Answer 38

-Scary place to live
-threat of informers
-Gestapo (secret police) could (and did) throw resisters in camps
-Lots of public acceptance

Question 39

explain obedience to authority and Nazis

Answer 39

a lot of people were killed, in Nuermberg trials people said they did the things they were told to do because they were in the military and obeying orders

Question 40

explain obedience to authority

Answer 40

Obedience is a social norm
-Universally valued
-Without obedience, world would be chaos
-We are socialized to obey legitimate authority figures
-Even if they’re not present

e.g., traffic lights

But we sometimes obey when we should not
-Holocaust

Question 41

explain Milgrams shock studies

Answer 41

Told participants to shock another individual when they answered a question incorrectly (that was not actually getting shocked, just a confederate, was just told to act distressed); person shocking others was hearing a recording the entire time
-Increasing levels of shock with each wrong question
-Confederate gets increasingly distressed, says they have a heart condition and cannot go
-Experimenter just tells the participant to continue if they question what is going on
-Eventually there is silence on the other end of the room (implying that he is dead), researcher continues to tell them to go on

Question 42

explain Milgrim study results

Answer 42

-Average maximum shock delivered was 360 volts
-62.5% delivered 450-volt shock
-All the way

-80% of participants
Continued giving the shocks even after the learner cried out in pain, said heart was bothering him

Question 43

explain changing aspects of Milgrams study and the results

Answer 43

-Found that people were more likely to continue in the lab setting than in office building
-If the experimenter was located remotely people were less likely obey
-Less likely to obey if other confederates rebel
-Less likely to obey if the person had to hold the persons hand down who was getting shocked (easier to do things when they are far away)
-Least likely to obey if the teacher chooses the shock levels

Question 44

explain how social influence impacted the Milgram study

Answer 44

Normative
-Don’t want to disappoint experimenter
-Insistent experimenter
-Difficult to say no

Informational
-3 Factors
-Situation is a crisis
-Situation is ambiguous
-Other people are experts

Question 45

explain changing the researcher to a non-expert and the results

Answer 45

Variation on original study

3 critical changes
-Experimenter doesn’t say which levels shock should be used
-Experimenter received a phone call and had to leave
-A confederate played the role of an additional teacher
-The other “teacher” suggested that they increase the level of shock with each wrong answer

Compliance dropped to 20%

Question 46

explain the nurse study that showed Milgrams study is applicable to real life

Answer 46

Hofling et al. (1966)
-Dr. called nurses on the phone and told them to administer dangerous drugs to patients
-Too much, uncommon, harmful
-Nurses would have known
-21 out of 22 nurses obeyed

Question 47

explain the Burger replication of Milgrams study (less voltage)

Answer 47

Stopped the study after 150 volts
-Disobedience was most likely to occur at this point
-Reduced stress
-Participants prescreened by a psychologist
-Burger explicitly and repeatedly said participants could leave at any time
-More diverse and educated sample

results:
-70% obeyed at 150 volts
-82.5% continued up until that point in Milgram’s study
-Difference not statistically significant

Question 48

explain the ethics of Milgram’s study

Answer 48

Many consider this study unethical
-Involved deception & lacked informed consent
-Role as teacher caused psychological distress
-Did not make clear that participants could withdraw
-Participants learned something unpleasant about self

On the other hand..
-We learned something important
-Some participants learned something
-Milgram followed up with participants
-Rates of mental illness same as ordinary population