Chapter 8- Conformity: Influencing Behavior Flashcards
conformity
-changing one’s behavior due to real or imagined influence of others
informational social influence
- conform b/c believe others’ interpretation of an ambiguous set of circumstances is more accurate than ours
- others are source of info to guide behavior
- can lead to private acceptance
private acceptance
-people conform to behavior of others b/c they genuinely believe others are right
public compliance
-conforming publicly w/o necessarily believing in what group says/does
when most susceptible to informational social influence
- ) when your judgments and decision have consequences
- ) when motivated to “get things right”
- ) when situation is really ambiguous
- ) when in crisis
- ) when others are “experts”
- ) when want to be liked by others
contagion
- in truly ambiguous situation people more likely to rely on interpretation of others
- requires caution b/c others are not necessarily more accurate
mass psychogenic illness
- group of people express similar physical symptoms with no known physical cause
- Ex: NY high school and believed Tourette’s syndrome
social norms
- implicit rules for acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs
- conformed to when people want to be liked
- 2 types- injunctive and descriptive
normative social influence
- influence of other people leads us to conform to be liked and accepted by them
- results in public compliance w/ group norms
- don’t always have private acceptance
Asch
- line on card experiment to see if people conform even when right answer is obvious
- findings show that most people conform and emphasize the importance of normative social influence
normative reason for conforming
- people don’t want to look foolish or subject themselves to disapproval
- will conform even if don’t believe behavior is right
brain imaging and normative influence
- reveals that people conform b/c they have negative emotions when they go against group
- fMRI shows active amygdala
normative influence in everyday life
- fashion
- fads
- body image (men and women)
social impact theory
- likelihood that you will respond to social influence depends upon your view of the group’s
1. ) strength
2. ) immediacy
3. ) number
group strength
-how important to you is the group
group immediacy
-how close is the group to you in space and time
group number
- how many people in the group
- beyond 4 members, there is a smaller increase in conformity
idiosyncrasy credits
- tolerance person earns, over time by conforming to group norms
- if enough credit earned, can behave deviantly w/o retribution from group
conformity in collectivistic cultures
- seen as a valued trait
- believe normative social influence promotes harmony and supports relationships
US and conformity
-seen as negative and act of submission or cowardice
minority influence
- minority of group members influence behavior of majority
- key is for all minority to express consistent, unwavering views that the majority will notice and likely adopt
- results in introduction of new information and more careful analysis of issues
injunctive norms
- what we think other people approve or disapprove of
- motivate behavior by promising rewards for normative behavior
- most powerful in producing desirable behavior
descriptive norms
- our perceptions of way people actually behave in given situation
- regardless of whether behavior is approved or disapproved
- motivate behavior by informing about what is effective or adaptive
promoting socially beneficial behavior
- something in situation needs to draw attention
- have to highlight injunctive norms
- behavior reminds us of societal approval vs. disapproval
- Ex: seeing someone litter
internalize social norm of obedience
- usually obey rules and laws even when authority figure isn’t present
- easiest to disobey if see others disobey
consequences of obedience
- people obey authority even if involves injury to others
- Ex: Nazi regime and Milgram shock test
obedience to authority
- difficult to say no to someone in higher position
- reason why people will carry out immoral acts
- Ex: Milgram shock
reason’s why we obey
- ) conform to wrong norm- hard to abandon obedience to authority
- ) self-justification- keeping promise
- ) loss of personal responsibility- have to b/c it’s my job
Consider the following (edited) excerpt from a James Thurber New Yorker piece: “Suddenly someone began to run. It may be that he had simply remembered … an engagement to meet his wife, for which he was now frightfully late. Whatever it was, he ran east on Broad Street. Somebody else began to run, perhaps a newsboy in high spirits … Another man broke into a trot … A loud mumble gradually crystallized into the dread word ‘dam.’ ‘The dam has broke!’ The fear was put into words by a little old lady in an electric car, or by a traffic cop, or by a small boy: Nobody knows who … Two thousand people were abruptly in full flight…” This literary excerpt illustrates the phenomenon known as
contagion
Which situation below best exemplifies the tenet of social impact theory that immediacy is directly related to conformity?
John won’t smoke around his girlfriend, but does when he talks to her on the phone
The more important it is for people to be accurate, the
more susceptible they are to informational social influence, but the less susceptible they are to normative social influence.
In order for Burger (2009) to conduct a study replicating Milgram’s work on obedience, he had to modify Milgram’s procedures. Which of the following is one of the modifications he made?
he stopped the study at 150 volts
Milgram’s studies on obedience to authority was criticized for violating several ethical principles. These include all of the following except
no debriefing period
Emilio is designing an ad aimed at increasing seat belt use. He decides to use the slogan “Buckle up! It’s the right thing to do!” rather than the slogan “65% of adults regularly wear a seat belt. So should you!” Emilio is using a(n) _________ norm in his ad.
injunctive
Victor goes to a fancy French restaurant. There are utensils on the table that he’s never even seen before, and more spoons and forks than he’s ever seen on one table. Eager to dine in an appropriate and sophisticated way, Victor secretly watches other diners to see what they do. This is an example of
informational social influence
Mark is a Democrat. He just joined a Welfare Reform Committee made up of nine Republicans. Mark holds a minority opinion on this issue. If Mark wants his opinion to influence the group’s final recommendations, he should
express a consistent unwavering viewpoint
The concept of social norms refers to
implicit and explicit rules a group has for acceptable values, beliefs, or behaviors
Results from Milgram’s study in which participants were led to believe that they were being asked to shock another person at lethal levels suggests that
people will obey authority even when they shouldn’t
Majorities tend to rely on ____, whereas minorities tend to rely on ______.
normative social influence
informational social influence
Imagine that you are on the Olympics Planning Committee. Nine out of ten of the committee members hold the same opinions. However, one member, Laura, consistently deviates from the group’s opinion. How is your group most likely to act toward Laura to bring her in line with the group’s opinion? The group will
first increase communication with Laura and when that doesn’t work punish her
People are most susceptible to informational social influence when
situation is ambiguous
Cultural norms in the United States place a great deal of emphasis on
individuality
Milgram found that about ________% of his participants went all the way to 450 volts in his original experiment
63%
Informational social influence is more likey to result in
private acceptance
When the Supreme Court makes a decision, the most common decisions are _________, and the least common are ___________
unanimous
8-1 splits
Which of the following changes in group size will produce the greatest increase in the pressure to conform?
increasing size from 2 to 5
Idiosyncrasy credits
allow holder to behave deviantly w/o punishment
The authors of your text discuss several factors that led to the high degree of obedience in the Milgram experiment. All of the following are implicated EXCEPT
aggression
Sherif’s experiment found that, over time, participants’ estimates of how much a stationary light moved
became more similar to estimates from other participants
Normative social influence often results in _____ but not _____
public compliance
private acceptance
In essence, normative social influence arises from humans’ fundamental
need for companionship, affection, and acceptance
In collectivist cultures conformity with one’s social group is considered
act of sensitivity and tact
Solomon Asch (1951, 1956) conducted a series of studies in which participants were asked to estimate the lengths of lines that clearly differed in length. Participants then heard the other group members give correct estimations for some trials, and blatantly incorrect estimations for others. When confederates in the study gave an incorrect response, how did participants respond?
tended to conform in at least one of the trials
