Conformity and Obedience

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Conformity and Obedience

• Chapter 6

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A warm-up activity

• Thinking about what happened

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Some terms

• Conformity a change in behavior or belief as
  the result of real or imagined group pressure
• Does this apply here?
• Obedience acting in accord with a direct order
  or command
• Does this apply here?

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Limits of obedience

• Context of Milgram right after WWII

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The design of the study
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The shock machine
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Predictions

• How many people do you think would go to the end,
  using the highest level of shock?
• What did psychiatrists, college students, and
  adults at the time predict, when presented with
  the design of Milgrams study?
• Predict that nearly no one will go to the highest
  level of shock

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Why were predictions so different from behavior?

• Power of the situation
• How does this relate to the mismatch between
  behavior and attitudes?
• Importance of studying behavior, rather than
  intentions

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What about today?

• Would the same results be found today?
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vy6GxIuljT3w

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Thinking about Milgram

• Why was his study necessary?
• There is debate about the ethics of the study
• Reasons why it was unethical?
• Reasons why it was ethical?

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Variations

• What factors might be related to higher or lower
  rates of obedience in Milgrams study?
• Distance from victim
• Closeness of authority figure
• Legitimacy of authority figure
• Other person disobeying
• Role of foot in the door

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Obedience

• Involves a direct command to do something
• Are there other ways in which peoples behavior
  can be changed?
• Aschs line study conformity

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Conformity versus obedience

• Both involve a change in behavior
• However, conformity does not include a direct
  order or request

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Why do people conform?

• Theyre not sure what to do
• They look to others behavior for information for
  what they should do
• ? informational influence
• E.g., how to use a parking machine on the street
• They dont want to stand out
• They look to others behavior for information on
  how to fit in
• ? normative influence
• E.g., how do people generally dress for class at
  8am at CW Post?

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Do people buy their behavior change?

• People may externally change their behavior, but
  not think theyre doing the right thing
• Compliance
• People may behave in a certain way, and think
  thats the right way to behave
• Acceptance
• Which was the case with Asch?

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Conformity and state-to-state variation

• Are there differences in terms/phrases/behavior
  in different areas of the US?
• If these were not due to conformity, but due to
  individual differences, they would be scattered
  somewhat randomly
• However, there are clusters of differences

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Soda name as norms
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Behavioral contagion

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vGA8z7f7a2Pkfeature
  player_embedded!

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When is this most likely to happen?

• Social impact theory (SIN strength, immediacy,
  number)
• Strength
• Unanimity
• Group cohesion
• Cohesiveness a we feeling the extent to
  which members of a group are bound together, such
  as by attraction for one another
• Examples of cohesive groups?
• Immediacy physical distance
• Number Group size
• At least 5

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When else is this most likely to happen?

• Status
• Jay walking
• Public response, rather than private opinion
• No prior commitment to response or behavior

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Conformity or social contagion?
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Flash Mobs

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v7EYAUazLI9k
• How are flash mobs fit in with conformity and
  obedience?

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Why are there flashmobs?

• People do not want to conform too much
• People want a balance of individualism and
  belonging

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Everyones an individual

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vLQqq3e03EBQ

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Explicit vs. implicit messages

• So far weve been talking about relatively
  implicit messages to obey and conform
• Even in Milgram, people had an option

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A name for this

• Reactance a motive to protect or restore ones
  sense of freedom. Reactance arises when someone
  threatens our freedom of action
• Other examples?

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A bit of a summary

• Peoples behavior can be changed
• Conformity
• Obedience
• Compliance
• Normative influence
• Peoples opinions can be changed
• Acceptance
• Informational influence
• People can be pushed too far
• Reactance