Psychology Chapter on Conformity and Obedience

Conformity and Obedience

• 63% of responses did not conform
• Experiments show most people tell the truth even when others don't.
• Stanley Milgram's experiments tested obedience when authority and conscience clash.
• Obedience in experiments ranged from 0% to 93%
• Four factors influencing obedience:
  • Victim's emotional distance
  • Authority's closeness and legitimacy
  • Authority's institutional affiliation
  • Presence of a disobedient participant

What Breeds Obedience?

• Milgram's experiments varied social conditions to observe obedience.
• Victim's distance from the participant affects obedience levels.
• Depersonalization of the victim leads to greater obedience, particularly when participants cannot see the victim.
• Obedience is highest when the experimenter is physically present and is seen as a legitimate authority figure.

Sherif's Studies of Norm Formation

• Responses in studies of norm formation changed.
• Group norms typically emerge.
• Autokinetic phenomenon: Apparent movement of stationary light in the dark.

Asch's Studies of Group Pressure

• 37% of responses conformed to the group norm.
• Studies show significant conformity to group pressure.

Mass Hysteria

• Suggestibility spreads through large groups.
• Studies show large group susceptibility to problems.

What Motivates People to Resist Social Pressure?

• Reactance: People resist when social pressure threatens their freedom.
• People act to protect their freedom.

Behavior and Attitudes

• Attitudes influence behavior in social situations.

Predictions of Conformity

• Group size: 3-5 people produce greater conformity than 1 or 2.
• Increasing number of people beyond 5 yields diminishing results.

Unanimity

• Puncturing group unanimity reduces its social power and influence.
• People increasingly voice their own convictions when other individuals challenge the group position.

Liberating Effects of Group Influence

• Conformity can be constructive.
• Responsibility is diffused within groups.
• Group experiences allow for sharing experience.

Agentic State

• Obedience occurs when people view themselves as agents of another, transferring personal responsibility to the person giving the orders.

The Content of Your Message

• The content immediately preceding a message affects its persuasiveness.
• Foot-in-the-door phenomenon: Agreement to a small request increases likelihood of agreement to a larger request.
• Low-ball technique: Agreement to an initial offer increases likelihood of agreeing to a more costly offer.
• Door-in-the-face technique: Reduced request after a large refusal enhances agreement to the smaller request.
• Reasoning versus emotion: Appeals to emotion produce more persuasiveness.
• Effect of arousing fear: Fear appeals can have a strong effect.

Primary and Recency Effects

• Primacy effect: The first message has stronger impact.
• Recency effect: The last message has stronger impact.

The Channel of Communication

• Persuasion requires various channels like face-to-face communication, written documents or media advertisements.

Audience Age and Attitudes

• Older people's attitudes tend to change less than younger people's.

Social Facilitation

• The tendency for individuals to improve performance in simple or well-learned tasks when others are present.

Social Loafing

• The tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when doing tasks alone.

Crowding and Presence of Others

• Individuals' presence affects arousal levels.
• Increased number of people increases arousal.
• Audience enhances simple behaviors but impairs difficult tasks.
• Increased arousal affects well-learned automatic behaviors.
• A large crowd intensifies positive or negative group reactions.

Group Influence (Chapter 8)

• A group comprises two or more people who interact and influence each other..

How Are We Influenced By Groups?

• Group polarization: Group discussions lead to more extreme views than before discussion.
• Mere presence: The mere presence of others affects performance on tasks.

Groupthink

• Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups where the desire for harmony or conformity leads to irrational or dysfunctional decision-making.
• Pressure for unanimity can lead to suppressing dissent.
• Symptoms of groupthink include illusion of invulnerability, unquestioned belief in group morality, stereotyped views of opposing arguments, mindguards, and self-censorship.
• Ways to prevent groupthink include seeking diverse opinions outside the group or creating subgroups.

Informational and Normative Influence

• Informational influence results from the pooling of ideas in a group.
• Normative influence occurs due to the desire to conform to group opinion.

Unquestioned Belief in Group Morals and Rationalizations during Decisions

• Groups believe in the righteousness of their viewpoints. These ideas rationalize challenges by collectively justifying decisions.
• Groups often discount opposing viewpoints.
• Stereotypical views of the opposition and a lack of openness occur.
• Pressures influence conformity.
• Self-censorship occurs to avoid disagreement.

Social Loafing

• Individuals exert less effort in groups, attributing less responsibility to themselves.

Deindividuation

• Loss of self-awareness and personal responsibility in groups.
• This can lead to aggressive or anti-social behavior.
• Factors contributing to deindividuation include group size, anonymity, and arousing activities.

Social Influences on Behavior

• Individuals' presence affects the dominant, or expected, response on tasks.
• Individuals act differently when in groups versus alone.

Social Categorization

• Organizing the world by clustering into groups.
• Ethnicity, sex and other factors are important identifiers.
• Categorization exaggerates group similarities and minimizes group differences.

Distinctiveness

• Distinctive persons and occurrences attract more attention; therefore judgments can be skewed.
• Extreme happenings/people in a group often distort assessments.

Attribution

• People often attribute others' behaviors to internal traits over situational factors leading to potential biased judgments.
• Groups and members of those groups may distort behaviors.

Stereotype Threat

• Anxiety about confirming negative stereotypes can negatively affect performance.

Attraction and Intimacy (Chapter 11)

• Proximity, exposure, and similarity are factors driving attraction.
• Reward theory of attraction predicts that we are attracted to those whose behavior rewards us.

Physical Attractiveness

• Physical attractiveness is highly important in initial interactions
• Physical attractiveness influences perceptions of other attributes.

Relationship Rewards

• Rewards are a significant component of relationships and attraction.

What Enables Close Relationships?

• Attachment styles impact close relationships.
• Secure attachment involves trust and intimacy.
• Avoidant attachment involves discomfort with closeness.
• Anxious attachment involves anxiety and ambivalence.

Relationship Equity

• Equitable relationships are characterized by a balance of contributions and outcomes.
• Perceived inequality leads to dissatisfaction.

Self Disclosure

• Self-disclosure is the deliberate revealing of information about oneself which are significant to the relationship.
• In a trusting relationships, self-disclosure is more common.

Relationship Issues

• Conflicts can arise due to differences in perception, values, and communication styles.
• Conflict-resolution skills are important to navigate arguments.

Cognitive Sources of Prejudice

• Categorization: People organize the world through categories including ethnicity and gender.
• Categorization often leads to overgeneralization about group similarities and differences.

Prejudice Consequences

• Prejudice often shapes perception and behavior.
• Stereotyping and discrimination can occur.
• Self-fulfilling prophecies can come into play.

Prejudice Sources

• Social inequalities can create prejudice.
• Social dominance orientation: A preference for one's group to dominate other groups.
• Socialization includes learning prejudice through family, media, and other social institutions..
• Frustration and aggression: Frustration can be redirected toward a scapegoat.
• Realistic group conflict theory: Prejudice stems from competition over scarce resources.
• Social identity theory: Part of one's identity comes from group belonging; therefore, groups can be favored.
• Modern prejudice: Prejudice exists implicitly in modern society.

Explore the fascinating dynamics of conformity and obedience through the lens of key psychological experiments, including Stanley Milgram's groundbreaking studies. Understand the factors influencing obedience and the emergence of group norms, alongside their implications for real-world contexts. Delve into how authority and emotional distance shape our responses in social situations.