Group Performance and Decision Making Flashcards
Define conformity
A change in behavior or
belief as the result of real or
imagined group pressure.
Define compliance
Conformity that involves
publicly acting in accord with
an implied or explicit request
while privately disagreeing.
Define obedience
Acting in accord with a direct
order or command.
Define acceptance
Conformity that involves
both acting and believing in
accord with social pressure.
How did Muzafer Sherif test for Norm Formation?
Sherif tested for norm formation using the autokinetic test, using a light that “appeared” to move several inches to the right/left but in reality stayed in place. He brought in a subject and asked them to guess how far away the light jumped. The average response was 8 inches. The next day, the subject was brought into a room with three confederates who said the light moved 1 inch. As more time went on, he noticed after re-asking the original subject the same question, they would respond with less and less inches (as they were re-tested days later), seemingly shifting their answer to better match the group.
What does mimicry do for behavior?
Being mimicked (body language, yawning) tends to bring people closer together in opinion.
What happened in Seattle in 1954 that supported the influence of suggestibility?
Windshields were reported broken as news spread about them being broken elsewhere?
What is the Werther effect?
The increase in suicides after a famous person commits suicide.
How did Asch study suggestibility?
The famous line experiment where you have to guess which line is the longest among three while sitting in a room with 6 other people that have said the wrong answer before you. In the end, 37% of responses were conforming. When there was a partner in the 3rd position who didn’t conform, only 5% of the answers were conforming and reported “warmth + good feeling” towards the partner despite saying that they did not influence them. Furthermore, when the subject was asked to write his answers down, freeing him from group embarrassment, conformity dropped by 80%
What question did Sherif fail to answer in his experiments?
Did group influence actually cause participants to SEE different things, or were they just reporting what the group said?
How did Moscovici and Personnaz conclude that normative influence has an effect on our perception?
They used the phenomenon of color theory and after images to show that people that were primed with a certain color (blue vs green) would see corresponding after images (yellow vs red).
Define normative influence
It’s the influence that is rendered by fear of ostracization of others, it causes the superficial change in behaviour (public acceptance), but private non-acceptance of norms.
Define informational influence
It’s the influence rendered by additional information being provided that’s not provided by your senses. It lends to the private acceptance of the majority view.
What did Allen and Levine (1969) add to the Asch experiments?
They showed that the reduction of normative influence was the primary driver of subjects conforming less. They did this by replacing the confederate that said the right answer with a person who said he had poor eyesight. And they did so by having the ally say his own wrong answer. So no credible information influence was given. Still subjects conformed les.
How does the group size increase/decrease conformity?
The effect is the same up to 4 people, after 4 people the effect does not change that much, even diminishing returns. Less than 4? Less conformity. Furthermore, the more independent groups that agree, the more influence. For example three groups of 2 are more influential than 2 groups of 3 or one group of 4.
