lesson 14 culture, norms, influence Flashcards
cultural learning
the transmission of acquired information both within and across generations
vectors of cultural transmission
our families
our institutions
other people
cultural learning comes with extreme costs
domestication doesnt come without a cost (psychic pain)
1) we do things the way our parents do (can lead to overimitation)
2) civilization requires we be tamed or broken
overimitation in children
we tend to assume because this is the way we learned it from culture/our family, this is important to the overall outcome
candid camera experiment about group pressure
turning around in elevator if you see everyone else turning around due to group pressure, putting on and taking off hat because everyone else is
conformity
the tendency to do what others do
conformity experiment (asch experiment)
asch experiment: subject surrounded by classmates, say which line matches the control line (they choose the wrong one, so does the subject)
if only one other person gives the wrong answers subject can resist but more people doing it means more pressure to conform
why do we conform
we want to cooperate
we dont want to be socially excluded
kitty genovese
bystander effect
38 people saw her be attacked, no one helped due to human tendency to conform
diffusion of responsibility
individuals feel diminished responsibility for their actions when surrounded by others doing the same
youre more likely to get help from one person than multiple because no one will be willing to break conformity to intervene (doesnt feel like you have the same agency, no choice)
defeating diffusion of responsibilty
single out one person and make them responsible
how we are tamed by society
1) conformity
2) obedience to authority
3) institutional expectation
obedience
the tendency to do what authorities tell us to do simply because they tell us to do it
example of obedience to authority
nuremberg trial (obeying orders, not considered viable defense)
stanley milgram obedience experiment
the subject keeps giving shocks to the learner who makes mistakes
people will do anything if they perceive command comes from legitimate authority