conformity
a change in behavior or belief to accord with others as the result of real or imagined group presence; you are affected by how others act, not just acting as others act; it is not how you would act if alone
acceptance
conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure; you genuinely believe in what the group has persuaded you to do; you inwardly and sincerely believe that the group's actions are right; ex: you exercise because you think i
compliance
conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with an implied or explicit request while privately disagreeing; you don't really believe in what you are doing; ex: you put on a necktie even though you dislike doing so or like your friend's favorite ba
obedience
a type of compliance involving acting in accord with a direct order or command; outwardly going along with the group while inwardly disagreeing as result of direct command; you do something you wouldn't do otherwise b/c someone says you need to; ex: Dad s
negative
in Western individualistic cultures, where submitting to peer pressure is discouraged, the word "conformity" carries this type of connotation (how'd you feel if someone called you a "real conformist" or use hear Conformity, Submission, Compliance?)
positive
in collectivistic cultures, where going along with others is not a sign of weakness, but of tolerance, self-control, and maturity, the word "conformity" carries this type of connotation (you think of conformity as communal sensitivity, responsiveness, coo
autokinetic phenomenon
self motion; the apparent movement of a stationary point of light in the dark; an optical illusion that was used in Muzafer Sherif's experiment that explored people's suggestibility
results of Sherif's experiments (and Jacobs and Campbell)
found that our reality is not ours alone; ex: accepting a story on social media that later turned out to be "fake news
examples of suggestibility
ex: one person checks phone, and others check theirs; someone yawns/laughs/coughs, and others do the same; comedy laugh tracks capitalize on this to make us laugh too
mood linkage
just being around happy people can helps us feel happier, Peter Totterdell and colleagues say; people within same social network or work groups tend to share positive and negative moods and similar obesity, sleep loss, loneliness, happiness, and drug use
chameleon effect
mimicking someone else's behavior; automatically behaving without any conscious intention to conform; ex: rubbing your face because others do so; looking at a facial expression of another and making that face yourself
natural mimicry
because our behavior influences our attitudes and emotions, this inclines us to feel what the other feels; helps people look more helpful and likeable; become more likely to help others who have this to our behavior
mass hysteria
suggestibility to problems that spreads throughout a large group of people; influenced by social contagion; ex: after a freak accident with a Lexus vehicle going out of control, many others reported their own vehicles were accelerating out of control b/c
everyday conformity examples
ex: if tell students that average flossing per day is X times per week, students' flossing rates over next 3 months increases; if people around you eat a lot, you eat more and if others eat very little, you end up picking at your food more; when the oppos
ethical criticisms of Milgram's study
there are claims that: the participants were stressed against their will (sweating, trembling, stuttering, biting lips, etc); participants' self concepts were altered (wife called one participant "Eichmann"); debriefing was not extensive and distress was
victim's emotional distance, authority's closeness & legitimacy, respectability of institution, and liberating effects of disobedient fellow participant
the 4 factors that determine obedience based on Milgram's study
victim's distance
Milgram's participants acted with the greatest obedience and least compassion when the learners could not be seen or heard, but when learner was in same room, less people would administer the 450 volts, showing the importance of this factor
depersonalized
in everyday life, it's easiest to abuse someone who is distant and _____; ex: putting hoods over the heads of those about to be executed; the ethics of war allow bombing 40,000 people from afar but not shooting a helpless villager
closeness and legitimacy of authority
this factor matters because the physical presence of the experimenter affected obedience; obedience dropped by 21% when commands were given via telephone; giving a light touch on the arm increases obedience; a scientist over a random stranger is more effe
example of legit authority
ex: in an experiment, 22 out of 23 nurses were about to administer a dose of medicine that would seem way higher than normal dose, just because they thought the doctor ordered it (they were stopped before doing so); doctor orders, nurse obeys
instutional authority
the factor that says the prestige of the organization is important to obedience; ex: more obeyed in a study done through Yale University vs Bridgeport, Connecticut; someone was about to hurt self but a police officer told them to fix their bad parking job
liberating effects of group influence
conformity can be constructive due to this factor because it can influence us to do good through group loyalty or allowing us to say what we believe because at least one other said what we believe too, even if it goes against the majority of the group
moral sense
Asch and Milgram found that compliance can take precedence over ________
their own consciences
Asch and Milgram succeeded in pressuring people to go against _____________
moral conflicts
Asch and Milgram's studies sensitize us to _______ in our own lives
behavior & attitudes AND the power of the situation
Asch and Milgram affirm 2 familiar social psychological principles: the link between ___________
attitudes
when external influences override inner convictions, these fail to determine behavior because a powerful social pressure overcame both a weaker social pressure and these
slippery slope
this idea says that once participants started obeying to higher and higher volts of shocks, it was more difficult to stop the more they went along; ex: cheating for 25 cents and then cheating again as the $ reward increases is more effective than asking y
external behavior and internal disposition
these 2 things can feed each other and escalate into a spiral as the participants devalued the victim as a consequence of acting against him, so the participant views the punishment as inevitable by the victim's own deficiencies of intellect and character
blame the victim
a process used to train torturers to make an obedient but otherwise decent person evolve into an agent of cruelty by evolving their attitudes to follow and justify their actions
power of social norms
ex: it is hard to predict behavior, even our own, because we may predict we would be defiant and reject a bad behavior of another, but in practice, we often exhibit indifference; ex: someone says a sexist remark and we stay quiet even though it's wrong b/
situations and strong beliefs
these 2 things can induce ordinary people to capitulate to cruelty because of what is happening around us that pressures us to do something
small increments
the drift toward evil usually comes in this way; we do not consciously intend to do evil; ex: we don't intend to procrastinate, but we think "what's 1 more episode" and then "what's 1 more videogame" and that keeps building
groups of 4
this size of groups elicits the most conformity than just 1 or 2 members, but getting over 5 people diminishes returns
independent small groups
these types of groups makes a position more credible; ex: a few different groups not too large are more effective at eliciting conformity than if a single large group were to try to elicit conformity
unanimity
this effect on conformity shows that a group's social power is deflated when even 1 person disagrees with the rest of the group, allowing others to increase their independence and not conform
cohesiveness
a "we feeling"; the extent to which members of a group are bound together, such as by attraction to one another
cohesion
this factor on conformity says that a minority opinion from someone outside the groups we identify with sway us less than the same minority opinion from someone within our group; ex: comply more with people who share a birthday with you or people like you
status
this factor of conformity says that people who are senior group members will conform less than junior group members; the lower this is, the more likely you are to conform
public response
this factor of conformity says that if a response is written and only shared with the experimenters, you are more likely not to conform, but if the response will be available to others, especially if it's a diverse or controversial opinion, you will be mo
prior commitment
this factor of conformity says that after you give your judgement and then hear everyone else disagree, you almost never back down from what you originally said; ex: salespeople take advantage of this by prompting us to make statements in favor of their p
normative influence
conformity based on a person's desire to fulfill others' expectations, often to gain acceptance; from desire to be liked; "going along with the crowd" to avoid rejection; may not actually believe in what you conform to but you are swayed without awareness
informational influence
conformity occurring when people accept evidence about reality provided by other people; from desire to be right; the influence does not last long; you are concerned about being correct; happens when people feel incompetent or if task is hard
personality
this says those higher in agreeableness and conscientiousness are more likely to conform and those higher in openness to experience and socially progressive thinking are less likely to conform; has to do with who we are as people/ our inclinations
culture
depending on our country of origin, this influences our levels of conformity and attitudes toward it; individualistic (conform -) vs collectivistic (conform +); this can exist within social classes too like middle class people conforming less than working
social role
have powerful effects on conformity because as you internalize this, your self-consciousness subsides and what at first felt awkward now feels genuine; ex: you are a father so the more you think of self as a father, the easier it is to conform to fatherly
reactance
a motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom; arises when someone threatens our freedom of action
theory of psychological reactance
this theory is supported by experiments showing that attempts to restrict a person's freedom often produces an anticonformity "boomerang effect"; ex: reaching young adults with anti-drinking messages might not work; people have hard time exercising b/c th
asserting uniqueness
you might feel you have to do this so you don't appear like everyone else; you want to stand out not too much, but just enough that asserts your individuality; happens more in those who have high "need for uniqueness" and these people tend to conform the