9/30 Following the Group Think of a situation in which you followed the group/gave into peer pressure. What happened? Was it a good or bad decision? 2. Is there ever safety in following the group or majority? Example: You are with 10 of your friends and they all insist that John Adams was the first president of the U.S., not Washington. You start to question yourself and go along with it because you don’t want to look silly in case you are wrong.

All aboard the Bandwagon!

a particular activity or cause that has suddenly become fashionable or popular.

What are some popular “bandwagons”? -talk to the person next to you.

What it the “bandwagon effect”? -the rate of uptake of beliefs, ideas, fads and trends increases the more that they have already been adopted by others. - In other words, the bandwagon effect means that an individual is much more likely to adopt a behavior or idea if a lot of other people are doing it already. “Everyone is doing it, so I will too.” Does this phrase have a more positive or negative connotation? More negative because it is usually used when people talk about blindly doing something without really thinking it through or because you have ulterior motives. “You jumped on the trump bandwagon just because you like his hair!”

The bandwagon effect has been applied to situations involving majority opinion, such as political outcomes, where people alter their opinions to the majority view. Example: Because of time zones, election results are broadcast in the eastern parts of the United States while polls are still open in the west. This difference has led to research on how the behavior of voters in western United States is influenced by news about the decisions of voters in other time zones. In 1980, NBC News declared Ronald Reagan to be the winner of the presidential race on the basis of the exit polls several hours before the voting booths closed in the west.

"If many believe so, it is so." Bandwagon Fallacy argumentum ad populum (Latin for "appeal to the people") is a fallacious argument that concludes that a proposition is true because many or most people believe it: "If many believe so, it is so."

Herd/Mob Mentality Human beings are herd animals. We survive only in highly coordinated groups. Individually, we are designed to pick up social cues, coordinate and align our behavior with those around us. In fact, it may not be experienced as pressure, but as relief. Humanbeings are herd animals. We survive only in highly coordinated groups. Individually, we are designed to pick up social cues, coordinate and align our behavior with those around us.

Write a few sentences about a time when you felt conflicted about something. How did you feel? How did you solve the problem?

Attitude and Behavior -LaPiere’s Study Cognitive Dissonance Theory -humans strive for internal consistency. -They want to have consistent attitudes and behaviors.. -NOT having this internal consistency is called COGNITIVE DISSONANCE (unpleasant tension). Cognitive Dissonance: mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who: 1. Holds contradictory ideas 2. Does something contradictory to their ideas/beliefs 3. Is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. -People try to reduce this dissonance—as well as actively avoid situations and information likely to increase it. -Usually they will change their attitude to decrease this stress

-Think of some adjectives to describe the people who were obedient in the study. -What do you think about them?

-Have you ever been in a situation in which no one would take responsibility? -Have you ever been in obvious need of help and you were ignored?

What did we learn from Milgram? Ordinary people can do shocking things. Ethical issues… Would not have received approval from today’s IRB (Internal Review Board).

Group Dynamics

Group Polarization -Groups tend to make more extreme decisions than the individual.

GroupThink -Group members suppress their reservations about the ideas supported by the group -They are more concerned with group harmony.

Deindividuation This is a state when you become so immersed in the norms of the group that you lose your sense of identity and personal responsibility. -People get swept up in a group and lose sense of self. -Feel anonymous and excited -Explains rioting behaviors.

Zimbardo’s Prison Study Showed how we deindividuate AND BECOME the roles we are given. Philip Zimbardo has students at Stanford U play the roles of prisoner and prison guards in the basement of psychology building. They were given uniforms and numbers for each prisoner. What do you think happened?