LECTURE 8 Conformity

1. LECTURE 8 Conformity • Administration • Chameleon Effect • Sherif’s Autokinetic Effect Study • Asche’s Conformity Studies • Milgram’s Obedience Studies • Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Study • Break • Video on Conformity • Resisting Conformity • Next Class

2. Questions?

3. Conformity • Definition: A change in behaviour or beliefs due to the real or imagined influence of other people. • Social Norms: The implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviours, values, and beliefs of its members.

4. Chameleon Effect • Definition: The nonconscious mimicry of the postures, mannerisms, and facial expressions of one’s interaction partner. • The mere perception of another’s behaviour can automatically increase the likelihood of engaging in that behaviour oneself.

6. Chameleon Effect Chartrand and Bargh (1999)

8. Informational Social Influence • Conforming because we believe that others’ interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct than ours and will help us choose an appropriate course of action. • Acceptance: Conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure. • We conform because we think this is the “right” way to act in this situation.

9. Autokinetic Study (Sherif, 1936)

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18. Autokinetic Study (Sherif, 1936)

19. When do we conform to informational social influence? • When the situation is ambiguous • Fire alarms • When there is a crisis • When others are experts

20. Normative Social Influence • Conforming in order to be liked and accepted or to fulfil others’ expectations (e.g., mimicry). • This type of conformity results in public compliance (but not necessarily private acceptance) of the group’s beliefs and behaviours. • Public Compliance: Conformity that involves publicly acting in accordance with social pressure while privately disagreeing.

21. Social Pressure Study (Asch, 1951) 1 2 3

22. Social Pressure Study (Asch, 1951) 1 2 3

23. Social Pressure Study (Asch, 1951) 1 2 3

24. Social Pressure Study (Asch, 1951)

25. Compliance • Conformity Definition: A change in behaviour or beliefs due to the real or imagined influence of other people. • Compliance Definition: Conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with social pressure while privately disagreeing. • Obedience: Conformity that is related to a direct order from other people.

26. Milgram’s (1963) Obedience Study • “Teachers” believe they are delivering shocks to a “learner” (appear to be randomly assigned to the roles). • Every time the learner gets an answer wrong, he gets a shock that increases in intensity. • Strongly encouraged by the experimenter to continue, even when the “learner” protests.

27. Milgram’s (1963) Obedience Study “Ouwwww, this really hurts!” “This hurts!” “I want to quit!” Stopsresponding Makesnoise

28. Milgram’s Obedience Study • Normative social influence – “It is absolutely essential that you continue” (…I did commit to doing this study…what will he think of me if I mess up his study now…?) • Informational social influence – Because the situation is ambiguous/novel, we are unsure, and so we look to the expert (the experimenter) for advice.

29. Milgram’s (1963) Obedience Study

30. Obedience Across Studies Percentage fully obedient * Experimental Version

31. Milgram’s Obedience Study Explanations for why they obeyed: • In automatic pilot to the “obey experimenter” norm - mindlessness • Fast-pace doesn’t allow for much thought • Increased in small increments (like foot-in-the-door).

32. Stanford Prison StudyZimbardo (1971) Personality versus Situation - Results of the Milgram Study - Goals of the Stanford Prison Study Whether the situation defined guards and prisoners brutality and behaviours or whether it was related to the personality of people who took on those roles? Role A set of norms that define how people in a given social position ought to behave.

33. Stanford Prison StudyZimbardo (1971) • Zimbardo randomly assigned university students to role-play being either guards or prisoners. • Guards were given uniforms, whistles, and clubs and were told to enforce the rules. • Prisoners were given uniforms and locked in cells. • Although this study was originally planned for 2 weeks after only 6 days they had to stop the study because of the hostility of the prison guards and the mental and physical deterioration of the prisoners.

34. Resisting Social Pressure Reactance (Brehm & Brehm, 1981) An attempt to restore one’s sense of freedom. Correction Theory (Wegener & Petty, 1997) We correct for: • Direction of perceived influence • Extent of perceived influence To correct we need: • Motivation and Ability

35. Training and Correction StudyKawakami, Dovidio, & van Kamp (2002) Female Stereotypes • Friendly • Submissive • Dependent • Caring Male Stereotypes • Dominant • Independent • Ambitious • Competitive

36. NEW ASSOCIATION TRAINING PHOTO TRAIT FEMALE STEREO FEMALE PHOTO MALE STEREO FEMALE STEREO MALE PHOTO MALE STEREO

39. General Procedure • Nonstereotype Association Training • Job Ad, CV’s, and Cover Letters – - 2 men and 2 women only identified by name • Choose Best Candidate

40. Conditions Just Training – Possible Correction Processes • Nonstereotype Association Training • Job Ad, CV’s, and Cover Letters • Choose Best Candidate Training + Filler Task – Reduce Motivation – No Correction • Nonstereotype Association Training • 10 Minute Break • Job Ad, CV’s, and Cover Letters • Choose Best Candidate Training + Probe Task – Reduce Ability – No Correction • Nonstereotype Association Training • Job Ad , CV’s, and Cover Letters + Probe Reaction Task • Choose Best Candidate + Probe Reaction Task

43. Percentage of Candidates Chosen

44. Questions?

45. Next Class Class 9: Wednesday, March 12th Second In-class Exam Class 10: Wednesday, March 19th Group Influence Reading material: Chapter 8: Group Influence, pp. 239-275.