PS270 Lecture 6: Chapter 6
Document Summary
Conformity: a change in behaviour or belief to accord with others: carries a negative tone in western individualistic society but not in other communal societies, several varieties of conformity: Compliance: conformity that involves publically acting in accord with social pressure while privately disagreeing. Obedience: acting in accord with a direct order. Acceptance: conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure. Wondered if he could observe the formation of a social norm in a laboratory setting. Participants were seated in a dark room; five metres in front of you a pinpoint light appears at first it moves slightly then radically disappears; you are now asked to guess how far it moved. When asked alone and when asked in a group; a group norm emerged (it was false; the light never moved) It was an illusion called: autokinetic phenomenon: self (auto) motion (kinetic). The apparent movement of a stationary point of light in the dark.
