Conformity and Obedience

1. Conformity and Obedience

2. Conformity Conformity - the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to other individuals

3. Studies on Conformity Ash (1995) Participants were seated sixth in a row of seven confederates in what was said to be a study on �perceptual judgment� Were asked �What line matches the standard line?� All confederates said the same wrong answer

4. Ash�s Findings The Control Group were correct 99% of the time Experiment Condition conformed 3/4 or 63% of the time Group Size - the higher the groups size, the more likely people conform Incompetent and insecure - when one is made to feel incompetent and insecure, one is more likely to conform Group Status and attractiveness - goes without saying the more you want to be a part of the group the more you conform �Reasonably intelligent and well-meaning young people are willing to call white black is a matter of concern. It raises questions about ways of education and about the values that guide our conduct� - Solomon AshGroup Size - the higher the groups size, the more likely people conform Incompetent and insecure - when one is made to feel incompetent and insecure, one is more likely to conform Group Status and attractiveness - goes without saying the more you want to be a part of the group the more you conform �Reasonably intelligent and well-meaning young people are willing to call white black is a matter of concern. It raises questions about ways of education and about the values that guide our conduct� - Solomon Ash

5. Result of social pressure or unconscious inferences Can occur in a social group or alone Positive Force that prevents dangerous acts Social Norm - the perceived behaviors of a society and group, sense of what is �normal� There is a sense of security when conforming to the social norm, and by not conforming individuals run the risk of social rejection Example - Emo kids Conformity in Society Alone - eating alone Helps society function because there is a perceived behaviors, and there is a self-elimination of those behaviors that are contradictory to rules or laws (positive force that prevents dangerous acts) Alone - eating alone Helps society function because there is a perceived behaviors, and there is a self-elimination of those behaviors that are contradictory to rules or laws (positive force that prevents dangerous acts)

6. Emo Kids VS Emo kids do not conform to society but they do conform to their own social group Emo kids do not conform to society but they do conform to their own social group

7. Result

8. Obedience Obedience - acting in of obeying another individual, usually an authority figure Obedience differs from conformity, which is to a group or society, Obedience differs from conformity, which is to a group or society,

9. Milgram�s Obedience Study Milgram (1965, 1974) experiments tested what happens when the demands of authority clash with the demands of conscience, social psychology�s most famous and controversial experiment The experiment required the participant to teach a list of word pairs to a confederate and to punish errors by delivering shocks Learner - confederate, is strapped to a chair with an electrode secured to his wrist and placed in an adjacent room Teacher - participant in the study who is in charge of teaching word pairs and delivering shocks The experiment required the participant to teach a list of word pairs to a confederate and to punish errors by delivering shocks The experiment required the participant to teach a list of word pairs to a confederate and to punish errors by delivering shocks

10. Milgram Shock generator - 15-450 volts with 15-volt increments Switch reads �slight shock,� �very strong shock,� �danger: sever shock,� and �XXX� To keep the participants going, the experimenter uses verbal prods Please continue (please go on) The experiment requires that you continue It is absolutely essential that you continue You have no other choice, you must go on To keep the participants going, the experimenter uses verbal prods Please continue (please go on) The experiment requires that you continue It is absolutely essential that you continue You have no other choice, you must go on

11. Results 65% progressed to 450 volt, and when the learn was told to protest still 63% went to 450 volts Milgram did more than revel the extent to which people will obey an authority, he also examined the conditions that breed obedience The victims emotional distance The authority�s closeness and legitimacy Whether or not the authority was institutionalized The liberating effects of disobedient fellow participants

12. Emotional Distance Milgram�s participants acted with least compassion when the learners could not be seen (and could not see them) When the learner was in the same room 40% went to 450 When the teachers had to force the learners hand to the shock plate 30% complied When someone is depersonalized it is easy to abuse them People act compassionately toward people who are personalized Executioners wear hoods over their faces, and is the reason why people are unresponsive to great tragedies The ethics of war allow one to bomb a helpless villager from 40.000 ft but not to shoot an equally helpless villager - the fact is that most soldiers so not aim or shoot at an enemy they can see Compassion - ASPCA Executioners wear hoods over their faces, and is the reason why people are unresponsive to great tragedies The ethics of war allow one to bomb a helpless villager from 40.000 ft but not to shoot an equally helpless villager - the fact is that most soldiers so not aim or shoot at an enemy they can see Compassion - ASPCA

13. Institutional Authority If the prestige of the authority is important, then perhaps the institutional prestige of Yale University legitimized the Milgram experiment When conducted by the �Research Associates of Bridgeport� only 48% complied Many of the participants interviewed said that the fact the it was Yale University conducting the study gave them reason to contine Many of the participants interviewed said that the fact the it was Yale University conducting the study gave them reason to contine

14. Liberating Effects of Group Influence There is a liberating effect of conformity Example - students speaking out about unfair teacher In Milgram�s research 90% liberated themselves by conforming to a defiant confederate Positive influence Positive influence

15. Closeness and Legitimacy of Authority The physical presence of the experimenter affected obedience When commands were by telephone, obedience dropped to 21% Authority must be though of a legitimate When a clerk (confederate) decided that the shock should be increased one level for each wrong answer - only 20% complied Holfing et al (1996) Other studies confirm that when the one making the request is physically close, compliance increases Given a light touch on the arm, people are more likely to lend a dine, sign a petition, or sample food Holfing et al (1996) Nurses instructed by a doctor to give an obvious overdoes - all but 1 of the 22 nurses complied Other studies confirm that when the one making the request is physically close, compliance increases Given a light touch on the arm, people are more likely to lend a dine, sign a petition, or sample food Holfing et al (1996) Nurses instructed by a doctor to give an obvious overdoes - all but 1 of the 22 nurses complied

16. Stanford Prison Experiment Zimbardo (1971) The experimenters delegated roles of a prison setting - guards and prisoners �Prison guards� - dominated and brutalized the �prisoners� �Prisoners� - submissive in regards to their tormentors The experiment studied the behavior of people in groups and the willingness to obey orders and adopt abusive roles The experiment had to be stopped early due to the magnitude of brutality exhibited by the �prison guards� and the suffering endured by the �prisoners� - even Zimbardo himself got caught up in it The experiment studied the behavior of people in groups and the willingness to obey orders and adopt abusive roles The experiment had to be stopped early due to the magnitude of brutality exhibited by the �prison guards� and the suffering endured by the �prisoners� - even Zimbardo himself got caught up in it

17. Classic Examples Nazi Germany lieutenant William Culley said �I was just following orders� Compliance is explicitly commanded. Without coercion, people do not act cruelly. Compliance can take place over moral sense. Social Psychology�s principals: Behavior and attitudes, the power of the situation, and the strength of the fundamental attribution error

18. Behavior and Attitudes Attitudes fail to determine behavior when external influences override inner convictions Step-by-step entrapment �Blame-the-victim process� Compliance (behavior) breeds contempt (attitude) By the time participants in Milgram;s experiments had delivered 330 volts, they had already delivered 22 acts of compliance �Many subjects harshly devalue the victim as a consequence of acting against him, such comments as �he was so stupid and stubborn, he deserved to get shocked� were common. Once having acted against the victim, these subjects found it necessary to view him as an unworthy individual, whose punishment was made inevitable by his own deficiencies of intellect and character.� Milgram, 1974 By the time participants in Milgram;s experiments had delivered 330 volts, they had already delivered 22 acts of compliance �Many subjects harshly devalue the victim as a consequence of acting against him, such comments as �he was so stupid and stubborn, he deserved to get shocked� were common. Once having acted against the victim, these subjects found it necessary to view him as an unworthy individual, whose punishment was made inevitable by his own deficiencies of intellect and character.� Milgram, 1974

19. Power of the Situation When trying to break social constraints we realize how hard they are Milgram and Sabini (1983) Students asked passengers on the New York subway system 56% gave up their seats even when no justification was given The students found it exceptionally difficult - some has trouble getting words out, some pretended they were sick