Conformity, Compliance & Obedience (Lecture 13&14)

Changing one's behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people.

Informational Social Influence (desire to be accurate) and Normative Social Influence (desire for self-esteem and social approval).

Conforming because we believe others are correct, especially in ambiguous situations, leading to private acceptance (true, permanent beliefehavior change).

Conforming to be liked or accepted by others, or to avoid negative social consequences, leading to public compliance (superficial change in behavior).

A study by Sherif (1936) showing that people conform to others' judgments in ambiguous situations, even when those judgments are incorrect.

Rules and standards (explicit or implicit) understood by members of a group that guide behavior without formal laws.

Descriptive norms refer to what people actually do, think, or feel, while injunctive norms refer to what people perceive they should or shouldn’t do, think, or feel.

Conforming because we truly believe the information or behavior is correct, leading to permanent attitude change.

Conforming outwardly without changing one’s internal beliefs, often to avoid social disapproval.

A study by Solomon Asch in which participants conformed to a group's incorrect answer to a simple perceptual task due to normative social influence.

A compliance technique where agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a larger, related request later.

Conformity increases when the group is unanimous, as there is greater social pressure to conform.

Conformity increases with group size, but only up to a point; larger groups continue to have more influence, but the effect diminishes after a certain size.

Liking, Consistency, Reciprocity, Authority, Social Validation, and Scarcity.

We are more likely to comply with requests from people we like or who are similar to us.

We are more likely to comply with a request if it aligns with previous commitments or behaviors, often leveraged through techniques like the foot-in-the-door.

We are more likely to comply with a request if someone has done something for us first, as in techniques like door-in-the-face.

A compliance technique where an extremely large request is made first, which is expected to be turned down, followed by a smaller request that is more likely to be accepted.

We are more likely to comply with requests from authority figures, especially those perceived as experts.

We are more likely to comply with a request if we see that others are doing it, as in using social proof or popularity to persuade.

We are more likely to comply with a request if the opportunity is scarce or limited in some way, often through limited-time offers or exclusive availability.

Changing one's behavior in response to an order from an authority figure.

A study conducted by Stanley Milgram (1963) that demonstrated people’s willingness to obey authority figures even when it involves causing harm to others, with 65% of participants administering the highest level of shock.

The social expectation that people should obey authority figures, which can lead to harmful behaviors when the authority is perceived as legitimate.

The tendency for individuals to agree to a larger request after having already agreed to a smaller, related one, demonstrated in Freedman and Fraser's (1966) study.

Milgram's study demonstrated that both normative and informational social influences play a role in obedience, as participants conformed to the authority's demands despite personal discomfort.

Participants experienced cognitive dissonance, which was reduced by blaming the authority figure for the harm they caused, thus justifying their behavior.

Obedience decreased when participants had to directly administer shocks themselves, when the authority figure was less authoritative, or when others disobeyed.

The study violated ethical principles by causing significant emotional distress to participants and using deception, raising questions about the limits of experimental ethics.

Obedience is more likely to occur when the authority figure is perceived as legitimate, such as being in uniform or holding an official title.

An experiment by Zimbardo (1973) that studied the effects of assigned roles of guard and prisoner in a simulated prison environment, demonstrating how authority and social roles can shape behavior.