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COURSE NOTES: Social



	Based on the course PSY/SOC 301, taught at The Sage Colleges by Prof. Susan Cloninger. This class uses the following textbook, which provides the chapter organization that you see on the menu on the left side of this page: Myers, D. (2005). Social Psychology (8th ed.) New York: McGraw Hill.

Chapter 6:

Conformity

"CONFORMITY" has negative connotations.

However, conformity can sometimes be adaptive.

cutural variations (greater acceptance of conformity in Japan than in U.S.)

definitions

CONFORMITY

a change in behavior or belief to accord with others
wearing informal clothes (because everyone else does)

COMPLIANCE

outwardly conforming behavior
carrying a bookbag instead of a briefcase

OBEDIENCE

compliance to an explicit command
doing an assignment that the teacher requires; shocking fellow subjects when Milgram commanded it

ACCEPTANCE

sincere, genuine belief in what the group has convinced us to do
coming to believe in a particular political issue, after first going to political meetings simply as a social event

In 1990, a telephone survey of 1575 Chicago residents found that 8 out of 10 respondents agreed that "people should obey the law even if it goes against what they think is right."

Do you agree?

CLASSIC STUDIES

Sherif: norm formation
Asch: conformity (group pressure)
Milgram: obedience

SHERIF'S STUDIES OF NORM FORMATION

Autokinetic ("self" + "moving") phenomenon
Light appears to move, but how much?
Confederate's inflated estimates influenced Ss for 5 generations
Sherif's autokinetic study: one group's judgments [graph presented in lecture]
Real-life parallels
- windshield pitting "epidemic" due to suggestibility
- copy-cat suicides

ASCH'S STUDIES OF GROUP PRESSURE

Judge which of 3 comparison lines match the standard line

Asch's research design

Experimental condition: confederates choose wrong answers (some of the time)
Control condition: judgments are made alone

Results of Asch's study:

controls were correct 99% of the time
experimental Ss conformed on 37% of responses
30% of Ss always yielded
25% of Ss were always independent

Effects of group size on conformity

Asch's study [graph presented in lecture]
So, bigger groups have more effect up to 4 or 5 in the group; after that, adding people doesn't have much effect.

Crutchfield apparatus

improved apparatus to study Asch-like conformity
responses are signaled by lights and switches
5 real Ss can be tested at the same time, without confederates

MILGRAM'S OBEDIENCE EXPERIMENTS

Supposed study of effect of punishment on learning
Paired-associates task, with shock as punishment
Confederate "learner"
Real subject is "teacher"
15 to 450 volt shocks on apparatus
Confederate's protests
Experimenter's prods

Predictions of experts before the experiment

Other experimental conditions

e.g., increasing learner's protests and concern for heart condition

Stress among Ss

Looking at some of Milgram's other conditions:

1. remote
2. voice feedback
3. proximity
4. touch proximity
5. basement; heart condition
6. milder E, tougher "learner"
7. E more distant (phone)
8. female Ss
9. victim's limited contract
10. Bridgeport
11. S chooses shock level

ROLE VARIATIONS:

12. learner demands shock ("macho"), E opposes
13. ordinary man gives orders
13b. ... and takes control of shock
14. authority serves as victim
15. two authorities who disagree
16. two authorities, one is victim

GROUP EFFECTS:

17. two peers rebel
18. peer administers shock

RESULTS: Looking at some of Milgram's Other Conditions (percent obedience):

1. remote 65.0%
2. voice feedback 62.5%
3. proximity 40.0%
4. touch proximity 30.0%
5. basement; heart condition 65.0%
6. milder E, tougher "learner" 50.0%
7. E more distant (phone) 20.5%
8. female Ss 65.0%
9. victim's limited contract 40.0%
10. Bridgeport (tacky office) 47.5%
11. S chooses shock level 2.5%

ROLE VARIATIONS:

12. learner demands shock ("macho"), E opposes 0%
13. ordinary man gives orders 20.0%
13b. ... and takes control of shock 68.8%
14. authority serves as victim 0%
15. two authorities who disagree 0%
16. two authorities, one is victim 65.0%

GROUP EFFECTS:

17. two peers rebel 10.0%
18. peer administers shock 92.5%

The ethics of Milgram's experiments

WHAT BREEDS OBEDIENCE?

Emotional distance of the victim

High obedience if victim is remote and does not complain
Less obedience if victim is in same room (40%) or if teacher must hold learner's hand on the shock plate (30%)
Comparison with war (dropping bombs)

Closeness and legitimacy of the authority

Phoned orders obeyed less (21%)
Orders from fellow "subject," without legitimate authority, were disobeyed
Nurses in one study obeyed unknown doctor who ordered drug overdose

Institutional authority

Less obedience to "Research Associates of Bridgeport" (Connecticut) (48%) than to Yale University

The liberating effects of group influence

Defiant confederates increase number of Ss who disobey the authority

People who disagree often express these opinions:

"One should not impose one's will on another."
- e.g., "If he doesn't want to do it, I won't."
"One is responsible for what one does to another."
- e.g., "Legally, I'm responsible for pushing his hand down."
"One is always free to choose not to obey harmful demands."
- e.g., "I can just walk out any time I feel like getting out."

REFLECTIONS ON THE CLASSIC STUDIES

Behavior and attitudes

Blame the victim
Behavior is followed by attitude change, for heroism as well as obedience

The power of the situation

Compliance with direct requests
Small parts (e.g. paperwork) compartmentalize the evil and bring compliance

The fundamental attribution error

WHAT PREDICTS CONFORMITY?

GROUP SIZE

3 or more people yield greatest conformity
Latane's social impact theory: social influence increases with a group's immediacy and size.
Dividing group into smaller groups increase their impact on conformity

UNANIMITY

One dissenter increases others' nonconformity

COHESION

Groups to which we are attracted have more influence

STATUS

High status produces more conformity, even if status is based on how well dressed one is, and if the behavior is jaywalking

PUBLIC RESPONSE

Private responses increase nonconformity; public responses increase conformity

NO PRIOR COMMITMENT

Prior commitment impedes later change of mind

WHY CONFORM?

Normative influence: to gain approval; leads to compliance
Informational influence: to help interpret ambiguous situations; leads to acceptance

WHO CONFORMS?

[GENDER: Little difference between the sexes in most studies, but some tendency for women to be more "flexible," perhaps because of their lower status and power]

PERSONALITY

Regarded as less important than situations, but has some impact when situations are aggregated, and when the trait is specific to the behavior (e.g., "speech anxiety" instead of simply "anxiety"), and in "weak situations"