1. Lecture 4: Conformity and Groupthink

2. Conformity – Asch Conformity – Milgram Groupthink – Janis
Plan for today:
Conformity – Asch
Conformity – Milgram
Groupthink – Janis

3. Conforming behaviour:
Research by:
Asch - conform to views of group
Milgram - conform to view of authority/obedience

4. ASCH – STUDIES IN CONFORMITY
Solomon Asch

5. ASCH – STUDIES IN CONFORMITY

6. MILGRAM – STUDIES IN CONFORMITY
Stanley Milgram

7. Janis’ key example of groupthink: The ‘Bay of Pigs’ invasion

8. Informal norms to preserve friendly intra-group
JANIS – GROUPTHINK
Irving Janis
GROUPTHINK:
Informal norms to preserve friendly intra-group
relations lead to a tendency to think alike

9. Symptoms of groupthink (a)
Illusion of invulnerability
Collective rationalization
Illusion of morality
Shared stereotypes

10. Symptoms of groupthink (b):
Direct pressure
Self-censorship
Illusion of unanimity
Mind-guards

11. Other examples of groupthink:
Challenger disaster (1986):
Problems with booster rocket well-established
3 of 4 senior engineers opposed launch

12. Other examples of groupthink:
Enron collapse (2001)
US-based multi-national energy and financial services company
World’s largest financial collapse at the time

13. Other examples of groupthink:
Madoff scandal (2008):
‘Ponzi scheme’ (fraudulent investment operation)
£50 billion fraud – largest ever

14. Asch and Milgram references
Asch, Solomon E. (1956) ‘Studies of independence and conformity: A minority of one against a unanimous majority’. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied 70/9: 1-70.
Milgram, Stanley (1963) ‘Behavioral study of obedience’. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 67/4:

15. see you then …. Reading for this week: Moorhead et al. Next week:
Emotions and emotional intelligence
see you then ….