Social Influence: Conformity & Obedience

Question 1

What is Social Influence?

Answer 1

Involves the exercise of social power by a person or group to change the attitudes/behaviors of others in a particular direction.

Question 2

What are the topics dealing with Social Influence?

Answer 2

1) Conformity
2) Obedience
3) Persuasion
4) Social Loafing
5) Group think

Question 3

What is Conformity?

Answer 3

Change in behavior or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure.

Question 4

What are the different types of conformity?

Answer 4

1) Compliance

2) Acceptance

Question 5

What is compliance?

Answer 5

Complying with social pressures (or acting in accord with social pressures) while privately disagreeing.

Question 6

What is acceptance?

Answer 6

Conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure.

Question 7

Why do people conform?

Answer 7

1) Normative social influence

2) Informational social influence

Question 8

What is normative social influence?

Answer 8

Conforming to be liked/accepted; or a desire to be SOCIALLY correct

Question 9

What is informational social influence?

Answer 9

Conforming to be right, or a desire to be OBJECTIVELY correct

Question 10

How can we tell whether conformity is influenced through normative influence or informational influence.

Answer 10

• Presence or absence of a punitive agent
  
  • Drives normative influence
• Duration of the behavior
  
  • Drives informational influence

Question 11

What influences conformity?

Answer 11

1) Group size
2) Unanimity
3) Cohesion
4) Status
5) Public response

Question 12

How does group size influence conformity?

Answer 12

Conformity increases with group size up to about 6 people → Milgram’s (1969) Field Experiment

Question 13

How does unanimity influence conformity?

Answer 13

A unanimous group is a powerful group → It’s difficult to go against the group

Question 14

What is Cohesion?

Answer 14

The extent to which members of a group are bound together, such as by attraction for one another → a “we feeling” (ex. fraternities and sororities)

Question 15

How does status influence conformity?

Answer 15

Higher status people generate more conformity than low status people.

Question 16

How does public response influence conformity?

Answer 16

Public vs. Private Responses → People conform more when they must respond in front of others

Question 17

What type of conformity is associated with compliance?

Answer 17

Outward conformity: You may be conforming outwardly, but internally, you have not conformed

Question 18

What type of conformity is associated with acceptance?

Answer 18

Inward conformity (sincere conformity): You believe in what you are doing.

Question 19

What is Sherif’s Studies of Norm Formation?

Answer 19

Sherif was interested in understand how social norms are formed. Used the Autokinetic Phenomenon (The apparent movement of a stationary point of light in the dark) in his study. People were tested individually and then within a group. Results: individually the estimates were everywhere; within a group, estimates were grouped together. Example of INFORMATIONAL influence.

Question 20

What is Asch’s Studies of Group Pressure?

Answer 20

Asch’s experiment involved a subject to rate which of the various lines presented matches the “standard line” shown at the beginning of the experiment within a group of confederates. Confederates would choose the wrong line on purpose and the subject would conform and use the same answer. Example of NORMATIVE influence.

Question 21

What is Milgram’s (1969) Field Experiment and what did it test for/prove?

Answer 21

In Milgram’s experiment, he had various numbers of people grouped into curiosity crowds and tested the influence of the size of the curiosity crowds on regular bystanders. It proved that group size influences conformity.

Question 22

What is status?

Answer 22

Status can be created from money, clothing, social status, etc.

Question 23

What did Milgram find about how status influence conformity?

Answer 23

Milgram reported that in his experiment, people of lower status accepted the experimenter’s commands more readily than people of higher status.

Question 24

Who is most likely to conform based on age, gender, and culture?

Answer 24

Conformity is most common in adolescence and less common in older adults and younger children. Conformity is slightly higher in women than in men. Conformity is more common in collectivist cultures than in individualistic cultures.

Question 25

In what situations are women more likely to conform?

Answer 25

Women are more likely to conform in “unfamiliar situations”; when exposed to public situations; or when under direct surveillance.

Question 26

How can minority influence conformity?

Answer 26

Consistency in verbal expression → When people are consistent in their view, they are more likely to sway people towards their viewpoint. (the higher the status, the more influential)

Question 27

What is obedience?

Answer 27

Acting in accord with a direct order. It is a type of compliance.

Question 28

What was Milgram’s classic study on obedience?

Answer 28

How likely is it that humans can put aside their moral conscience and obey orders to act cruelly? Experiment using a teacher, a learner, and a shocking device. 65% of Migram’s participants went up to 450 volts.

Question 29

What is an explanation for Milgram’s results from his shock study?

Answer 29

Was it an abnormal group of subjects? → No, numerous replications with variety of groups shows no support.

Are people in general sadistic? → No, videotapes of Milgram’s subjects show extreme distress.

Question 30

What did follow-up studies of Milgram’s shock study report on conformity?

Answer 30

Most  ↓ Original study
         ↓ Different building
         ↓ Teacher with learner
         ↓ Put hand on shock
         ↓ Orders by phone
         ↓ 2 teacher rebel
Least ↓ Teacher chooses shock level

Question 31

What are some factors that influence obedience?

Answer 31

1) Institutional authority
2) Emotional distance of the victim
3) Closeness and legitimacy of the authority
4) Modeling

Question 32

How does institutional authority influence obedience?

Answer 32

Where are we doing this study? Is it a competent/well-known/prestigious place? The prestige of the institution influences obedience of the subject.

Question 33

How does the emotional distance of the victim influence obedience?

Answer 33

Obedience is stronger when the subject cannot see the victim → “It is harder to hurt someone when you can see them hurting”

Question 34

How does the closeness and legitimacy of the authority influence obedience?

Answer 34

Obedience drops when commands are given by telephone. The physical presence of the authority figure matters. The legitimacy of the authority affects obedience.

Question 35

How does modeling influence obedience?

Answer 35

When people see others disobeying authority, there is a tendency to defy the authority figure.

Question 36

How do personal characteristics such as age, culture, personality, and gender affect obedience?

Answer 36

There is no difference in obedience seen in age (with adults) and culture. Personality is not a driving force in obedience (relevant personality = authoritarianism → people who are generally submissive and uncritical about the authority figure). There is no difference in obedience seen in gender.

Question 37

What were some critiques about Milgram’s shock experiment?

Answer 37

• Is this type of experiment worth the ethics?

- We should never use deception in psychology

Question 38

What are different ways to resist social pressure?

Answer 38

1) Asserting Uniqueness

2) Reactance

Question 39

What does it mean to “assert uniqueness”?

Answer 39

Asserting uniqueness is a form of resisting social pressure. People to feel better about themselves when they feel “moderately unique.” In individualistic cultures, there will be more people who will want to assert their uniqueness.

Question 40

What does reactance mean?

Answer 40

Reactance is a motive to protect or restore one’s sense of freedom. It arises when someone threatens a person’s freedom of action.

Question 41

What affects/triggers psychological reactance?

Answer 41

1) The importance of the freedom
2) The number of freedoms threatened
3) Subjective confidence
4) Degree of restriction experienced
5) The illegitimacy of the restriction
6) The absence of alternates