CHAPTER 6: CONFORMITY AND OBEDIENCE

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY | 2ND SEMESTER

Conformity ●​ Example: you might have followed your

●​ Change in behavior or belief as the result of real high school’s dress code even though you
or imagined group pressure. thought it was dumb, because that was
●​ Sometimes bad (when it leads someone to drive better than detention.
drunk or to join racist behavior), sometimes good ●​ Obedience
(when it keeps people from cutting into a theater ○​ A type of compliance involving
line), and sometimes inconsequential (when it acting in accord with a direct
directs tennis player to wear white) order or command
●​ Overall term for acting differently due to the ○​ Example: If your mother tells you
influence of others to clean up your room and you
●​ Not just acting as other people act; it is also being do, that’s obedience
affect by how they act
●​ Example: when a student gives an answer they are SHERIF’S STUDIES OF NORM FOUNDATION
unsure about just because most of their ●​ Muzafer Sherif (1935, 1937)
classmates have given the same answer. ●​ Autokinetic phenomenon
○​ Self (auto) motion (kinetic)
Two varieties of conformity: ○​ The apparent movement of a stationary
a.​ Acceptance point of light in the dark
●​ Occurs when you genuinely believe in ●​ Used the autokinetic effect to show how social
what the group has persuaded you to norms develop in ambiguous situations. When
do– you inwardly and sincerely believe individuals first estimated the movement of a
that the group’s actions are right. stationary light alone, their answers varied. But in
●​ Conformity that involves both acting groups, their estimates gradually converged to a
and believing in accord with social shared norm. Even when later tested alone, they
pressure stuck to the group norm, demonstrating how
●​ Example: you might exercise, as millions people conform to social influence in uncertain
do, because you accept that exercise is situations.
healthy. You stop at red lights because ●​ Revealed that group norms are developed
you accept that not doing so is through individual interaction, with extreme
dangerous. ideas leveled out.
b.​ Compliance ●​ As a consequence, consensus agreement emerges,
●​ Conformity that involves publicly acting which is more likely to be a compromise, even if it
in accord with an implied or explicit is incorrect
request while privately disagreeing
●​ Conforming to an expectation or a Chameleon effect (Tanya Chartrand and John Bargh,
request without really believing in what 1999)
you are doing ●​ Mimicking someone else’s behavior
●​ You might comply primarily to reap a ●​ Example: when a student unconsciously mimics
reward or avoid a punishment their friend’s posture, hand gestures, or speech
●​ An insincere, outward conformity patterns during a conversation.

Mass hysteria
●​ Suggestibility to problems that spreads ●​ Perhaps you can recall a time you felt
throughout a large group of people justifiably angry at an unfair teacher but
●​ Example: Salem Witch Trials (1692-1693) in you hesitated to object.
colonial America. A group of young girls claimed ●​ Then one or two other students spoke
to be possessed by witches, leading to widespread up about the unfair practices, and you
fear and panic. As a result, many innocent people followed their example, which had a
were accused, tried, and even executed based on liberating effect
unfounded suspicions.
●​ Conversion disorder REFLECTIONS FROM THE CLASSICAL
○​ A form of mass hysteria caused when STUDIES
psychological stress is unconsciously ●​ They showed how compliance can take
expressed in physical symptoms precedence over moral sense
●​ They succeeded in pressuring people to go against
ASCH’S STUDIES OF GROUP PRESSURE their own consciences
●​ Solomon Asch (1907-1996) ●​ They sensitized us to moral conflicts in our own
●​ Investigated conformity using a simple line lives
judgment task. Participants were placed in a ●​ They affirmed two familiar social psychological
group with confederates (actors) who principles:
intentionally gave incorrect answers about which ○​ The link between behavior and attitudes
line matched a reference line. Despite the obvious and the power of the situation
correct answer, many participants conformed to
the group’s wrong choice at least once. WHAT PREDICTS CONFORMITY?​
●​ Investigate the extent to which social pressure
from a majority group could affect a person to Group size
conform ●​ Small groups can have a big effect

MILGRAM’S OBEDIENCE STUDIES Unanimity

●​ Stanley Milgram ●​ Several experiments reveal that someone who
●​ Tested what happens when the demands of punctures a group’s unanimity deflates its social
authority clash with the demands of conscience. power
●​ Tested what happens when the demands of ●​ People will usually voice their own convictions if
authority clash with the demands of conscience just one other person has also differed from
majority
WHAT BREEDS OBEDIENCE?
a.​ Victim’s emotional distance Cohesion
●​ In everyday life, too, it is easiest to abuse ●​ A minority opinion from someone outside the
someone who is distant or groups we identify with sways us less than the
depersonalized same minority opinion from someone within our
b.​ Closeness and legitimacy of the authority group
●​ The physical presence of the ●​ The more cohesive a group is, the more power it
experimenter also affected obedience gains over its members
c.​ Institutional authority ●​ Cohesiveness
●​ The institutional prestige of Yale ○​ A “we feeling”
University legitimized the Milgram ○​ Extent to which members of a group are
experiment commands bound together, such as by attraction to
d.​ Liberating effects of group influence one another
Status ●​ People high in openness to experience
●​ Higher-status people tend to have more impact (personality trait connected to creativity and
●​ People of lower status accepted the socially progressive thinking) are less likely to
experimenter’s commands more readily than conform
people of higher status (Milgram, on his study)
Culture
Public response ●​ Conformity rates are higher in collectivist
●​ People conform more when they must respond in countries
front of others rather than writing their answers
privately Social roles
●​ It is much easier to stand up for what we believe ●​ Social roles shape behavior, emphasizing the
in the privacy of the voting booth than before a power of norms and expectations in guiding
group. conformity.
●​ Roles are clusters of norms rather than isolated
WHY CONFORM? rules and that people internalize roles over time,
making their behaviors feel natural.
Normative influence (Morton Deutsch and Harold ●​ Involve a certain degree of conformity, and
Gerard) conforming to expectations is an important task
●​ Conformity based on a person’s desire to fulfill when stepping into a new social role.
others’ expectations, often to gain acceptance
●​ To be accepted and avoid rejection Reactance
●​ Springs from our desire to be liked ●​ People act to protect their sense of freedom
●​ Example: A student claps after a lecture because ●​ Motive to protect or restore one’s sense of
everyone else is clapping, even though they didn’t freedom
find it interesting. They do it to fit in and avoid ●​ Arises when someone threatens our freedom of
looking different. action
●​ Example: A teacher strictly bans students from
Informational influence (Morton Deutsch and using their phones in class. Instead of focusing
Harold Gerard) more, some students secretly check their phones
●​ Conformity occurring when people accept even more often, just to push back against the
evidence about reality provided by other people rule.
●​ To obtain important information
●​ Springs from our desire to be right Asserting Uniqueness
●​ Example: A student is unsure how to format a ●​ People want to be unique but not too different.
research paper, so they copy the style their When people feel too similar to others, they may
classmates are using. They assume others know change their behavior to assert individuality, like
the correct way. choosing unique names or resisting conformity.
●​ We also become more aware of our differences in
WHO CONFORMS? certain situations, like noticing our nationality
when abroad. Even small differences can shape
Personality identity and sometimes lead to conflict. In the
●​ People higher in agreeableness (who value getting end, most people want to feel special, not just
along with others) and conscientiousness (who different.
follow social norms for neatness and punctuality)
are likely to conform