Influential Studies Asch’s Conformity Study (Solomon Asch, 1955)

2. 75.1 – Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence. Conformity is a change in behavior due to real or imagined group pressure. Compliance is changing behavior due to a direst request. The difference between conformity and compliance is that conformity occurs when a person simply goes along with the crowd without directly being told to do so, whereas compliance occurs when a person changes a behavior due to a direct request from another. Each day we are exposed to various situations that require conformity, and most of us are willing to follow along. Unwritten rules of conformity in our society are social norms, implicit or explicit rules that guide daily behavior and are based on societal expectancies. An example of a social norm occurs when riding in an elevator: an unwritten rule is to not speak to anyone and face forward. Breaking this social norm is not a crime, but you may get some looks form the other passengers if you do. To maintain social norms, reciprocity, responding to a behavior with the same behavior, is often used. For example, if a person holds the door for you, you may then reciprocate by holding the door for the person walking behind you. The behavior helps maintain social order.

3. 75.1 – Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence. • Influential Studies • Asch’s Conformity Study (Solomon Asch, 1955) • 50 subjects; young, undergraduate men • Found that participants conformed on 37% of the trials • Of the 50 participants… • 13 never caved • 14 conformed on more than half of the trials

4. 75.1 – Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence. Conditions that Strengthen Conformity • Feelings of incompetence or insecurity • Group size; at least 3 people • Group is unanimous • Admiration of the group’s status/attractiveness • No prior commitment to any other response • Strong cultural “respect” for social standards • Other’s watch one another

5. 75.1 – Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence. • Reasons for Conforming • Normative Social Influence • Conformity to social norms for fear of negative social consequences • Informational Social Influence • Conformity to social norms when one looks to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations

6. 75.1 – Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence. Compliance: A change in behavior prompted by a direct request, as opposed to social norm pressure

7. 75.1 – Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence. • Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon • The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a large request • Considerations • The original small agreement creates a bond between the requestor and the requestee • Pro-social requests are especially effective with this technique

8. 75.1 – Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence. • Door-in-the-Face Phenomenon • The tendency for people who have first disagreed to a large request, to accept a more reasonable request • Considerations • The requestee feels guilty for turning down the first request; fears rejection if they continue to decline • The second request looks good compared to the first

9. 75.1 – Describe automatic mimicry, and explain how conformity experiments reveal the power of social influence. • Low-Ball Technique • The tendency for people to accept an unattractive detail if it is introduced after the deal is made, but not the other way around • Considerations • People will behave consistently to their beliefs in order to sustain their commitment • Many may believe that they can’t back out after the initial agreement

10. 75.2 – Describe what we learned about the power of social influence from Milgram’s obedience experiments. • Obedience: A form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority

11. 75.2 – Describe what we learned about the power of social influence from Milgram’s obedience experiments. • Influential Studies • The Milgram Experiment (Stanley Milgram, 1974) • “I was only following orders…” –Adolf Eichmann • Administration of electrical shocks (varying levels) • Findings? • Gender differences?

12. 75.2 – Describe what we learned about the power of social influence from Milgram’s obedience experiments.

13. 75.2 – Describe what we learned about the power of social influence from Milgram’s obedience experiments. Lessons from the Conformity and Obedience Studies • in both Asch’s and Milgram’s studies, participants were pressured to choose between following their standards and being responsive to others. • In Milgram’s study, participants were torn between hearing the victims pleas and the experimenter’s orders. • Milgram also exploited the foot-in-the-door effect. • such experiments demonstrate that strong social influences can make people conform to falsehoods or even capitulate to cruelty.