Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Psychology by David G. Myers 9 th Edition Conformity and Obedience

Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. What Is Conformity? Conformity –A change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined group pressure –The key to knowing whether you are conforming is whether your behavior would be the same apart from the group. Would you rise and cheer if you were the only fan? Compliance –Conformity that involves outwardly going along, while disagreeing You put on a tie even though you don’t like it Obedience –Acting in accord with a direct order or demand We comply to reap a reward or avoid a punishment Acceptance –Conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressures. We may come to inwardly believe something we initially questioned

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Classic Studies Asch’s studies of group pressure –People were asked which lines matched. When all others said the same wrong answer, 37% of the time people conformed to the wrong answer.

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Milgram’s Obedience Experiments What happens when the demands of authority class with the demands of obedience? –The experiment required a participant to teach the other a list of words and punish errors by giving shocks of different intensities. –They drew slips for the role of teacher and learner –How far would you go? When asked how far they thought other people would go, no one expected anyone to proceed to the XXX shock, but 65% of them went all the way to the 450 volts shock

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Classic Studies Milgram’s obedience experiments

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. What Breeds Obedience? The victim’s distance: –In Milgram’s experiment, people acted with the most obedience when the victim could not be seen. If they could not hear complaints they went all the way. Closeness and legitimacy of the authority: –When commands were given by phone, obedience dropped to 21% Institutional authority: –The fact that Milgram conducted his study at Yale legitimized the commands The liberating effects of group influence: –Conformity can also be good. –For example, you may not want to stand up for something you believe in, until others do.

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Reflections on the Classic Studies Ethics: –Some have stated that Milgram stressed his participant’s against their will (teacher’s experienced agony and their self conception may have been altered) Behavior and attitudes: –These experiments show the attitudes fail to determine behavior when external influences override inner convictions. The power of the situation: –Immediate situational forces are powerful –Evil can result from a few bad apples. The fundamental attribution error: –We are startled by these experiments because we expect people to act in accordance with their dispositions.

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. What Predicts Conformity? Group size: –3 to 5 people elicit more conformity than 1 or 2 Unanimity Cohesion –The more cohesive a group is, the more power it gains from its members Status: –Higher status people tend to have more impact Public response: –People conform more when they must respond in front of others No prior commitment: –After giving a public answer, if asked to reconsider most people don’t.

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Influences on Conformity

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Why Conform? Normative influence: –Conformity based on a person’s desire to fulfill other’s expectations, often to gain acceptance. –Example: going along with the crowd to avoid rejection Informational influence: –Conformity occurring when people accept evidence about reality provided by other people –You conform to a gain information

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Who Conforms? Personality: –Personality is a poor predictor of behavior. However, when influences are strong people conform despite personality Culture –Cultural background can be predictive of how conforming people will be Social roles –Role reversal: by intentionally playing a new role and conforming to its expectations, people sometimes change themselves or empathize with people whose roles differ from their own. –Certain roles require certain actions

Conformity and Obedience Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Do We Ever Want to Be Different? Reactance: a motive to protect or restore one’s sense of freedom. Reactance arises when someone threatens our freedom of action. –Individuals value their sense of freedom and self-efficacy. When social pressures become so blatant that it threatens their sense of freedom, they often rebel. Asserting uniqueness: we feel weird when we are too different from others, but we also don’t like being the same.