1. Unit 3 – The Sociology of Group Behaviour
Conformity Within Groups

2. I can identify and analyze the reasons that will influence whether or not individuals will choose to step in and help in a situation that requires it.
Learning Goal

3. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
Imagine this….
You are writing your very first, University exam along with hundreds of other students.
You take a moment to collect your thoughts and notice that there are three students sitting in front of you, who are obviously cheating.
What do you do?
Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

4. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
What would you do?
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Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

5. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
Would you step in and do something (anything) to help in this scenario?
What about this one?
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Or this?
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Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

6. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
If you answered YES, I would step in and do something, what would your response be?
If you said no way would I get involved, you could be influenced by bystander apathy or diffusion of responsibility.
Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

7. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
Bystander Apathy: a lack of interest in becoming involved in a situation for a variety of reasons, but most often because of Diffusion Responsibility.
Diffusion of Responsibility: the tendency of the bystander to feel the responsibility for acting is shared or diffused amongst all those present at the event (someone else will do it).
Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

8. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
Where does Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility happen most often?
Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

9. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
Would you step in and help out if a child was being abducted, like in this scenario?
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Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

10. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
What were the reasons given in the clip to explain either why individuals did step in and help out, or why some individuals stood by and watched it happen?
Stepped Up? Stood by?
Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

11. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
Looking back at each of the scenarios you have been presented with (witnessing cheating on a university exam, person lying in the street, man left bleeding to death on the street, man hit by a car, Kitty Genovese case, child being abducted, etc.), identify the reasons why some individuals choose to help and why some stand by and watch.
Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

12. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
Stand up? Stand by?
Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

13. Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility
Your Task:
Complete questions #1a-d, #2 a-c
#4 a-d
#5c and d and
#6a-c
(from the textbook worksheet – Unit #3 Group Behaviour (Conformity)) using the black Social Science: An Introduction textbook
Bystander Apathy and Diffusion of Responsibility

14. Group Behaviour and Conformity
Review
All instances of conformity in society are negative. T or F
Smaller groups tend to have higher rates of conformity. T or F
Group Behaviour and Conformity

15. Group Behaviour and Conformity
3. Bystander Apathy and or diffusion of responsibility is most likely to happen in which of the of the following scenarios?
a.) your neighbour needs help changing a tire
b.) you witness an older woman getting stabbed in the
Eaton’s Centre in Toronto
c.) a fight breaks out in the forum downstairs
d.) you see a five car pileup on the 401
e.) you are riding the elevator at school and another student starts
choking
The results of the Piliavin Subway Experiment show that if individuals are trapped in a situation where there is nowhere to hide or go, or if they feel a sense of shared fate with the victim, they will not succumb to bystander apathy. T or F
What are the other factors or mechanisms that may lead to the bystander effect?
Group Behaviour and Conformity

16. Group Behaviour and Conformity
6. Which of the following experiments demonstrates the concept of in-groups and out-groups?
a.) The Piliavin experiment
b.) The Chameleon experiment
c.) The Robbers Cave experiment
Which of the following is an example of an in-group?
a.) the hockey team you play for
b.) the opposing hockey team
c.) students from Sir John A. MacDonald
d.) The American Olympic hockey team
T or F A riot requires strong leadership.
Group Behaviour and Conformity

17. Group Behaviour and Conformity
9. Which of the following scenarios is an example of an Acting Crowd?
a.) people protesting in front of the Parliament buildings
b.) people at a concert
c.) people waiting for the bus
d.) all of the above
Which of the following is an example of the chameleon effect?
a.) people shaving their heads to protest society’s obsession with celebrity culture
b.) girls rushing to the hair salon to get their hair cut like the latest ‘it girl’ (e.g. The Lob)
c.) people protesting in front of the Parliament buildings
d.) none of the above
Group Behaviour and Conformity

18. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Learning Goals:
I can identify the Factors that will increase an individual’s level of conformity in group situations.
I can analyze the significance of these factors in various Social and Psychological studies and experiments.
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

19. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Conformity: that which occurs when one changes behaviour or attitudes to follow the beliefs, rules, or guidelines of others within a group.
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

20. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Levels of individual conformity will increase when one or more of the following factors are present:
Group Size
Group Attractiveness (Self-esteem)
Group Unanimity
Public vs. Private Response
Nature of the Task (Ambiguous Situation/Difficult Task)
Group Think
Obedience to Authority (Status of members or group)
The Power of the Situation/Roles
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

21. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Experiment #1: The Asch Experiment
Question: Which of the following lines is equal in length to the standard line?
Standard Line A B C
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

22. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
What variables or factors could you introduce to this scenario in order to get individuals to respond that Line A was equal to the standard line?
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

23. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
This is what Soloman Asch actually did, in order to get participants to conform and respond that the line that was obviously not equal in length to the standard line, was in fact equal in length.
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Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

24. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Which factor(s) affecting conformity might cause the level of conformity in this experiment to increase?
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

25. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Experiment #2:
The Milgram Experiment
The Scenario:
Imagine you have answered an ad to participate in a Psychological study on memory and learning at Yale University. When you arrive you are randomly given the role of either a ‘teacher’ or a ‘learner’.
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

26. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
The ‘teachers’ are instructed to teach the learners a series of word pairs, while the ‘learners’ must attempt to remember the word pairs, while being hooked to an electric shock generator which administers shocks from 15volts to a maximum level of 450volts whenever the learner incorrectly remembered a word pair.
e.g. sad, face
brown, hair etc.
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

27. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
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Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

28. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Milgram found that 67% of the ‘teachers’ were willing to administer the maximum shock value (450V) to the learner.
Why were the levels of conformity so high?
What variables could you change in this experiment to a.) increase levels of conformity amongst the ‘teachers’ or b.) decrease the levels of conformity amongst the ‘teachers’.
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

29. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
This is actual footage of the Milgram Experiments conducted by Stanley Milgram in 1962, at Yale University.
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Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

30. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Which of the factors affecting levels of conformity did the Asch Experiment demonstrate?
Which of the factors affecting levels of conformity did the Milgram Experiment demonstrate?
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

31. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Experiment #3: The Stanford Prison Experiment (Phillip Zimbardo)
Zimbardo sets up a mock prison experiment with 24 college males that have volunteered to participate in a psychological experiment in the basement of one of the Stanford University buildings
some of the participants are randomly asked to take on the role of prison guards while others will become the prisoners
the experiment is supposed to last for at least one month but has to be halted after only a few days because of the severe psychological trauma experienced by the prisoners at the hands of the prison guards
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour

32. Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour
Experiment #3:
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Which factors affecting levels of conformity do both the Stanford Prison experiment and the Abu Ghreb prison case demonstrate?
Factors Affecting Conformity in Group Behaviour